From Labubu With Love (Part 2): The Blind Box That Built a Billion-Dollar Boom

Limited Edition Toys from Thailand and Singapore

From Blind Boxes to Boardrooms: Pop Mart’s 400% Profit Surge and the Lessons Hidden Inside

A Surprise That Even the Giants Didn’t See Coming

Nearly 400% profit in just six months.

It sounds unbelievable, but that’s exactly what Pop Mart reported this August. Net profit for the first half of the year soared on the back of one mischievous little character — Labubu — and a business model built on data, psychology, and a dash of mystery.

This isn’t just another corporate success headline. It’s a case study in how surprise can be engineered into strategy, and how delight can drive billions.

Wait… Didn’t We Talk About This Already?

Just a couple of months ago, I wrote about Pop Mart and how it was quietly outsmarting the toy giants.

Not by producing bigger action figures or spending more on advertising, but by leaning into:

• Data → knowing exactly what customers wanted before they did.

• Mystery → the blind-box thrill that keeps collectors hooked.

• Psychology → scarcity, anticipation, and identity built into every design.

That was the “how.”

Now we’re looking at the “what happens when that strategy scales.”

(If you missed that earlier post, you can still read it here

The Labubu Effect

Let’s be honest: Pop Mart isn’t just selling toys. It’s selling belonging, status, and stories.

When Rihanna, David Beckham, and Lisa from Blackpink are spotted carrying Labubu, it’s no longer just a quirky figure. It’s a cultural symbol.

Behind that cultural moment lies hard strategy: data guiding which IPs （Intellectual Property） to back, how to price, and where to expand. The result? One character contributing over a third of total revenue in just six months.

When the IP is strong enough (like Pop Mart’s Twinkle Twinkle series), shelves don’t stay full for long.

Blind Boxes: The Joy of Not Knowing

Here’s the genius: people don’t just buy a figurine, they buy a moment of suspense.

The blind box format — where you don’t know which design you’re getting until you open it — transforms a simple purchase into an event. That thrill of uncertainty makes you want to try again. And again.

As I wrote previously, mystery becomes the marketing. Customers pay not just for the product, but for the story of the reveal.

Behind the Mystery, There’s Data

What looks like pure chance is carefully calibrated. Pop Mart isn’t guessing how many Labubus or Molly figures to produce — it’s crunching data on sell-through rates, repeat purchases, and even which regions prefer which characters. Each blind box is backed by analytics that predict demand and balance scarcity. It’s a reminder: mystery may be the hook, but data is the compass.

From Shelf to Strategy

Those colorful shelves of blind boxes? They’re more than eye candy. Every sale feeds into a feedback loop: which designs are flying off, how fast collections complete, how many customers come back for a second or third try. Pop Mart turns that data into decisions — whether it’s launching a new series, retiring an old one, or expanding into new markets. Surprise may win hearts, but it’s the numbers that keep the engine running.

Scaling the Mystery Worldwide

This isn’t a local fad. Pop Mart now operates over 500 physical stores and more than 2,000 “robot shops” across 18 countries. International sales already account for about 40% of revenue.

The U.S. alone is set to see 10 more stores this year. And beyond toys, the company is venturing into phone charms, animation, and even theme parks.

It’s no longer just a toy company. It’s a brand ecosystem.

And nowhere is this craze more visible than Bangkok recently at the opening of the world's largest Popmart…

This isn’t a concert or a K-pop fan meet. It’s the queue — over an hour long — for blind boxes at the world’s largest Pop Mart store in Bangkok

Three Lessons Hidden Inside the Box

So what can the rest of us learn from Pop Mart’s 400% surge?

1. Data + Emotion = Loyalty Numbers reveal what people want. Emotions give them a reason to keep coming back. Pop Mart fused both into a repeatable formula.

   
   

2. Mystery is Underrated In a world where everything feels predictable, surprise can be the strongest hook. Pop Mart turned uncertainty into obsession.

   
   

3. Build Ecosystems, Not Products Once customers see themselves in your product, you’ve crossed from transaction into transformation. That’s where long-term growth lies.

   
   
   
   

Data: The Quiet Engine Behind the Magic

 We’ve talked about the thrill, the culture, the surprise—and yes, the profits. But make no mistake: what drives all of this is structured data, informing every IP drop, every robot-shop rollout, and every market expansion plan. Pop Mart isn’t lucky. It’s listening to the numbers—and that’s a lesson for anyone building enduring brands through analytics.

Closing the Loop

What excites me about this story isn’t just the financial results (impressive as they are). It’s how a company took something playful and simple, and turned it into a global case study in strategy.

A few months ago, I wrote about how they were outsmarting the giants. Today, the results are here.

Tomorrow? The story is still unfolding.

Yes, there’s creativity and culture — but it’s analytics that turn every blind box into a billion-dollar bet. That’s the quiet engine behind Pop Mart’s magic

And if blind boxes can create billion-dollar waves, what could the right mix of data + creativity + storytelling do in your business?

That’s the question I’ll leave you with.