{"id":4335,"date":"2018-03-26T16:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T16:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/actionacademy.co\/vinyl-pulse\/an-introduction-to-pop-mart\/"},"modified":"2018-03-26T16:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T16:54:48","slug":"an-introduction-to-pop-mart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vinylpulse.com\/2018\/03\/an-introduction-to-pop-mart.html","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to Pop Mart"},"content":{"rendered":"
Recently, POP MART<\/a>, a leading Art Toy brand in China, has been making news here, as the organizers behind the Beijing Toy Show<\/a> (BTS) which debuted last September, the upcoming Shanghai Toy Show<\/a> (STS) which will be held from April 4th to April 7th, and as the producers of the brand-new Satyr Rory<\/strong> blind-box series from Seulgie<\/a>. But, who is<\/em> POP MART<\/a>? It turns out that they are one of the premiere art toy brands in mainland China focused on three main areas\u2014Retail, Toy Production, and Events.<\/p>\n Founded in 2010 by then 23-year old CEO Wang Ning<\/strong>, POP MART describes itself as the\u00a0 largest art toy retailer in China with a 400+ location retail network<\/strong>, primarily in larger cities including Beijing and Shanghai. The stores offer a mix of gift items and art toys with an emphasis on blind-box minis. Supplementing their conventional shops, the brand operates a quickly expanding number of Robo Shops\u2014<\/strong>high-tech vending machines that dispense mini figures in both blind boxes and full cases! Fans can walk up to one of these machines, at a mall or other convenient location, browse what\u2019s available via the screen or the display case on the side of the machine, and quickly select and pay for it right on their phone. We\u2019d love to see something similar stateside.<\/p>\n In addition to their stores, POP MART produces a growing line of\u00a0 licensed art toys, primarily\u00a0 minis. Collectors have fallen in love with Pop Mart\u2019s extensive line of Molly<\/strong> mini figures from Kenny Wong<\/a>, lining up to buy the newest toys and meet the artist at events such as the 2017 Christmas Exhibition<\/strong> in Beijing.<\/p>\n Molly is one of the best-selling art toy in China, with over two million Molly toys<\/strong> sold yearly\u00a0 across the line including\u00a0 blind-box series\u2014eight per year, with 100+ designs\u2014and special releases such as this year\u2019s Chinese New Year Zodiac series.<\/p>\n