This craze grips youth and mints him a fortune of ￥50 billion
China's mania for "blind boxes" that has made fortunes for toymakers and even caught the attention of those in power.
The toys, first popularized in Japan, have fixated China in recent years, also driving a booming second-hand market and decorating the desks of white-collar workers and livestreams of box-opening influencers across the country.
On the morning of December 11, 2020, Popmart International Group Co., Ltd. was officially listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong with the stock code of 9992.HK.
Founder Wang Ning, born in 1987, and his wife Yang Tao own nearly 49.8 percent of the company and will be worth close to HK $50bn after the listing. Within 3 years, the net profit of Pop Mart skyrocketed nearly 300 times!
Similar to the collectibility of baseball cards, most fist-sized packages hold toys, from fairies to miniature King Kongs, but buyers can often be landed with one they already have.
The element of mystery is a big part of the fun, although "if you shake it, and then feel the box, you can sometimes deduce what's inside.
On the vibrant second-hand market, rare figures can fetch dozens of times the original price of an unopened box, which usually costs $10-$20.
But the craze has not escaped criticism, with state media comparing the trend to gambling and warning of addiction, called for more regulation of the sector and said the boxes should not be sold "blindly" to consumers, accusing some brands of "persuading consumers to keep buying and even hyping up a speculative second-hand market."
One of the reasons behind the success of blind boxes is that they divide their products into different categories of rarity.
They set a barrier, expressing the idea that not everyone can get the most special boxes. It generates a sense of competition.
Source:afp
Editor: Crystal H
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