Is it just a child’s fun or something more disturbing?

If you saw the movies of people getting involved in small packages of toys online or you noticed that teenagers are obsessed with pastel figurines in a shopping center, you probably met Global madness for Blind Box toys.

These tiny collections – usually cartoon characters – are sold in closed packaging, which hides, which a specific object is inside. You can get the one you want or not. This uncertainty is part of the thrill.

Unlike conventional toys, these numbers are sold as collector’s. Many of them are part of the thematic series, with some projects marked as “occasional” or “secret”, appearing in as little as one in 144 boxes. This sense of fuels only repeated shopping and caused resale, where occasional numbers can command hundreds of dollars.

Popular among both children and adults, murky toys Industry worth a billion dollars. One of the more popular brands is Pop martA Chinese toy company founded in 2010 known from collector’s toys sold in mysterious packages.

In particular, consumers from the Z generation took the murky toys both as nostalgic entertainment and as a form justified collecting. Spreading Unpacking movies On platforms such as Tiktok and YouTube, where the creators open dozens of blind boxes in front of the camera, they added to their attractiveness.

For many fans, these toys offer more than just a cut: they also provide tension, surprise and rush of dopamine with each open box. But how did this niche product become a global obsession?

From the streets of Tokyo to West Shopping Centers

The beginnings of blind toys from East Asia date back to East Asia. Vending machines with toys called Gashapon It comes from Japan in the 1960s. In the 1980s have become a cultural element. These machines give up tiny toys in unclear plastic balls, and customers are never sure which item will receive.

At the beginning of 2010, Chinese companies such as Pop Mart adapted Gashapon Model of the mainstream of the retail surface. Instead of vending machines, they started selling Vinyl toys designed by the artist In blind boxes in dedicated boutiques.

Pop Mart’s success has helped transform the blind box into the main commercial phenomenon. The characters like PedalIN Skull panda AND Indicator He became immediate hits, connecting Japanese Kawaii Aesthetics with sensitivity to Western pop art.

Since then, POP characters have developed iconic. Many consumers treat toys as inexpensive artistic items displayed in cabinets, on bags or sold online.

Today, the Blind Box retail stores have expanded all over the world from Asia to Europe and North America. In October 2024, Pop Mart opened his first store in the Central -Western United States, Located on Magnificent Mile in Chicago in stores in North Bridge. The store offers exclusive products and knocking in growing demand for collections among American consumers.

Psychology of mystery

What makes Blind Box toys so hard to resist?

Their success is based on a psychological basis known as Religious reinforcement – the same prize model that creates Game machines so addictive.

You never know exactly when you get the item you are looking for, but the possibility contains the next box, makes people come back. This unpredictability maintains people’s involvement, especially when potential prize It is formulated as occasional or valuable.

Cconsumer Psychology Research also suggests this Waiting plays an important role. Studies show that dopamine, brain prize chemicals, increases not only when we Get What we want, but when we provide This. Sealed packaging, unpacking tension and hope for a occasional number, all boost this effect.

For younger collectors, emotions associated with “Chase” can support compulsive shopping habits. This effect is strengthened by the social impact of watching online unpacking or watching friends complementing their sets, and becomes a powerful loop.

Even when the buyers do not receive the character they want, they cost a mistake – the feeling that they have already invested too much time or money to leave – they make them buy more.

Hidden costs of blind boxes

As the popularity of toys increases, the popularity of consumer supporters, psychologists and ecologists.

Some are worried that blind boxes normalize gambling -like behaviors, especially among children. Randomness, emotions and promises of occasional awards strictly reflect the mechanisms behind the boxes with the loot in video games – another product that caused Global concern for the exposure of young people to gambling psychology.

Several countries, including Belgium AND NetherlandsRegulate the boot boxes in accordance with gambling regulations. Blind Boxes, although unregulated now, may be next in the queue for control.

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Read more: Blind sacks: How do toy creators earn on gambling

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They are too environmental fears. Many toys in the murky are in excessive packaging – plastic packaging, plastic bags, cardboard boxes – most of which are rejected immediately. The collections themselves are often made of non -recycled plastics, causing questions about sustainable development in the era of growing consumer awareness over waste.

Even among adult fans, some critics ask if the blind boxes are less designed to bring joy and more Special consumption of the trigger. They argue that the joy of collecting is increasingly overshadowed by the mechanics of designed desire.

What should we do with the blind boom?

Toys with blind boxes are not by nature harmful, and for many they are a source of fun, nostalgia and self -expression. They also offer a available way to consumers engaging in designer art in a collector’s miniature form, because many of them are created by individual artists.

But Blind Box toys also give up deeper questions about how up-to-date marketing employ psychological triggers related to gambling, especially when it comes to children.

Because these toys still gain adhesion in the West, it is worth asking more critical questions, for example: are we buying a secret or are we sold with obsession and coercion?

The trend of the blind inbox reflects wider changes in the way of selling products, as value is perceived and how the behavior of consumers in a digital economy based on attention is developed. Understanding the forces played can be the first step towards a more informed – and perhaps more careful – collecting.