Pecohub While U.S. consumers keep searching for an authentic Pop Mart Labubu, rivals are introducing their own cheaper, easier-to-find “blind box” products for the key holiday shopping season to capitalize on the craze sparked by the fuzzy mini monsters.
Hot gift lists from retailers like Walmart feature a new crop of blind box figurines and trading cards, and U.S. companies including Hasbro and Mattel are selling versions of toys like Furby and Barbie in mystery packaging, incorporating the trend.
A blind box toy – like Spin Master’s popular CrystaLynx dragons – generally has packaging that hides the specific product inside so shoppers keep buying until they find the one they want or collect the whole series.
Labubus stoked excitement for the trend this summer, spiking in popularity as retailers finalized their holiday plans. The “ugly-cute” dolls with toothy grins aren’t widely available. They sell out in minutes and later turn up on resale sites like eBay for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Because of their cost and scarcity, they aren’t on top toy lists published by major retailers and trade magazines.
But now toy aisles in holiday shopping destinations like Target are crammed with goods wrapped in mystery packaging. Retailers, manufacturers and analysts expect they will be big sellers this holiday season because they’re low-cost, inspire addictive shopping and appeal to adults and kids.
A Target spokesperson said the retailer doubled its assortment of blind box products for the holidays, adding items from brands including Baby Three, MGA Entertainment’s Miniverse, Zuru’s Minibrands and Aphmau.
“It’s bigger this year, and it’s been getting bigger,” said Juli Lennett, U.S. toy industry advisor at market research provider Circana.
Lennett added that toy makers love it because when “people buy it, they don’t buy one, they buy 10, and 30. There’s the chase,” she said.
Toy prices have been going up month by month, Lennett said, in part because of tariffs on China, where many of the goods are made.
But many blind box toys remain affordable, adding to their appeal as stocking stuffers or gifts.
Ashley Harseim, 29, of New York, is asking for a gift card to blind box retailer Miniso for the holidays. The China-based chain, which has more than 200 U.S. stores, offers figurines with characters from Peanuts, Care Bears and Disney Pixar, among others, in mystery packaging.
