The Cry Baby Doll Confusion: A Collector's Guide to What You're Actually Looking For

PopNya Team • February 26, 2026

A customer asked if my CRYBABY figures cry real tears, and I knew I had to write this. If you're searching for "cry babies," you've stumbled into a confusing world. Let's clear it up so you can find the right crying toy for you, the interactive doll or the vinyl art piece.

I got an email last week that stopped me in my tracks. It was from a potential customer, and it read: "Hi, I'm looking for the new cry baby doll, the one in the blue pajamas. Do yours cry real tears?"

I run PopNya. We specialize in designer toys. Specifically, we love POP MART's CRYBABY line. And let me tell you, if you add water to one of those, you're just gonna make a mess. You won't get any tears.

That email was the moment I realized just how messy the search results have become. If you type "cry babies" into Google, you fall into a rabbit hole of two completely different worlds that happen to share a name. On one side, you have a popular children's toy. On the other, a celebrated designer art toy.

As a seller and a collector, I feel like it's my duty to clear this up. Because one is a toy you give to a toddler, and the other is a piece of art you display on your shelf. And you really don't want to mix those two up.

The One You See at Target: IMC Toys' Cry Babies

Let's start with the one you've probably seen in the toy aisle at Target or Walmart. These are the Cry Babies made by a company called IMC Toys.

When someone is searching for a "cry baby doll," this is usually what they mean. They're large, typically 12-13 inches tall, with big glassy eyes and vinyl heads, but often with soft bodies or plastic pajamas. They are, for all intents and purposes, classic baby dolls with a gimmick. They are literally a crying doll.

The gimmick is simple and effective for its target audience (kids aged 3-6). You fill a little reservoir in the back of the doll's head with water. Take away its pacifier, and it makes realistic crying sounds and sheds actual tears. It's an interactive toy designed for nurturing play.

I picked one up once out of sheer curiosity (you have to know the market, right?). The one I saw was named "Coney," a bunny-themed doll. The mechanism is clever, I'll give them that. The plastic is sturdy enough for playtime. They have a whole animated series on YouTube to support the brand, which is a brilliant marketing move.

But here's the thing: they are toys. And I mean that in the most traditional sense. They're meant to be played with, dropped, and eventually grown out of. There isn't a secondary market for them. You're not going to see a "rare" first-edition Cry Babies doll selling for five times its retail price. They are mass-produced crying toys sold in big box stores, and they serve that purpose perfectly.

So, if your niece is asking for a cry baby doll for her birthday, this is the one she wants. Go to Amazon, go to Target, you'll find a dozen different characters. Job done.

But if you're here, on a blog like PopNya, I have a feeling you might be looking for something else.

The One Collectors Hunt For: POP MART's CRYBABY

Now, let's talk about the other one. The one that gets my collector heart racing. This is CRYBABY, by POP MART. Note the all-caps, one-word name. It's a subtle but important distinction.

These are not interactive baby dolls. They are small vinyl art figures, usually about 3-4 inches tall. They come in blind boxes, meaning you don't know which figure from a series you're getting until you open it. This is the first clue that you're in the world of designer toys, not the kids' aisle.

The creator behind CRYBABY is the brilliant Thai artist Nisa Srikajorn, who goes by Molly's Factory. And this is where the entire concept diverges from the IMC toy. The whole point of CRYBABY isn't just sadness. It's about the validity of all emotions. The character's motto is "Everybody cries sometimes. Crying is not a sign of weakness, it's a part of life." Some CRYBABY figures are crying from laughter, some from frustration, some from overwhelming joy. The tear is a constant, but the emotion is fluid.

It's a profound concept for a little vinyl figure.

As a seller, I handle these crybaby dolls every single day. The quality is on another level. The weight of the vinyl, the precision of the paint application, the creative designs, it's art. We're talking about series like "The Powerpuff Girls" crossover, where each CRYBABY character embodies a hero or villain, complete with tiny, perfect details. Or the "Cheer Up, Baby!" series, which is a masterclass in emotional expression through color and pose.

A Detail Only a Collector Would Notice: Take the "Lonely Christmas" series." In product photos online, it just looks like a cute, sad reindeer. But when you hold it in your hand, you see that the antlers have this incredible, faint pearlescent shimmer. It's a detail that's almost impossible to photograph but gives the figure a magical quality in person. You also notice the box weight is almost identical across the entire set, a deliberate move by POP MART on recent batches to stop people from "weighing" the boxes to find the secret chase figure. They're getting smarter.

This brings us to the collector aspect. Each series has a "secret" or "chase" figure, which is much rarer than the others. Pulling one from a blind box is a genuine thrill. This rarity creates a vibrant and sometimes wild secondary market. A standard blind box from our CRYBABY collection might cost around $15. But a secret figure? I've personally seen the "Crying in the Breeze" secret from the "Cheer Up, Baby!" series sell for over $120. It's a completely different ecosystem from the buy-it-and-play-with-it world of IMC's dolls.

A Side-by-Side Reality Check

Real Talk: My Honest Take

They are a successful, well-made toy that brings joy to millions of kids. If I had a five-year-old, I'd probably buy one for them. They nailed their target market.

But they are not crybaby dolls in the way that I, and the designer toy community, understand the term.

For me, the magic is in the artistry of POP MART's CRYBABY. It's the difference between a poster from a department store and a signed print from an artist's gallery. The little vinyl figure on my desk, the "Insomniac" from the "Sad Club" series, is more than a toy. It's a tiny, tangible representation of a feeling. It's a conversation starter. It's a piece of a larger collection that tells a story.

The thrill of the hunt, the community of trading, the excitement of a new cry baby series announcement from POP MART, that's a hobby. That's collecting. The emotional depth that Molly's Factory pours into each design is what elevates it from a simple product to something more. It's why I was so passionate about them that I decided to stock them at PopNya. I believe in the art.

So, when you're shopping, you have to ask yourself: What am I looking for? Am I looking for a toy to entertain a child? Or am I looking for a piece of art to connect with?

If it's the latter, then welcome to the club. The world of designer toys is deep, rewarding, and full of incredible artists. If you want to see what I mean, you can browse our CRYBABY figures and just look at the sheer variety and creativity on display.

The confusion is understandable. The names are practically identical. But the products, the philosophies behind them, and the communities that love them couldn't be more different.

So, the next time you hear someone mention they're looking for cry babies, do them a favor and ask, "Which one?" You might just save them from a very confusing purchase, or better yet, introduce them to a whole new world of art and collecting.--- Disclosure: PopNya may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page.