By: Arnon Sibulo
The Beijing-based mystery toy maker Pop Mart has started a “blind box” craze in Singapore with a massive collection of toys featuring fan-favorite characters.
Known for its collaborations with major brands and international artists, Pop Mart has a deep vault of licenses for popular fictional characters from Disney to Warner Bros. This allows them to create toys of fan-favorite characters while integrating different artistic styles and concepts to their products, making cute, unique and desirable toys that make you want to buy more.
“Ralph Breaks The Internet” Series, Image from PopMart Singapore
The brand started as a shop for toys, cosmetics and stationary in 2010. Noticing that toys were becoming their best-selling product, founder Wang Ning decided to slowly phase out their other categories and by 2014, Pop Mart was exclusively selling toys.
Drawing inspiration from gashapon – randomly dispensed capsule toys from vending machines in Japan – Pop Mart started developing toy lines for their blind boxes where consumers buy the product knowing what toy line it’s from, but not knowing exactly which character they will get. This proved to be their winning formula, with Pop Mart selling more than 50 million toys last year alone, which led to USD 90 million in net profit.
“My Little Pony” Series, Image from PopMart Singapore
With 200 stores around the world, Pop Mart finally opened their first Southeast Asian store at Funan Mall in Singapore just this year. The store offers primarily blind boxes with a whole range of characters from comics, cartoons and movies, such as the Lion King, Disney Princesses, Naruto, Harry Potter, and more.
For updates on their adorable collectibles and new line-ups for their blind boxes, follow them on Facebook and check out their website.
What are your thoughts on PopMart’s Singapore branch? Share it with us in the comments section below.
Featured image from PopMart Singapore