No intention to ban blind boxes: Shanmugam
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Blind boxes are sealed packages that contain random collectibles from a stated series, such as trading cards, figurines, toys or accessories.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
- Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said safeguards will be proportionate to gambling risks.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs is engaging stakeholders and will announce specific regulations later this year.
- Blind boxes, containing random collectibles with varied odds, pose gambling inducement risks, prompting new regulations.
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SINGAPORE – The authorities do not intend to ban blind boxes, and proposed safeguards for these products will need to be proportionate to their gambling risk, said Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.
In a written reply to Parliament on May 7, he said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is currently engaging industry stakeholders and will share specifics of the proposed regulations later in 2026.
Responding to a parliamentary question from Mr Kenneth Tiong (Aljunied GRC) about the upcoming regulations, Mr Shanmugam said the regulations aim to mitigate the gambling inducement risk of blind boxes and also trading card packs.
“We do not intend to require the sellers of blind boxes, of trading cards or otherwise, to open the sealed boxes and sell the contents as individual items,” he said.
“This would effectively ban blind boxes. Any proposed safeguard will need to be proportionate to the gambling inducement risk of the product.”
Blind boxes are sealed packages that contain random collectibles from a stated series, such as trading cards, figurines, toys or accessories.
Buyers do not know what collectible they will get, and the odds of getting specific collectibles are not always disclosed explicitly by manufacturers.
In many instances, blind boxes also contain “rare” collectibles, which are even harder to obtain.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, had previously revealed plans to regulate blind boxes after a parliamentary question from Mr Dennis Tan (Hougang) on Feb 12.
He said then that the authorities had decided on this after studying the issue, and that regulations were already being drafted and would be shared in due course.
On Feb 26, MHA confirmed that trading card packs sold here would also be part of the new regulations.
The booming blind box toy market is projected to be worth US$24.2 billion (S$30.6 billion) by 2033.
One of the most popular blind-box collectibles is Labubu, a Pop Mart character.
Aside from toymakers, many other companies have also offered blind boxes featuring collectibles related to their businesses, among them KFC and FairPrice.
In China, businesses are banned from selling blind boxes to children under eight due to concerns over potential addiction.
There are currently no laws in Singapore explicitly targeting blind boxes.
Mystery boxes, however, are disallowed, with the police warning mystery prize vending machine operators in 2018 that these were a form of public lottery.
