(Yicai) April 9 -- Chinese e-commerce platforms are betting on collectibles, as sales growth outstrips that of traditional toys with an industry insider predicting a five-to-10-year boom period.

China’s designer toy industry is expected to enter a period of rapid growth over the next five to 10 years, Yun Jie, the head of the toys and collectibles division at Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao & Tmall Group, said at the recent 2026 Taobao & Tmall Toys and Collectibles Industry Conference.

Sales of core designer toy categories on the Taobao and Tmall platforms, including blind boxes, which have the same exterior packaging but different contents, Hanfu dolls, which are dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, and JK, or Japanese school-girl, uniforms, surged more than 50 percent last year from the year before to CNY100 billion (USD14.6 billion), according to data released at the conference.

Last year, sales of trendy and collectible toys in China soared 45.4 percent year on year to CNY67.6 billion (USD9.9 billion), according to data released by the China Toy & Juvenile Products Association. By comparison, sales of traditional toys, not including collectibles, only climbed 5.8 percent to CNY103.5 billion.

Even plush toys are moving up the price ladder. As brands like Chinese toymaker Pop Mart become popular, many quality plush toys are now priced between CNY90 (USD13) and CNY100, whereas five years ago the price point was only CNY19.90, Yun said.

After several years of rapid growth, the growth rate for peripheral designer toys will slow, said Cui Cheng, head of the collectibles division at Hangzhou-based Taobao & Tmall. This year’s sales increase may not match last year’s, even as the supply of blind boxes, game-related merchandise and celebrity-themed blind boxes continues to surge. These categories are expected to maintain high growth.

Designer toys are increasingly merging with industries such as entertainment, gaming and e-sports. In the past year, blind boxes, physical gaming and esports-related merchandise, as well as derivative products ranked as the top three subcategories in the Taobao & Tmall designer toy business.

Supply Crunch

Demand is so high that production is struggling to keep pace. "Designer toy supply has always been tight. When Beijing-based Pop Mart needs to rush production, it can consume all available supplies of figurines," Cui said.

“Although overall production capacity is growing, many factories, especially smaller ones, have not upgraded their supply chains," he said. "Because designer toys require precise molding, design and coloring, some leading factories have orders up until 2030, while many others still lack the craftsmanship to produce high-end collectibles.”

Editor: Kim Taylor