Tiny Toys & The State of Adulthood

If you haven’t heard of Sonny Angels, you’ve probably seen them—tiny cherubic figurines with pastel animal hats taking over TikTok, resale marketplaces, street style, and the shelves of your coolest friend’s apartment.

They are part of a booming blind-box economy where adults—yes, adults—line up to unbox mini-figures, hunt for rares, and trade at organized swap events. For the first time ever, adults 18+ are buying more toys than the preschool market. This trend is reflected in the success of Pop Mart, a tiny toy retailer that boasts a loyalty program with 43m members in China alone, which is rapidly expanding across the US.

In a world where traditional milestones of “success” are increasingly harder to reach with mounting uncertainty and financial constraints, perhaps blind-boxing and its element of surprise offers a controllable form of joy for the young adult market. We’ve seen a similar consumer behavior with the rise of the Stanley Tumbler as an emotional support companion. In this context, tiny toys function more like emotional companions than simple collectibles like Funko Pop figures or Homies.

The momentum in social and retail locations surrounding these mini figures is arguably an emerging flavor of “Kidulting:” consumers seeking refuge in the aesthetics, rituals, and nostalgic objects of youth, wrapped inside the low-cost mystery of a blind box surprise. When everything feels high stakes, high priced, and socially divisive, the value of the surprise inside these little toy boxes is a simple form of delight and social connection. Not unlike the hype and lines forming around the block for that Trader Joe's mini tote bag that has been causing a frenzy this month. These character-driven collectibles present a range of opportunities to bring audiences into Entertainment IP, with retail and social extensions through built-in love from the influencer community.