I've been there. Standing in a store, heart pounding, holding two boxes from the latest LABUBU series. My brain is running a thousand calculations a second. Does this one feel heavier? Is that a rattle I hear? If I squeeze just right, can I feel the pointy ears of the chase figure?
This is the ritual for so many of us in the blind box world. The desire to know how to tell which LABUBU is in the box is a powerful one. You want to complete your set, you want to avoid that fourth duplicate of the one you don't like, or you're desperately hunting for that elusive secret. The internet is flooded with "hacks", short videos on TikTok and YouTube showing people confidently shaking, weighing, and pinching their way to success.
As a collector and the owner of PopNya, I handle hundreds, sometimes thousands, of these boxes. I've seen the methods, I've tried the methods, and I've talked to countless other collectors. And I have a confession to make: most of it is a lie.
Well, not a lie exactly. More like an outdated truth. Let's talk about the classic techniques and why Pop Mart has systematically made them obsolete.
The Holy Trinity of Blind Box Guessing (and Why It Fails)
If you've spent any time on collector forums or social media, you've seen the three main approaches to figuring out what's inside a blind box without opening it.
1. The Shake Test: This is the most common one. You grab a box, hold it close to your ear, and give it a gentle shake. The theory is that figures with separate, small accessories will make a distinct rattling sound, while a solid, one-piece figure will be silent. For example, in the Exciting Macaron Labubu series, you might be listening for the tiny spoon that comes with the "Cream" figure.
The Reality: Pop Mart got wise to this years ago. I started noticing around 2021-2022 that more and more figures were coming with their accessories taped down or sealed in their own tiny plastic baggies, nestled right against the figure. The result? Silence. The only thing you might hear is the desiccant packet sliding around, and trust me, they all have one of those. Shaking a modern LABUBU box is like shaking a box of cotton balls. You get nothing.
2. The Squeeze & Feel (The "Mō Hē" Method): This is the art of "摸盒" (mō hé), a Mandarin term that literally means "touching the box." It requires a delicate touch. You gently squeeze the sides of the box, trying to feel the shape of the figure through the inner foil bag. You're looking for a tell-tale curve, a sharp edge, or a unique silhouette. For a while, this was the most reliable way how to check what LABUBU is in the box.
The Reality: This is the trick Pop Mart has worked hardest to eliminate. Open up any LABUBU from a recent series, like the wildly popular Have a Seat Labubu V2 or the One Piece crossover, and you'll find the figure isn't just in a foil bag. It's in a foil bag and encased in a custom-fit cardboard tray. I call it the "cardboard coffin."
This inner tray standardizes the shape completely. When you squeeze the box, you're not feeling the vinyl figure; you're feeling a uniform, rectangular piece of cardboard. It's a brilliant move on their part to preserve the "blind" aspect of the blind box. I've seen people in stores squeezing boxes so hard the corners start to crumple, and they still have no idea what's inside. All they're doing is damaging the packaging.
3. The Weight Game: This is for the truly dedicated. Collectors bring pocket-sized digital scales to the store and weigh each box, looking for outliers. The logic is that a figure with a large, dense accessory or a bigger overall size will weigh a few grams more. People create spreadsheets, comparing weights down to the hundredth of a gram.
The Reality: This is the most easily debunked myth of all, and it's the one that fools the most people. The weight differences are now minuscule. I once sat down and weighed an entire case of the Macaron series. The difference between the heaviest regular figure and the lightest was less than 3 grams.
What's 3 grams? The weight of the desiccant pack can vary by a gram. The collector card's weight can vary slightly based on the ink and finish. Even the amount of glue used on the box can create a tiny variance. I've seen a "heavy" box turn out to be a common figure and a "light" box contain the chase. The margin of error is simply too large to be reliable. You're more likely to be measuring the humidity in the air than the actual figure inside.
Real Talk: Stop Shaking and Start Strategizing
So, am I saying it's completely impossible? Not completely. But the days of easily feeling out a whole set are long gone. Trying to figure out how to check LABUBU without opening the box has become an exercise in frustration.
Honestly, my advice is to stop. Stop shaking, stop squeezing, and for the love of Kasing Lung, put the pocket scale away. You're wasting your time, you look a little silly, and you risk damaging the box, which actually lowers its value if you decide to trade or sell it later.
The thrill of the blind box is the surprise! It's the little dopamine hit you get when you tear open that foil and see which character you got. By trying to game the system, you're robbing yourself of the core experience.
If you absolutely must have a specific figure, there are better, more reliable ways to get it than relying on these outdated tricks.
The Modern Collector's Playbook: What Actually Works
If you're dead set on hunting specific figures, you need to evolve your tactics. Here's what seasoned collectors actually do.
1. Learn the Case Layout (The Pro Move): This is the closest thing to a real "hack" that still exists. Figures in a factory-sealed case of 12 are often not placed randomly.For example, in many series, the two figures in the back row, middle spots, have a higher chance of being the most desirable commons or even a secret.
How do you learn this? You watch case unboxings on YouTube or Bilibili. When a new series drops, streamers will open dozens of sealed cases. They'll document the placement of each figure. If you see that in 10 out of 12 cases, the "Soymilk" Macaron is in the front-left spot, you have your intel.
This is how people "box hunt" effectively. They're not feeling the box; they're looking for a fresh case that hasn't been picked over and going for the statistically probable spots. It's not a 100% guarantee, as batches can vary, but it's infinitely more reliable than shaking.
2. Master the Art of the Trade: The blind box community is massive and incredibly active. The best way to get rid of your duplicates and find the figures you're missing is to trade. Join Facebook groups (there are tons dedicated to Pop Mart and LABUBU), join Discord servers, and connect with other collectors on Instagram.
I've completed entire sets without ever buying more than a few boxes, simply by trading my doubles. It's social, it's fun, and it ensures every figure goes to a home where it's wanted. This is the true spirit of the hobby.
3. Buy Confirmed Figures on the Secondary Market: If you want a specific figure with zero guesswork, the secondary market is your friend. Yes, you will pay a premium, especially for popular characters or secrets. A random LABUBU Macaron box might be $18, but a "confirmed" Soymilk (the most popular regular one) can easily fetch $40-$60. The secret "Toffee" can go for $150 or more.
You're paying for certainty. You're skipping the gamble. For many collectors who just want that one "grail" to complete their display, this is the most direct and stress-free path. When we get confirmed figures at PopNya, they're often the first to sell out, even at a higher price point. People value the guarantee.
4. The "Top Pinch" - A Method of Last Resort: I hesitate to even mention this one because it's controversial and can damage the box. But for the sake of completeness, here it is. Some people will try to gently pry open the top flap of the box (the part that's glued down) just enough to get a finger inside and pinch the top of the foil bag.
Because the cardboard tray doesn't always go all the way to the top, you can sometimes feel the very tip of the figure's head or ears. This is how some people claim to find figures with unique head shapes. However, it's incredibly difficult, often leaves a crease or tear on the box, and is generally frowned upon. If a seller sees you doing this in their store, they have every right to ask you to stop. Don't be that person.
My Final Verdict as a Seller and Collector
So, how to know which LABUBU is in the box? The short, honest answer is: you open it.
The long answer is that Pop Mart has invested a lot of time and clever engineering to protect the integrity of the blind box experience. The game has changed. The old tricks are dead.
Instead of spending 20 minutes in an aisle trying to divine the contents of a cardboard box, embrace the alternatives. Learn the case layouts, join a trading community, or save up for that one confirmed figure you're dreaming of. The hobby is so much more rewarding when you're not fighting a losing battle against a piece of cardboard.
The joy of collecting isn't about eliminating chance; it's about what you do with the chance you're given. It's about the thrill of the pull, the fun of the trade, and the community you build along the way.
Ready to take a chance and see which monster finds you? You can always browse our current LABUBU collection at PopNya. Good luck, and happy hunting!
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