Blind boxes never fail to allure the curiosity and love for the mystery of the people. These bring joy, excitement, and comfort to collectors and casual buyers. Famous blind boxes are commonly part of a specific toy series. It is impossible to know what is inside because all boxes from one series look alike. People tend to even “manifest” the figure that they want before opening a box making blind boxes the ultimate “budol”.
The concept of blind boxes originally started in Japan. Fukubukuro or lucky bag was the name for bags with unknown items inside unless opened and revealed. But even before that, Gashapon or capsule toys were already famous in Japan during the 1960s where you can get toys, candies, and others. In 2021, the surge for blind boxes spread throughout the internet. Generation Y and Z netizens became the primary customers, and content creators focusing on blind boxes surfaced.
Pop Mart International Group is currently the biggest producer of blind boxes with artists designing characters from different countries. Currently, the sensations in the official Pop Mart website in the Philippines are: SKULLPANDA, CRYBABY, Peach Riot, HIRONO, and Fantastic Beasts. Pop Mart even introduced the feature POP NOW where online customers can pick a series on their website, choose a box, purchase it, and open it immediately before being delivered straight to their doorstep.
This month, Jollibee even introduced their own blind box series featuring different Sanrio characters. The Sanrio Wonder Wheel instantly got the attention of fans. The whole series, with the characters Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Pochacco, and Kuromi, can create a ferris wheel when connected. A box can be acquired when one orders from the Kiddie Meal section.
The English Majors from the University of Caloocan City are also enjoying the blind box craze. Ms. Angela Heart Inocencio from BSE-English 2B purchased a blind box from the Sonny Angel series. She said that she bought it because of the anticipation of what she can get. The cute feature of the toy brings joy and opening it is a fun strike of wonder.
“Opening a blind box feels exciting and fun. It makes me curious and happy to see which toy is inside. Sometimes, I hope for a special one, and it feels great when I get it.”
Ms. Heart even encourages more people to try buying blind boxes. “More people should try blind boxes because they are a nice surprise. They bring joy and excitement and collecting them can be a fun hobby,” she emphasized.
Mx. Zyron Oliveros from BSE-English 3B enjoys collecting toys from the HIRONO series as a hobby and recommends it for people to try but understands the reasons of others who are not joining the hype. “Every time I open blind boxes of course there is the slight regret of losing money but it’s so nice when I add a “nono” in my collection because they are so cute and so fun to collect. It depends, but I do recommend it because it’s really fun. I also get why people don’t get it and just view them as toys themselves but they meant more than that for me and for other collectors so it depends on the person really.”
As different blind boxes proliferate on social media, more and more netizens are being influenced to try one. The big question mark will only disappear once one has already tried this trend.
Are you going to submit to the ultimate “budol”? Try buying your first blind box now!
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