Emerging Trends in Yiwu's Toy Market: DIY Blind Boxes and LABUBU Doll Outfits

YIWU, China, July 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Yiwugo.com, the official website of the Yiwu Commodity Market, is the largest commodity wholesale market in the world. Big data from Yiwugo shows that "toys" has consistently ranked among the platform's most searched keywords. Over the past few months, fueled by the surging popularity of items such as LABUBU, relevant product searches have remained robust, with "toys" firmly holding the top position on Yiwugo's trending search list. With the onset of the summer season, merchants have introduced a wide array of new products, many of which have rapidly emerged as bestsellers.

The related products displayed on Yiwugo.

Lou Jingrui has dedicated many years to the art of three-dimensional paper sculpture. Her store, Papercraft Toys, specializes in 3D DIY creative toys and decorative items. This summer, peripherals featuring popular characters such as Crayon Shin-chan and My Little Pony have enjoyed strong sales, fueled by the launch of her innovative DIY blind box collections.

Each blind box showcases a crystal-clear shell that conceals a randomly selected My Little Pony figurine, with each collection offering eight distinct designs. The anticipation of discovery before unboxing, coupled with the hands-on assembly process, culminates in a finished 3D crystal display piece. A combination of elegance and playfulness, such pieces deliver the satisfaction of DIY craftsmanship, earning them the title of "next-generation blind boxes" among enthusiasts.

In 2023, Papercraft Toys undertook a comprehensive product line upgrade, introducing a variety of popular characters including Crayon Shin-chan, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sanrio and My Little Pony. Its portfolio now features 3D framed artworks, DIY night lights, paper-crafted mini toys, crystal cards, and acrylic spinning toys. In 2024, the company's SKU catalogue had expanded to several thousand items, fueled by collaborations with cultural and creative organizations such as Sanxingdui and Xiaoxitian. According to Lou, annual orders from Sanxingdui alone reach between 30,000 and 40,000 units per product line. In popular tourist destinations like Harbin, seasonal orders for its DIY night lights routinely exceed several hundred thousand yuan.

This year, alongside its newly launched DIY blind boxes, the company's acrylic spinning toys—featuring characters like Crayon Shin-chan and My Little Pony—have generated such strong demand that customers are prepaying and queueing for deliveries.

Lou notes that competition within the toy industry has reached new levels. Merchants must now not only deliver superior quality and entertainment value but also develop product concepts that are visually striking—if not collectible—to establish a firm market presence.

With many years of experience in doll and doll-outfit manufacturing, Zhang Ping resonates strongly with this trend.

Since April 2025, a surge of inquiries from influencers about LABUBU doll outfits have sparked a boom in the domestic market. By May, demand from buyers at home and abroad had reached its peak, with monthly sales of certain styles consistently reaching tens of thousands. These outfits are primarily tailored for popular doll characters such as LABUBU, Hello Kitty, and Monchhichi.

Zhang observed that overall-and-T-shirt sets have been particularly well-received in Western markets, with individual buyers placing orders for tens of thousands of units at a time. A sweater design that had been a long-standing bestseller staged a comeback in May, reigniting renewed interest across Europe and the US. One customer placed an order for 3,000 units in a single day, most of which were destined for LABUBU dolls.

Driven by her passion for plush toys, Zhang founded Rongmeng Trendy Toys several years ago, specializing in the production and sale of dolls and their apparel. With its distinctive blend of fresh, sweet, and cool aesthetics, the company quickly established a unique presence in the market. Initially, its doll clothing was created exclusively for in-house product lines. However, as the "doll outfit" concept gained momentum over the past two years, the company dedicated a product line to universal-sized doll apparel. Committed to matching the quality of its dolls, Rongmeng prioritizes mid- to high-end garments, thus becoming a designated supplier for numerous renowned character-based brands at home and abroad.

Zhang noted that this year, numerous buyers from across China, as well as overseas trading companies, have been drawn in through Yiwugo. Recently, customers from Russia and the Middle East have also begun placing orders, propelling Rongmeng Trendy Toys into another busy production cycle. At the same time, Zhixiang Creations continues to spearhead innovation in cultural, creative, and trendy products, introducing fresh surprises to both the Yiwu toy market and its enthusiasts. After all, Yiwu never fails to impress.