A full set of the blind box series that Pop Mart International (9992) collaborated with the makers of cinema box-office hit Nezha 2 in producing has been priced up to almost three times that of the original price on e-commerce platforms after selling out in the official online stores.

The rare-edition figurine in the series was even more expensive, with the asking price being over nine times higher than the original on a per-piece basis.

The "Nezha 2: born with bond series” blind boxes feature nine figurines, eight of which are standard and one a rare edition, with a single toy priced at 69 yuan (HK$73.7). A full set of eight toys costs 552 yuan.

The first batch sold out quickly after they were launched on Pop Mart’s website on January 30 after the movie sequel, released five years after the original film, proved to be an even bigger hit.

The sequel, which hit the theaters during the Lunar New Year holiday, has made movie history in China with box-office sales of at least 6 billion yuan, according to data from an online movie ticket distributor Taopiaopiao.

The movie’s previous one fetched five billion yuan in ticket sales during the 2019 spring festival period.

Currently, all subsequent batches of the blind box series sold in the official channels are in presale, with shipping dates pushed back to May.

Even most of Pop Mart's physical stores nationwide have sold out of them as well.

That led to a surge in prices on e-commerce platforms. A set of eight toys is priced at as high as 1,588 yuan – nearly three times the original price – in one store on Alibaba’s (9988) Taobao.

In the second-hand trading platform Goofish owned by Alibaba, the price for opened sets has risen up to 1,299 yuan per piece, while preorder sets are now priced at 799 yuan.

Data from Islands, another art toys trading center, shows that the average transaction price for a full set has reached 851.20 yuan as of Tuesday.

A rare-edition box of "Ao Bing Nezha" figure is now going for an asking price of up to 697 yuan, a price increase of over nine times its original value.

CICI CAO

Picture from Pop Mart official website

Nezha blind box figurines going for top prices online