Outside a Pop Mart store in Vietnam there is a line around the block at 2am. The cause for all this excitement is the latest blind box release of a limited edition figurine … otherwise known as an art toy. In case you’re not familiar, these figurines are collectibles that allow customers to “express creativity, find joy and connect with others.” That’s a quote from an executive at Pop Mart (obviously) but he’s not exaggerating that there are plenty of customers who devote hours to building their collections, displaying them and sharing unboxing videos of their own blind boxes and what mystery figure they received. As one pair of YouTubers bluntly put it, “these are boxes filled with mystery toys that do nothing.”
If all of this sounds familiar, it’s a craze that you might recognize from any number of other collectibles fads in the past, from action figures to playing cards. The mystery pack is definitely a time-honored marketing tradition that still continues to work. What’s perhaps new is just how deeply these blind boxes are filling a need for some consumers. As loneliness skyrockets and people struggle to make the same sorts of connections with each other, one collector suggested buying these boxes is a way to bring him closer with friends who share the same passion he does. If they continue to help people do that, we may see even more rapid growth from the collectible toy sector.
