Recently, we checked out the Sugoi Mart Anime Set, which includes a variety of anime items. One of them I wanted to have a closer look at is the blind boxes that you can buy from Sugoi Mart. So we’ve gone ahead and had a few sent to us, along with a pack of trading cards.
Today’s theme; Pokémon! I thought it appropriate, with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet around the time of writing.
What we’re looking at today:
- Pokemon Bonsai Blind Box
- Pokemon Starrium Gliterring Stars Blind Box
- Pokemon Terrarium Blind Box Vol. 8
- Pokemon Cards 25th Anniversary Collection Single Pack
What’s a Blind Box?
If you’ve not come across blind boxes before, they’re a box with a random figure inside, chosen from a small set of them. In this case, each of the blind boxes we’re looking at in this article has six different possible figures that could be inside. Will you catch your favorite Pokémon from the set? It’s all down to luck.
Bonsai Blind Box
The Pokemon Bonsai Blind Box focuses on the concept of Pokémon with Japanese bonsai trees.
Unboxing the one we received, I found a Poliwag and Goldeen, along with a branch and water setting. In terms of Pokémon selection, this is one of the less popular ones in the set, with Pikachu, Alolan Vulpix, Lucario, Ho-oh, and Mawile being the other options. This is the nature of blind boxes! That said, the water setting is particularly nice. It uses a translucent water layer and has Goldeen half-below the water for effect.
This came in several pieces but was fairly easy to assemble. It did take a few attempts to correctly angle the Goldeen with the hole in the water, but after putting it together, it stayed firmly in place.
Starrium Glittering Stars Blind Box
The Pokemon Starrium Gliterring Stars Blind Box focuses on cosmic themes. As you can guess by the name, there are a lot of stars involved in this set.
Plusle and Minun came out of this box, along with a set of scales and stars. It uses this pair of Pokémon well as both counterweights and counterparts to balance on the scales.
This figure includes quite a lot of small parts, but it was easy to put together despite a lack of instructions. The Pokémon and the stars sit loosely on the scales, while most other parts hang on the hooks via small loops.
This is my personal favorite series of the Pokémon blind boxes.
Pokemon Terrarium Blind Box Vol. 8
The Pokemon Terrarium Blind Box doesn’t have a theme, aside from that they’re all in Pokéballs as little Terrariums.
Unboxing this one revealed Flareon, the fire Eeveelution, with some ground, sunflowers, and a clear Pokéball.
This looks quite nice when it’s together, though I will say I had some trouble putting the flowers in. Unlike the others, they were quite easy to knock out. Still, it all looks nice when in place and on display.
Pokemon Cards 25th Anniversary Collection Single Pack
Finally, not a blind box, but we’ll add it in here anyway; the Pokemon Cards 25th Anniversary Collection Single Pack. It’s a similar enough concept – open the pack to find random cards from a set.
This pack of cards always contains 5 cards that are all holos as it’s a special commemorative set. You can see all of the 38 possible cards here, but in short, it includes 10 Pikachu variations, several legendaries, energy cards, and some more.
It’s worth stating outright that these are Japanese collectible cards, so the text is all in Japanese and they’re made of a different material.
I opened my pack to reveal:
- #5 Lugia
- #8 Dialga
- #14 Cosmog
- #16 Solgaleo
- 1x Electric Energy
Four legendaries and an energy card – not a bad result! The set itself is a nice mix of Pokémon from across different generations, so it works well as an anniversary collection, even if it is a bit Pikachu-heavy.
Final Thoughts
Ordering blind boxes or trading card packs, there’s some idea of what will come out of the box, but there’s a level of surprise. Sugoi Mart offers lots of different sets both from Pokémon and other series, so I imagine most will be able to find something they like. Or if you want to go big, there’s even a Pokémon Lucky Bag to try with cards, blind boxes, plushies, and more inside.
I certainly liked some more than others here, but they all look great up on display. I find myself wanting to grab more to get the ones in the set I like, which is what the blind boxes are all about.
Sugoi Mart has set up a 15% off discount code for our readers: NOOKGAMING15 – this should apply to all products if you enter it at the checkout.
Many thanks go to Sugoi Mart for sending out a sample for this feature.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
