The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2016–2024
Pop Mart turned toys into chance: blind boxes made collections the product
A Beijing toymaker's blind box — random figures, ultra-rare hidden ones — made toys collectibles: ¥451M 2019 profit, HK$100B first-day cap in 2020.
Pop Mart International
the move
Wang Ning founded Pop Mart in 2010 as a Beijing trend-toy shop and lost money through 2014–2016. The turning point was observing Sonny Angel: one figure line, about 30% of sales, with extreme repurchase. In April 2016 he signed designer Kenny Wong's Molly license and introduced the blind-box format; a fan community (Pucky) launched June 2016. Pop Mart listed on the NEEQ board in February 2017 and left it in April 2019 to chase the Hong Kong exchange.
The format scaled through channels: robot-shop vending machines from April 2017, a WeChat 'Pucky draw-box' from September 2018, and a Tmall flagship. Blind boxes grew from 57.8% to 69.9% to 80.7% of revenue in 2017–2019, while revenue went 1.58 → 5.15 → 16.83 亿 (226% CAGR) and net profit 160万 → 9,950万 → 4.51亿. By 2019 Pop Mart was China's #1 trend-toy player with an 8.5% share.
The 2020 IPO priced the story: listed 11 December 2020 at HK$38.50 with 356.74x oversubscription, opened +100% at HK$77.10 and closed with a market cap near HK$95–100B. Four years later the model went global: FY2024 revenue ¥13.04B (+106.9%), overseas ¥5.07B (+375%) including Southeast Asia ¥2.4B (+619%), about 130 overseas stores, a 66.8% gross margin, and a ~370% stock gain in 2024 on the Labubu phenomenon.
why it works
- Uncertainty is the product feature: unlike a lottery, the buyer always keeps a usable toy, so the gambling loop is socially acceptable and legally safe.
- Secondary-market premiums — several to tens of times face value on hidden figures — convert the collectible into an appreciating claim whose value is verifiable outside the store.
what transfers
You can add a lottery to any commodity without making it a lottery: a guaranteed minimum (a nice toy), rare upside (hidden figure) and completion (sets) fuel repurchase in a way discounting never can.
what came after
FY2024 revenue ¥13.04B (+106.9%) with overseas at ¥5.07B (+375%, 39% of revenue) and Southeast Asia ¥2.4B (+619%); gross margin 66.8%; ~130 overseas stores; shares rose ~370% in 2024 on the Labubu-led global boom. The model now faces home-market scrutiny of its gambling-like mechanics and depends on cycling IP hits, but it has proved the blind box transfers across cultures.
references
- 泡泡玛特上市首日市值超千亿港元 创始人王宁首谈'一夜暴富'
- 网红盲盒公司泡泡玛特香港IPO递表：去年净利高达4.51亿元
- 谁将泡泡玛特推上千亿市值神坛？
- 红杉资本等入股 上市首日市值超千亿 泡泡玛特董事长：很多人觉得上市是'一夜暴富'
- Pop Mart's global push pays off as revenue doubles in 2024
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