Doomscrolling TikTok for small doses of serotonin is a very common pastime for teenagers in our generation. At one point in time, I was addicted to a certain genre of videos, more specifically, ones in which creators opened blind boxes.
Their recent rise in popularity did not come out of nowhere. Have you ever noticed how similar blind boxes are to the old capsule vending machines they used to have in grocery stores? Though their popularity has waned, and therefore made them harder to find, they’re still as popular as ever in Japan in the form of gachapon machines.
Gachapon machines are essentially just toy vending machines. However, most of them exclusively release sets of figurines with a set amount of items to obtain. They are extremely common among collectors. Their downside is that you cannot choose what you get, and you have to pay for each item that you get. There is no safeguard to prevent duplicates, so the money sink can start to snowball quickly.
Whether you’re substituting the urge to buy blind boxes yourself or you want to see someone’s reaction to what they get, watching unboxing videos is fun. On the other hand, it’s sobering to see someone crash out because they didn’t get the figurine that they wanted.
There is a noticeable pattern that tends to pop up when someone goes down the blind box rabbit hole. It’s a never-ending loop of getting a figurine that’s deemed “ugly” and buying another box in the hopes that you’ll get the one you want. This is an easy point in time for people to prey on these weak spots.
Companies like Sonny Angels or Pop Mart will sell limited amounts of blind boxes at a higher price. They are aware that there is too much demand for how little product they produce, but they do not care as long as they can profit at the end of the day. There are also an absurd number of fake blind boxes that can be found in the wild, and someone who hasn’t done their research can easily be scammed. Another example can be found in my very own older brother. As a side hustle, he buys Labubus off the official Pop Mart shop and resells them with a high markup for profit. This wouldn’t work as well if people weren’t so desperate to buy them.
It also doesn’t help that in many sets, there will be a “secret” figurine that is significantly rarer than the others. The cost of nonstop buying adds up so much more than just buying the singular blind box you wanted in the first place. People describe that unboxing them gives them a “dopamine hit,” but what they don’t understand is that it’s the same exact feeling you get when you’re gambling. Though it’s being masked by whimsical little figurines, it’s still a gambling addiction.
At the end of the day, you should buy whatever makes you happy. A look inside my bedroom shows that I own many blind box figurines. However, it’s important not to overconsume. If you are unable to get the figurine you want, or even get your hands on a blind box, it’s not the end of the world.
