Let’s Trade!

Collectibles and Blind Bags Teach the Art of Patience and Sharing

by Jacqueline Cucco View Bio

Jacqueline Cucco

Jacqueline Cucco is an associate editor at Adventure Publishing Group, where she writes toy reviews and manages the social media accounts for The Toy Insider, a site that provides parents, grandparents, or any gift-giver with the most up-to-date insight on toys and kids’ entertainment year-round. The Toy Insider also publishes an annual Holiday Gift Guide, which appears in Family Circle magazine. Cucco also contributes to The Toy Book and The Pop Insider.

Collectibles cover a wide range of toys, from slow-rise squishies to miniature dolls and figurines available in different themes. Sometimes they come packaged in blind bags, adding a surprise reveal factor. Other times they are released in waves with different characters for kids to collect. No matter what the actual product is, there are tons of play benefits that make them worthwhile.

Kids love having a variety to choose from, which is especially important with collectibles. It takes time and patience to build a decent collection, especially if the line of toys has revealed features or ultra-rare items that kids must search for. Parents can use this as a teachable moment to help their kids learn the art of patience by making the act of receiving a new collectible into a sort of treasure hunt. Searching for specific characters is exciting, and the satisfaction of finding those coveted items is worth the wait.

When collectibles come in blind bag form, it adds a new dimension to the toy. There’s a level of anticipation to find out what’s inside the box, which figure or squishy is about to join the collection. It’s all about the big reveal; it’s that surprise factor that makes collectibles so much fun.

Kids might receive a duplicate of something they’ve already opened in a blind bag, but they can give their double away or trade with friends, encouraging them to share.

Here are some tips to encourage these benefits as kids play with collectibles:

1. Look at the collector’s guide. Most collectibles come with a master list of all the characters available in that series. If kids familiarize themselves with the options, they will better understand how to add to grow their collection, and they can exchange information with friends.
2. Encourage sharing. There’s no need for kids to get upset if they don’t get the item they wanted in a blind bag. Teach them that the surprise is part of the fun, and that they can give what they don’t want as a gift to friends or siblings to make someone else happy.
3. Mix and match. It’s about quality, not quantity. It’s not necessary to own an entire series of collectibles. It’s okay to give kids just one item and let them know that individual collectibles can stand on their own too. They can also mix different collectibles or characters from different series.

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