POP MART
POP MART is a Chinese toy company, which primarily creates blind-bags of small vinyl art toys. These toys are designed by independant artists and tend to be very high quality, especially for the price.
I started "collecting" these toys in 2020. However, I'm not the type to collect for the sake of collecting, or to try to have a full collection. Instead, I'm simply collecting the figures I like. As such, I try to buy second-hand where I can to avoid the gambling mechanics of the blind boxes.
I buy my blind-boxes from the official AliExpress store.
I buy my second-hand figures from Vinted.
There are official online POP MART stores for most countries, but I prefer to buy direct from the AliExpress store because it has the most recent products and tends to work out to the same price anyway. YMMV.
My Figures
Series: SKULLPANDA x The Addams Family
Bought: Second-hand
This was my very first figure! At the time, the Addams Family series was fresh and new, and I debated buying a blind box of it. But then I saw somebody selling this particular figure on Vinted and snapped it up!
Cousin It is possibly my favourite Addams Family character (I would be compared to it all the time when I was a kid because I had super long hair.), and it's so fun to see it represented as a hot girl lmao.
The figure's beard and glasses attach to the face with a magnet and can be removed at will. It's fully painted and modelled beneath the beard, and it holds a cane behind its back, peaking out from the hair.
My favourite part of the figure is the hair sculpt. I love the way it curls up at the sides.
Series: SKULLPANDA Action! Cut!
Bought: Blind-Box
This is one of my favourite figures (for obvious reasons - clown).
This series is a super popular series and it's clear why - almost every figure in this series slaps. They're based on the general idea of movies, with some being explicit references. I truly would have been happy with any of the figures, but I'm obviously overjoyed that I got this one.
It required a little bit more assembly than other figures. The little marionette it holds has some fiddly string you have to hook onto the part it holds and it's unclear what the intended way to do that is.
The figure comes with a little smiley face mask that gives the figure a sad smile. It's attached with magnets and it holds on very nicely.
Series: SUSUMI Magic House
Bought: Blind-Box
I love Susumi. I love Susumi so much. If I get the chance, I'm absolutely picking up more of this series because it is so absolutely made for me.
Much like Comedian, I really wanted Telephone, but I would have been happy with any figure from this series.
The telephone wire is made out of actual stretchy rubber which makes it feel super dynamic and authentic. Her eyes have a lovely layer of shiny varnish to them. And the telephone's face is so cute!
I hope we get more Susumi series in the future, but I low-key doubt it. I don't think this was a particularly popular series, unfortunately.
Series: DIMOO Dating
Bought: Blind-Box
My first Dimoo figure! Dimoo is such an adorable character. I really love his expressions - he often looks slightly pissed off to me, which is a really funny contrast to his adorable sculpt and theming.
This isn't my favourite possible figure for the Dimoo dating series (I really wanted Romantic Balloons), it is still a very good figure. I think the outfit on Dimoo is adorable, especially the hat.
The vinyl of this figure feels a lot softer and smoother than the other POP MART figures. I don't know if that's a general Dimoo thing or just for this series, but he feels wonderful to touch.
Series: SKULLPANDA Everyday Wonderland
Bought: Blind-Box
This is the first figure I kind of don't like.
The sculpt and design is wonderful, don't get me wrong. I love the big duvet-style cape and her dramatic pose. The hair has a very interesting almost dry-brush effect that looks very shiny and painterly irl. However, this figure has a serious design flaw.
Those little hearts that sit at her collar don't come pre-attached. That's presumably because they'd be a huge point of failure and risk breaking off in transit. That's fine, but instead they made the hearts just sort of... sit in the hole. They aren't actually held in place in any meaningful way, just gravity and hopes and dreams. As such, they tend to fall out if you move the figure at all.
I don't know why they didn't use magnets like the other Skullpanda series do. I'm tempted to super-glue them into the holes, but I'm wary of making a mess. So instead, I've just resigned to never touching her ever again.
Series: PEACH RIOT Rise Up
Bought: Blind-Box
This figure is from the first ever Peach Riot series, which will no doubt become a mainstay in the POP MART line-up. The photo does not do this figure justice.
The sculpt is wonderful, with so many little details in her clothes. I especially love her shoes, the grips on the bottom are great and they're so shiny.
This series is also much bigger than the other POP MART series, over a head taller than the average Skullpanda.
I love Peach Riot and I cannot wait to see more series of them.