Sight Unseen

When Pop Mart opened a store at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu at the end of August, people showed up early and waited in line to get inside. What they were lining up for was a small vinyl figure sealed inside a box, and not one person in that line knew which figure they were going to walk out with.

That is the whole idea. The company makes characters like Labubu, Skullpanda, and Pucky, and Labubu is the one people describe as ugly cute, with enormous eyes and a mouth crowded with teeth. You can scroll through an entire set online and decide which one you like best, and then the box refuses to let you have it. The rarest figure turns up in roughly one box out of seventy-two, and Pop Mart prints those odds right on the packaging.

None of this is new. Trading cards have been sold in sealed packs for a long time, and the whole point was never knowing whether the good one was in there. What is new is how far the idea has spread, because you can now buy makeup, keychains, snacks, and plush toys the same way.

Not getting to choose is exactly what makes people want it. Shoppers in that Honolulu line said they spend more than they meant to, and it is not only kids doing it, because plenty of adults were waiting right alongside them.

Your Task: Figure out what else people would buy without looking.

1. The Blind Box
Pick a product that nobody currently sells as a surprise and turn it into one. It could be sneakers, candy, a video game, a poster, sunglasses, or anything else you would actually want. Write it about it.

2. The Rare One
Every set has one version that almost nobody gets and everybody wants. Say what the rare version of yours is, and why people would keep buying to chase it.

3. The Disaster
Now think of a product from a store you actually shop at that would make a terrible blind box. Maybe it has to fit you, maybe it goes bad, maybe you need one exact version and nothing else will do. Say what it is and why.