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Somewhere between grabbing a snag and your Sunday DIY mission, Bunnings has quietly launched its most chaotic hit of the year. The hardware giant’s new Mystery Box Mini Bears have arrived in stores, and within days, they have become a full-blown collectibles obsession. Priced at AUD$12.50 and sold in blind boxes, they sit neatly at the intersection of bag charm culture, nostalgia, and the same virality that turned Labubu into a global flex.
The Mini Bears are stocked in most Bunnings stores across Australia and New Zealand, except for a few locations in Western Australia due to local trading restrictions.
Sold in-store only, they follow the classic blind-box formula. You don’t know what you’re getting until you open it, which is very much the point. Each box contains a plush bear keychain inspired by familiar Bunnings characters, with five standard designs and one rare “Secret” Bear. The lineup features a Team Member in full uniform, a Rain Poncho in crisp white, High-Vis in yellow workwear, and a Straw Hat in casual weekend mode. If luck’s on your side, the Secret Bear trades the worksite for streetwear, complete with a hoodie and backwards cap. Let’s take a closer look!
The blind-box model itself is hardly a new concept. Variations stretch back more than a century, from Japan’s fukubukuro lucky bags to gachapon capsule toys, cereal box prizes and Kinder Surprises.
What has changed is scale and visibility. Chinese retailer Pop Mart, which sells Labubu and specialises exclusively in blind-box collectibles, is now valued at around $51 billion after growing more than 300 per cent in 2024 alone. Since those dolls became the must-have item in 2025, other brands have followed suit. IKEA has launched its own mystery collectibles, while Kodak released seven versions of its Charmera Digital Keyring Camera in unmarked boxes.
Supermarkets have been running successful collectable campaigns for years, from Little Shop to Disney Discs. RMIT Senior Lecturer in Marketing Dr Marian Makkar told nine.com.au that blind boxes thrive because they give “consumers a sense of excitement, and random rewards.”
But if you ask consumer expert Gary Mortimer, who spoke to Yahoo Lifestyle, it’s closer to the dopamine rush of playing the pokies, a loop retailers are well aware of and increasingly happy to lean into.
For Bunnings, the motivation appears far less opportunistic. Bunnings’ Director of Merchandise, Cam Rist, says the thinking was simple. Customers already love the classic Bunnings Bears, and the mini version brings that same charm into a more playful, collectible format.
The eco-friendly packaging also taps into a broader shift, with recyclable paper bags and boxes replacing plastic-heavy blister packs.
The Mini Bears also sit within a longer-running tradition. Bunnings’ annual bear drop has been celebrating trades and the people behind them since 2007, with this year’s character, Billie, representing women in trade apprenticeships.
Blind boxes have been around forever. What’s new is seeing one dressed in hi-vis and sold next to the pot plants. You could reason that Bunnings didn’t create the trend, but it beat it by 10 per cent.
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