Secondary-level popularity and primary-level cold reception: The financing of trendy toy brands presents a stark contrast.
"The trendy toy industry has completely skipped the primary market and directly entered the secondary market." After numerous capital operations in the trendy toy industry in the first half of this year, a traditional primary market investor sighed to the Entertainment Capital Theory.
The data also shows this. Since 2024, there have only been two primary market - led financings in the trendy toy industry this year, namely the store brand Xunwu Jing and the e - commerce platform Yuanqi Mate (there are many AI and AR toys). However, riding on the wave of Pop Mart leading the new consumer sector, when counting several major investment and financing events in the merchandise economy circle since 2025, they are all "cross - border" investments in the trendy toy industry by secondary market players.
In January, a subsidiary of Lehua Entertainment and the trendy toy enterprise Yiqi Culture (brand name Letsvan) jointly established a new company. Lehua Entertainment holds 51% of the shares, and Yiqi Culture holds 49%. In March, Quantum Song (formerly mainly engaged in adult training) announced the acquisition of Yiqi Culture, and it will be consolidated starting from the second quarter of 2025. Subsequently, the IP WAKUKU under Letsvan quickly became a "big hit". In April, Tianxin released the single "WAKUKU", and the official poster stated that the brand partners for this single were Letsvan and Lehua Entertainment.
In May, Wanda Film and China Ruyi respectively established subsidiaries and jointly became shareholders of Lezitiancheng, the parent company of 52TOYS, with a total investment of 144 million yuan, holding a total of 7% of the shares. One week later, 52TOYS submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (The "triple - jump" password for 52TOYS to impact the IPO with both self - owned and authorized IPs)
In June, Hengdian Capital, an affiliated company of Hengdian Film, invested in Jason Animation, the parent company of Jikashe.
On July 1st, Yuewen, after investing in Hitcard, a competitor of Jikashe, once again made efforts in the trendy toy industry and made an exclusive strategic investment in the plush trendy toy brand "Super Yuanqi Factory". After the popularity of the Nezha IP, derivatives have become a new "battleground" in the film and television industry.
How to interpret the phenomenon of listed companies flocking to "cross - border" into the trendy toy industry? Xiaoyu believes that: 1) The synergy is intuitively reflected in the sales network, but the investors may not be able to truly solve the problem of IP incubation in the trendy toy industry; 2) This wave of financing is the exit of financial investors who entered in the 2010s, and strategic investors "cross - border" to take over. The trendy toy industry is seeking survival by relying on big players; 3) Currently, a large number of companies in the merchandise economy concept stocks are "cross - border" in the merchandise business. Whether they are using the wave of Pop Mart to boost the stock price or develop the business remains a question mark.
Good business?
Xiaoyu once said that since 2025, there have been very few new brands and investment and financing events in the anime merchandise industry, partly because primary market investors have been more cautious since 2023. (Ratings of 50 anime brands: Big companies are moving down - market & new brands are hard to come by, propping up a market worth tens of billions)
From the perspective of investors, restricted by external environments such as financing costs and exit conditions, the investment enthusiasm in the primary market is far less than before. But more consensus focuses on the lack of high - quality assets. Although there are successful cases like Pop Mart, the trendy toy industry is not attractive enough to financial investors. Currently, the biggest concern in the trendy toy industry comes from market competition - in the face of the large leading players, it is difficult for investors to believe that many small brands can develop distinctively.
Comparing the best - selling lists before and after the 618 shopping festival, 1) No matter how the sales rankings of other brands change, Pop Mart firmly occupies the top of the list, proving that the leading effect in the industry is intensifying; 2) The hit products are updated rapidly, and it is even more difficult to maintain the popularity of special co - branded IPs for a long time. Before Children's Day, when the Stitch movie was released, Stitch blind boxes were hot - selling, and during the 618 shopping festival, it was the turn of the live - action version of How to Train Your Dragon, and Toothless blind boxes made it onto the list; 3) In addition to traditional trendy toy brands, it is not difficult for IP owners to enter the trendy toy business. Diezhi Xinyi won the top spot on the "Tmall Trendy Toy 618 Pre - sale Transaction List" (Pop Mart's sales are inferior to Diezhi? Nuan Nuan joins hands with X11 to vindicate content IPs), and Mihoyo can also get multiple products on the best - selling list. In fact, game manufacturers have long been deeply associated with trendy toy brands, such as the latest cooperation between Diezhi and X11 under the KK Group, Mihoyo and Gibit's investment in the trendy toy platform Suplay, and CMGE's deep - seated cooperation with Tencent.
Figure 1: The best - selling list of blind boxes during the 618 shopping festival. Data source: Taobao. Note: The data is as of 11:00 on June 13, 2025.
Figure 2: The best - selling list of blind boxes. Data source: Taobao. Note: The data is as of 11:00 on June 25, 2025.
How can the trendy toy business form a synergy with the original main business of the "cross - border" secondary - listed companies?
Taking trading cards as an example, Yuewen Group invested in Shanghai Qixing, the parent company of the trading card brand Hitcard, in 2024. After Jason Animation, the parent company of Jikashe, received financing from Bilibili in 2023, it attracted an investment from Hengdian Capital in June 2025. The two parties said that they would "introduce high - quality IP resources for Jason Entertainment relying on Hengdian Group's profound accumulation in the film, television, and cultural tourism fields; and open up more sales channels for Jason Entertainment's products through Hengdian Film's large - scale cinema network."
The answers given by the Wanda - Ruyi group and 52TOYS are highly similar to the announcements of Hengdian Film and Jason Animation. On the one hand, film and television companies hold IP resources and provide the "raw materials" for the trendy toy industry from the upstream; on the other hand, movie theaters can be included in the offline distribution channels of trendy toy brands.
This seems to coincide with the current pain points in the trendy toy industry. Except for Pop Mart's self - operated stores, which have their own system, most trendy toy brands rely on distributors for both online and offline sales. WAKUKU is sold in the official flagship stores of Miniso and Nine Wood. The distribution income of 52TOYS has accounted for more than 60% of the total revenue in the past three years. Insufficient scale is part of the reason. For example, although TOPTOY has tried its best to build its own brand, it still cannot get rid of the positioning of a collection store like Nine Wood.
Taking 52TOYS as an example, the number of distributors increased significantly in 2024, which also shows its determination to expand the scale by expanding the sales network. From this perspective, Wanda Film, as the largest listed cinema company, can indeed help it. And for cinema companies that "rely on the weather", non - ticket income is indeed a new competitive point found in the industry.
Figure 3: The distribution income of 52TOYS. Data source: Prospectus
However, as Xiaoyu said in the article "Interest Consumption 2025: Growth Cannot Stop!", "trend" is the core of "trendy toys". Trends are changeable. If a brand cannot capture enough users' minds when favored by traffic, it will surely face greater downward pressure after the traffic ebbs.
The sales network is important, but for trendy toy brands, IP is the decisive factor.
Still taking 52TOYS as an example, its income from licensed IPs was 406 million yuan in 2024, accounting for more than 60% of the total operating income. Although 52TOYS has multiple products on the list, except for the Crayon Shin - chan IP, the popular products on the list are all Stitch blind boxes. In addition to the dependence on licensed IPs, the non - exclusivity of licensed IPs is another problem. The Stitch IP appears in the stores of 52TOYS, TOPTOY, and Miniso at the same time.
Xiaoyu believes that compared with financing to expand the scale, trendy toy brands are more urgent to verify the "feasible plan" for their IP creation. Whether it is self - owned IP or licensed IP, Xiaoyu believes that the current trendy toy industry has not found a winning solution because trends are unpredictable. Even film and game companies at the upstream of IP cannot guarantee that the content and popularity of their self - owned IPs can meet the requirements of trendy toy transformation. Therefore, it is still unknown whether the synergy on paper can be reflected in the financial statements.
Good investment?
Looking at the primary investment and financing events in the trendy toy circle that has been quiet for several years, Xiaoyu found that: 1) Currently, both the number of investment and financing events and the investment scale have significantly decreased; 2) The sub - sectors of the invested companies are also changing. In addition to new trendy toy brands, upstream technologies such as 3D printing and engraving machines, as well as downstream trading platforms have also begun to attract attention; 3) Local state - owned funds are involved, for example, the shareholders behind Yuanqi Mate include the Industrial Investment Fund of the Guangdong - Macao In - depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the Anhui Digital Film and Television Copyright Equity Investment Fund, and the Linghang Venture Capital Fund of Baohe District, Hefei.
Financial investors consider fundraising, investment, management, and exit; strategic investors consider synergy and self - transformation; and local state - owned funds also take local economic development into account. On June 24th, Chengdu Xingyuechenshi Culture Development Co., Ltd. officially announced the acquisition of the global permanent copyright of the classic IP "Xuan Yuan Sword" series of games, marking another success for Chengdu in the IP industry. And behind this company, there is also the participation of local state - owned capital in Chengdu.
Figure 4: The main investment and financing events in the trendy toy industry since the beginning of 2025. Data source: Public information
Figure 5: The main investment and financing events in the trendy toy industry in 2024. Data source: Public information
Actually, the peak of investment and financing events in the domestic trendy toy industry occurred from 2015 to 2018. Pop Mart launched the first - generation Molly constellation blind boxes in 2016, opening a new world for many enthusiasts. During the same period, the cultural and entertainment industry was also developing rapidly, and many celebrities opened trendy brand stores. The cultures of "trendy brands" and "trendy toys" began to form. The Series A financing of Lezitiancheng, the parent company of 52TOYS, also took place in 2018.
Figure 6: Statistics of investment and financing events in the cultural and media industry - IP copyright/design and creativity. Data source: IT Juzi
The current situation has reversed. Both the media and traditional consumption sectors are sluggish, and the new consumption represented by trendy toys has become one of the few bright sectors. For "cross - border" enterprises with a gradually clear ceiling for their traditional business, what they are actually buying is the "ticket" for a new story. And the trendy toy brands that once grew wildly have to face the cruel competition and the Matthew effect.
How to understand the current investment and financing boom in the trendy toy industry? The primary financial investors who entered in the 2010s are exiting, and listed companies in the secondary market are "cross - border" strategic investors taking over. The trendy toy industry is seeking survival by relying on big players.
Another evidence that trendy toy brands "urgently need" capital infusion is the pricing of these transactions. According to the prospectus of Lezitiancheng, from the Series C financing in 2021 to the Series C+ financing in 2025, the valuation of Lezitiancheng calculated by the newly - added registered capital has remained at 4.2 billion yuan, with little growth.
Quantum Song acquired 61% of the equity of Yiqi Culture for 235 million yuan. Without considering share - based payment, the corresponding valuation was 390 million yuan. When Quantum Song first participated in the Series A financing of Yiqi Culture in February and purchased 16% of the equity, it was rumored that the financing amount was nearly 100 million yuan, which was consistent with this valuation. And before the acquisition, Letsvan was much smaller than the leading companies. What Quantum Song and Lehua want to do is more like creating a new brand with their capital and marketing methods.
Good story?
Investment and acquisition are not the only ways for enterprises to "cross - border" into the merchandise economy. More enterprises choose to announce internal independent incubation. In May, DREAME MART, a trendy toy brand under the home appliance brand Dreame Technology, opened its first store on the CITY Street of Beijing Aoyuan.
Who is "cross - border" in the merchandise economy? Xiaoyu sorted out 167 A - share and Hong Kong - listed companies included in the "IP merchandise economy" and found that the answer is various industries. The most common ones are the media industry directly related to IP, the commercial and retail industry that sells merchandise in physical stores, and the light manufacturing industry that provides processing