The rapid pace of launching new products has become the norm in the trendy toy industry. Pop Mart recently announced the upcoming release of a new IP—After-School Merodi—coming just over two months after its last new IP launch. Additionally, companies like Qimeng Island and TOP TOY are also increasing their investment in IP reserves and incubation. However, as IP releases enter the "fast lane," is the market truly accepting all of them? From a business logic perspective, accelerating IP releases is reasonable, as the average popularity cycle for a trendy toy IP is only 3–5 years. Yet, among mass-produced IPs, not every one has the opportunity to become a true "star."
Intensive New Launches After-School Merodi is designed around campus and youth themes. The series includes 12 regular edition figures and one hidden edition figure, with probabilities of 1:12 for regular editions and 1:144 for the hidden edition. A single blind box is priced at 69 yuan, while a full box costs 828 yuan. Online sales began at 10 PM on February 26 this year, with offline sales starting on February 27.
This marks another new IP from Pop Mart following the release of Supertutu in December last year. Data shows that Pop Mart's annual number of new IP releases surged from 29 in 2024 to 57 last year, nearly doubling. Supertutu and After-School Merodi are products of this accelerated strategy.
Not only Pop Mart but also other well-funded major players are targeting the value brought by IPs. Last year, after completing the acquisition of Letsvan and rebranding, Qimeng Island Group quickly built a matrix system comprising 17 IPs, including WAKUKU, with 11 being self-owned IPs and 6 licensed IPs. Additionally, Qimeng Island collaborated with celebrity resources, partnering with Yuehua Entertainment to launch the new IP SIINONO. The total social media exposure of its IPs exceeded 690 million views, contributing 12.89 million yuan in revenue in its first season.
TOP TOY, the trendy toy sub-brand of Miniso, has adopted a differentiated approach by integrating self-owned IPs, licensed IPs, and third-party IPs. In June last year, it launched the Nommi Nuomier healing series blind boxes, and in February this year, it collaborated with celebrity Wang Hedi to launch the Little D series blind boxes. When it filed for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last September, the number of its self-owned IPs had increased to 17.
Reportedly, Ye Guofu, founder of Miniso, once stated, "Miniso is vigorously developing self-owned IPs to drive the transformation from a retail company to a cultural and creative company. It is necessary to 'waste' 100 million yuan a year to cultivate good IPs, used to nurture original IPs." He explained, "Wasting means giving self-owned IPs sufficient room for experimentation, from artist discovery to IP incubation and operation, building a full-chain IP operation platform."
Effective Revenue Generation It is undeniable that Pop Mart has successfully reduced its reliance on a single IP over the past few years. From the early days when MOLLY alone shouldered the burden, the company now has 13 IPs, including THE MONSTERS represented by LABUBU, SKULLPANDA, and CRYBABY, each generating over 100 million yuan in revenue, forming a stable "IP pyramid."
Data from the first half of last year shows that Pop Mart had 13 IPs with revenues exceeding 100 million yuan. Among them, THE MONSTERS became the new "top stream" with revenue of 4.81 billion yuan, while the "Star Person," introduced just a year ago, achieved 390 million yuan in revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing emerging IPs.
According to Qimeng Island's financial report data, the star IP WAKUKU quickly broke into the mainstream since late 2024, generating 42.96 million yuan in revenue in the three months of the fourth quarter of the 2025 fiscal year. For TOP TOY, Nommi Nuomier's revenue is expected to reach 250 million yuan last year and may increase to 600 million yuan this year.
The situation a few years ago, where trendy toy companies faced financing difficulties and skepticism from the capital market about their business models, has completely changed. The industrialization plus IP model has made the business logic of the trendy toy industry clearer and its growth prospects more definite. Since last year, trendy toy companies have begun queuing up for IPOs, with firms like 52TOYS and TOP TOY submitting applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and several IP incubation companies entering the pre-listing guidance phase.
An institutional investor in the secondary market revealed that a few years ago, it was very difficult for trendy toy companies to secure financing, as the capital market was unwilling to provide valuations. During the low period, there was even significant skepticism about the business model and sustainability of trendy toys. "But since last year, IP and trendy toy companies have started queuing up for IPOs."
"The revenue these star IPs bring to companies proves the commercial value of the trendy toy sector. This is a very young consumer field with many derivative sectors yet to be explored, possessing strong development potential. For many investors, if they cannot invest in the number one, finding the future 'number two' is also very good," the person noted.
Aesthetic Fatigue However, unlike the popularity of LABUBU and Star Person, a series of new IPs seem to have made little splash. In January this year, Goldman Sachs pointed out in an industry tracking report that the initial series of Supertutu sold just over 500 units on Tmall. Inquiries revealed that as of February 24 this year, the cumulative sales of the series on Tmall's flagship store were about 900 units. For a new IP with high expectations, such numbers are hardly impressive.
"From my personal preference, I don't like IPs that are too 'formal.' If something has no distinctive features, it cannot provide emotional value. Besides celebrity promotion, LABUBU's explosive popularity is also due to its own characteristics. Nowadays, things without features, stories, or aesthetic appeal are hard to become popular," said Li Ling, a seasoned trendy toy enthusiast. When asked about her outlook on the sales of new IPs, Li Ling believed, "It depends on whether they will release plush keychains later and the design quality of those keychains. If sales are to increase, it will mainly rely on the plush keychain series."
Zhang Shule, an industry commentator, stated that for trendy toys to retain consumers and break into the mainstream, the key is to enrich the IP. This involves transforming from潮流玩具 (trendy toys) to潮流文化 (trendy culture) by endowing IPs with stories that resonate with consumers' psychological needs, turning toys into companions. However, overall, domestic trendy toys are still relatively immature. While they have started a trend, they have also led to extreme IP hollowness.
On social media, evaluations of Supertutu are polarized. Supporters find it "so cute I can't help buying it," with the Maneki-neko style praised as "adorable to the core." However, more voices criticize it as "tacky," "aesthetically fatiguing," "unremarkably ugly," and "com lacking characteristics." Additionally, many netizens pointed out that Supertutu's pink color scheme, cute rabbit ears, and girlish facial features are highly similar to the泛滥的 "healing style" trendy toys saturating the market.
Survival of the Fittest Although the trendy toy sector is crowded, the market continues to expand. In terms of scale, data from Tianyancha shows that there are over 21,000 existing trendy toy-related enterprises in China, with about 7,100 new ones added last year. According to data from the Zhongyan Puhua Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's blind box market reached 52 billion yuan in 2024, with trendy toy blind boxes accounting for 58%, an increase of 18% year-on-year.
Hu Qimu, Deputy Director of the Tsinghua University Center for Strategic Emerging Industries, stated, "From the supply side, domestic design capabilities, profound cultural heritage, and a developed manufacturing system form the foundation supporting China's original toys. From the demand side, global consumption is upgrading from product consumption to emotional consumption, and China's original toys恰好 meet this new demand." However, after the rising tide, a shakeout is inevitable. The construction of market competitiveness for trendy toy products has surpassed the stage of mere visual presentation. Building appropriate content around IP characteristics reflects refined IP operation and will, to some extent, determine the IP's longevity.
According to the "2024 Global Trendy Toy Industry Development Report," IPs in the mass trendy toy field mainly fall into two categories:形象IP (character IP) and内容IP (content IP). Character IPs are characterized by not being based on storylines or other content to shape the character's growth and changes but are instead赋予 (endowed) with identity and background by the creator to convey related concepts. Examples include Pop Mart's MOLLY and Disney's Linabell. Content IPs mostly refer to IP images originating from works like animations, comics, and games. Popular examples include classic IPs from companies like Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., and Hasbro, such as the Marvel Universe series, Jurassic World, and Harry Potter.
In Zhang Shule's view, the inevitable direction for the trendy toy industry is culture-driven,参考 (referencing) the Marvel model to form a trendy toy IP universe that aligns with the preferences of young people. "In other words,二次元 (two-dimensional)属性 (attribute) trendy toys should return to二次元, using anime and film to drive the sales of trendy toy products, just like how Transformers used cartoons as advertisements, eventually forming a new cultural phenomenon distinct from mecha. Only stories that continuously extend and adjust according to the demands of the era can keep trendy toys alive, becoming the spiritual companions for generations of young people."
Image source: Pop Mart
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