History Main / BlindBagCollectables

* The {{doll|s}} company ''Penny's Box'' paired with doll maker Dollzone to make a small blind box version of their Antu dolls in 2022 and released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series; this was followed by multiple other series. The 13-15cm tall dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25-$30 each. The dolls have plastic molded removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are either elastic strung or vinyl-jointed [=BJD=] dolls with a large range of movement like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; some dolls also come with extra exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys (with their Teenar and Liroro series), BEEMAI Bonnie, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=] (to name a few).

* The company ''Penny's Box'' paired with doll maker Dollzone to make a small blind box version of their Antu dolls in 2022 and released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series; this was followed by multiple other series. The 13-15cm tall dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25-$30 each. The dolls have plastic molded removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are either elastic strung or vinyl-jointed with a large range of movement like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; some dolls also come with extra exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys (with their Teenar and Liroro series), BEEMAI Bonnie, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=] (to name a few).

[[quoteright:275:[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/241631444_420487702838758_5661466230232724376_n.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:275: GottaCatchEmAll, in toy form.]]

* ''Toys/StarMonsters'': Similar to ''Toys/GoGosCrazyBones'', in that they're little plastic figurines intended for use in their own games..

* Franchise/SylvanianFamilies sells smaller baby and toddler characters in blind bags

* The practice of the Blind Box has existed in Japan through gachapon machines -- the devices that video game LootBoxes are named after -- since at least the 1960's. There are arcades and an entire section of an airport, filled with nothing but gacha machines; they usually have receptacle bins to allow people to recycle the plastic capsules the prize comes in. After the turn of the millennium, marketing practices spawned from the idea by featuring series of collectibles that comes in packaged boxes. You could buy one blind box, or you could buy the entire package with the promise of getting the complete set; many do not offer this, particularly those only available at special events. Some, such as Music/{{Tsukiuta}}, have started offering these in packs of three that are guaranteed to be three different ones--so even if there is no guarantee that you get one of each, there is at least a guarantee that, out of 9, you won't get more than 3 of the same one.
** Some stores offer older collections that are sold separately, bypassing the "blind" part, with the intent to allow those with duplicates to trade with each other to complete their collections.

* Zuru Toys started Mini Brands (originally part of the 5 Surprise blind bag series; Mini Brands and its derivatives seem to be the only ones left in the series)in 2019, which are small reproductions of various grocery items. Each ball has five random items packaged together, along with potential shelving, shopping carts, and starting from Series 4, money. Selected ones have special designs such as all-gold or glow in the dark and are harder to find. They were originally balls which split into wedges like an orange until Series 5, when they adopted the style of a wrapped ball with blind bags inside from Foodie Mini Brands. They later expanded into mini toys, with brands from companies such as Creator/{{Hasbro}} and various Creator/{{Disney}} brands. They also expanded into restaurant items ( Foodie Mini Brands), non-branded fashion items(Mini Fashion) and gross versions of popular brands( Mega Gross Minis).

* Zuru Toys started Mini Brands (originally part of the 5 Surprise blind bag series; Mini Brands and its derivatives seem to be the only ones left in the series) 2019, which are small reproductions of various grocery items. Each ball has five random items packaged together, along with potential shelving, shopping carts, and starting from Series 4, money. Selected ones have special designs such as all-gold or glow in the dark and are harder to find. They were originally balls which split into wedges like an orange until Series 5, when they adopted the style of a wrapped ball with blind bags inside from Foodie Mini Brands. They later expanded into mini toys, with brands from companies such as Creator/{{Hasbro}} and various Creator/{{Disney}} brands. They also expanded into restaurant items ( Foodie Mini Brands), non-branded fashion items(Mini Fashion) and gross versions of popular brands( Mega Gross Minis).

* Zuru Toys started in 2019 with Mini-Brands, which are small reproductions of various grocery items. Each ball has five random items packaged together, along with potential shelving and shopping carts. Selected ones have special designs such as all-gold or glow in the dark and are harder to find. They later expanded into mini toys, with brands from companies such as Creator/{{Mattel}}, Creator/{{Hasbro}}, various Creator/{{Disney}} brands, and Toys/HotWheels for example.

* Streamer Aphmau (Jessica Bravura) had a line released that included dolls with secret accessories, blind mystery eggs, blind bag clips, and plushies themed around the MeeMeows.

* The US has toy vending capsule machines, which have [[OlderThanTheyThink existed since at least the 1930s]]. Small capsules--nowadays of plastic--contain small toys, often things like bouncy balls, plastic jewelry, sticky hands, or little plastic toys. Cost range from a quarter to two dollars to purchase and often have flashy items on the front to lure the hopeful kid in, but the toy inside varies in quality.

!! Fictional Examples

!! Real Life

* Toy giant {{Creator/Hasbro}} released blind bags based off the fourth generation of their ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' tv show, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. Characters ranged from the show's [[JustforPun mane]] characters to secondary characters to [[RecurringExtra recurring background ponies]]. There were also blind sets with [=SquishyPops=], who license with other companies.

* The company ''Penny's Box'' paired with doll maker Dollzone to make a small blind box version of their Antu dolls in 2022 and released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series; this was followed by multiple other series. The 13-15cm tall dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25-$30 each. The dolls have plastic molded removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are either elastic strung or vinyl-jointed with a large range of movement like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; some dolls also come with extra exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys (with their Teenar and Liroro series), BEEMAI Bonnie, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=] (to name a few)

* The company ''Penny's Box'' paired with doll maker Dollzone to make a small blind box version of their Antu dolls in 2022 and released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series; this was followed by multiple other series. The 13-15cm tall dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25-$30 each. The dolls have plastic molded removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are either elastic strung or vinyl-jointed with a large range of movement like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; some dolls also come with extra exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys with their Teenar series, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=].

The not knowing brings an element of surprise to the sets--what's in the one you just got?--as well as makes them [[GottaCatchEmAll highly addictive]] because it's difficult to complete collections by just buying enough, especially with [[RareRandomDrop some in a series]] that may be harder to find. Though if someone wants to drop enough money to buy a whole box set, they may get all of them except rares. Blind bags are usually small and cheap to buy--no more than $5 in the US--though elaborate ones can cost more as well as those made in markets such as East Asia, where the figurines can be very elaborate. They're inexpensive to make, but the companies generally make back their money with people buying multiple packages over and over in an attempt to get the ones they want. They're also popular for online unboxing videos, as people don't know what they're getting (even if they buy a whole set, they likely don't know what's in each package individually).

* The company ''Penny's Box'' paired with doll maker Antu in 2022 and released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series. The 13-15cm dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25-$30 per box. The dolls have plastic removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are either elastic strung or vinyl-jointed with a large range of movement like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; newer dolls also come with extra exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=].

* The company ''Penny's Box x Antu'' in 2022 released one of the first widespread series of miniature blind box ball-jointed dolls, the ''Nature Secret'' series. The 13-15cm dolls are more costly than the average blind box collectable at about $25 per box. They have plastic removable hair (rather than wigs or rooted brushable hair), removable clothing, and are elastic strung with a large range of joints like their larger counterparts, allowing the same kind of posing; newer dolls also come with exchangeable hands. Within a line (or brand) parts can swap along a series (and rarely between brands); e.g. the plastic wigs from the Nature's series can fit the heads of the "School Haunting" dolls. Series have four to six variants and and often include one to two "hidden" [[RareRandomDrop rarer dolls]] that are harder to find. The concept of mini-blind-box [=BJDs=] has expanded to other brands such as Simon Toys, Lucky Doll, and [=NAGIDoll=].