Checkout

China’s Latest Speculative Mania Is Mystery Plastic Toys

  • The local regulator is increasing scrutiny of the toy trade
  • Rare ‘blind box’ toys can get forty-fold returns online
A POP MART blind box vending machine in Shanghai.Photographer: Yan Daming/VCG via Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

So-called blind box toys -- collectible figures in mystery packaging -- are China’s latest speculative craze. Reveal the right toy, and a few dollars can turn into hundreds on the resale market.

Now the fever has spread to the plush toys and other prizes won out of claw-crane arcade games, as well as the gashopan toys sold out of vending machines in grocery stores and shopping malls.