Trinkets and Blind Boxes: Little Guys Having a Big Impact on Gen Z

While many consumer trends currently center on thrifting and anything deemed vintage, one other industry Gen Z has chosen to indulge in is collectibles and trinkets. From blind boxes to keychain charms and lighters, Gen Z is consuming products they’ve deemed cute with an unmatched fervor.

Sonny Angels and Smiskis, produced and distributed by Dreams Inc., are character figurines that come in a range of designs sealed in “blind” boxes. Each box’s contents are a mystery until the buyer opens it. These characters have risen to fame across TikTok and Instagram, with companies such as CASETiFY collaborating on a blind box phone case series with Sonny Angels.

Each box includes a matching phone case and surprise Sonny Angel designed to attach to the back of your phone case. Others have chosen to display their elaborate collections on unique shelves or placed inside intricate miniature dollhouses. Even celebrities such as Bretman Rock have posted their own unboxing videos of the characters. Stores are struggling to keep up with demand, with some going as far as to set purchase maximums. With multiple series designed with unique themes and features, the possibilities are endless for consumers. But what makes someone want a box without knowing what is inside?

For Emma H. Lu ’26, a Crimson Arts Editor, it was her friend’s contagious joy that led her to buy her first Smiski.

“One of my best friends, Sophie — she really inspired me to get started with these things,” Lu said.

Entire communities have been built around collecting these figurines all across the world. Collectors have even developed a series of abbreviations that they commonly use to buy, trade, sell, and discuss all things Sonny Angels. Some consumers may simply collect Sonny Angels and Smiskis for fun, but for others, the reason dates back years — maybe even decades. Life in modern society is complicated, so it can be rewarding to find joy in the little things. Many find this joy in the trinkets that sit on store shelves, just waiting to go home with someone.

The idea of healing one’s inner child is not new, but it has come to the forefront of the media in recent years.

“I feel like this whole healing your inner child thing does play a big part in it,” Najya S. Gause ’26, Associate Arts Editor, said. “But I think the general target audience is probably teenage girls.”

Gause is right — Sonny Angels have been presented as a solution to the problems of girlhood. The company behind Sonny Angels even rebranded their slogan in 2018 to its current iteration: “He may bring you more happiness.”

But collecting doesn’t have to be fueled by some profound reason to be valid. To Gause, collecting trinkets has become a fun childhood pastime that she has carried into her adulthood.

“It’s like a game. If you’re gonna go to the flea market, maybe you don’t find the perfect pair of jeans or whatever, but maybe you’ll see a little miniature sculpture, and you want that, and you can just take that instead,” Gause said.

Gause’s sentiment reveals that a trinket can be anything consumers deem valuable. They need neither rhyme nor reason behind their decision to purchase or display an item on one of their shelves.

However, it isn’t much fun to only buy trinkets for yourself. An avid collector of Sonny Angels himself, Sean Wang Zi-Ming ’26, Associate Arts Editor, likes to share the joy of opening a blind box with his friends and loved ones by gifting them on special occasions.

“I think trinket consumption has lowkey always been part of our culture,” Wang said. “People like cute things, right?”

There is plenty of evidence that strongly supports Wang’s claim. While the official Dreams Inc. company does not currently sell Sonny Angel or Smiski keychains, many independent creators have taken to making their own. There is nothing a teenage girl with a pair of pliers, a pack of beads, and some ingenuity can’t do.

Whether they serve as room decor, paper weights, or little reminders of joy throughout the day, Sonny Angels and Smiskis have solidified their place in people’s hearts — or at least for now, they’ve found a semi-permanent place on people’s shelves.