The historical development of blind boxes

"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." The famous Forrest Gump collection was also designed for blind boxes, the latest trend that is sweeping China and finding its way into the pockets of millions of collectors.

When was the blind box born?

Founded in 2010, Pop Mart is one of the most famous blind box brands/retailers in China. The Beijing-based company started out with hundreds of creative lifestyle brands, but its sales of branded toys have since grown dramatically. In 2015, the company shifted to competing almost exclusively in the designer toy market, focusing on blind box models and becoming the first local brand to tap into people's growing toy collecting addiction.

Besides Pop Mart, the 1983 Club is another leading designer toy retailer in China. Luckin has teamed up with its brand ambassador Liu Haoran, an actor who is very popular in China, to launch a blind box collection as part of Luckin's promotion of its new spin-off tea business. During the event, Luckin's app crashed 10 minutes after sales began.

What is the origin of blind boxes?

The concept of blind boxes originated in Japan in the 1980s. It was then called Fukubukuro, which means "lucky bag" in Japanese. Customers pay a fixed price, usually 10,000 yen, because the bags can find goods worth more than 80,000 to 90,000 yen, such as digital cameras and luxury jewelry, and sometimes even car vouchers.

In China, the blind box market has become a testbed for toys, where designers are fighting for their babies to get the word out. In 2016, Wang Ning, CEO of Pop Supermarket, posted a question on Chinese social media site Weibo asking his followers what kind of models they would like to see in the future, and about 50 percent answered "Molly." Pop Mart then found Kenny Wong and struck a deal with Molly's designer for the exclusive rights to mass-produce and sell Molly dolls through his approved channels.

The first batch of Molly blind boxes sold out immediately after release. Following in the footsteps of Pop Mart, other stores selling creative products have also entered the blind box market, launching more than 20 popular collections besides Molly, such as Pucky, Little Amber, Labubu, etc. Even popular memes on WeChat, including Budding Pop, shown below, have been developed into blind frame characters.

The expectation of the unknown is part of the magic of blind boxes, which makes collectors (mainly young people) addicted. Some collectors say their bodies produce dopamine, a euphoric chemical when the blind box is opened.