My Tricks for Blind Boxes Pt. 1
Ok I know there’s a bunch of collectors out there who’ve all perfected their own method, and are quick to point out what’s wrong with this, that, and the other thing.
I’m not here to tell ya your method ain’t working out, I just wanna tell ya what has worked for me, and maybe it can help you too.
First off I’ve always been a shake the box kinda person, even as a kid and I’d just wanna give it a shake and see if I could hear what it was [don’t judge me I was small], but over the years I’ve developed some spacial awareness with my hands [still look dumb as hell doing it]. But before I explain that method, let me talk about the newest addition to my mystery figure solving ways-
My handy dandy pocket scale. This little bastard goes everywhere with me, just in case I stumble upon some new blind boxes [or bags] and feel like trying my luck. This little goober is smaller than my phone so it’ll fit almost any pocket, and it can weigh up to 600 grams.
I understand that weighing your boxes carries some controversy, so I’m gunna try to explain the benefits and touch on some of the problems.
The biggest problem with weighing something is the figure molds. The best-worst example of this that I can think of is the aperture science mystery mini turrets-
If all the molds for the figures are similar in shape or pose, then the weights are all going to be incredibly close, making it basically impossible to pick out the one you want. In this case neither the scale, or the shake method is gunna help you out, you just gotta save up and start buying cases at this point.
The other issue that comes with weighing, which collectors tend to fuss about, is that there are some packaging aspects that can throw off the weight. First, a list of some of the common things that can throw off a weight, and how to be clever when running into this problem.
Duplicate molds/similar molds [already talked about, god be with ye if this is what yer dealing with]
Extra packaging
Heavier paint job
When I say extra packaging the thing that most easily comes to mind is the plastic wrap around the boxes. This can come in several different ratio’s, I’ve seen a mix of these different wrapping spreads all in the same case before.
This is a very rudimentary diagram, but as you can see there’s the standard plastic wrap that holds down the corners and keeps people from popping the box open and snagging the baggy inside [usually]. Then there’s the tight wrap that looks like the person sort of got distracted and put a little extra plastic on. And then there’s the box or 2 that’s wrapped all the way around [and I’ve bought one or two on a whim, and lemme tell ya it’s not always something exclusive, it’s just a mean little trick].
The cardboard boxes usually don’t weigh more than 0.2g more than each other, and the black plastic bags are even more standard. Which means it’s the plastic around the outside of the box that’s gunna add that little extra bit of weight that might throw you off [possibly up to 0.4 g if it’s all around].
The last thing that can affect the weight of your blind box is if the character has a slightly heavier paint job, this is a manufacturing thing, maybe they needed that extra coat, I don’t know. But the coats are usually thin, meaning it shouldn’t go over half a gram [and even that’s pushing it].
Now my most recent venture has been to collect all the kingdom hearts Mystery Minis.
And the molds vary enough that the weights don’t overlap too much [I think only 4/12 characters have similar weights]. And since all the figures are a 1/12 chance per case, as long as it’s a new case you can probably figure out which one you’re holding by shaking the box.
Since this post is getting a little long, I’ll explain the shake method in another post.
Oh and if anyone wants me to post weights, I’ll be more than happy to do that.
I know that as someone that uses a scale, and sometimes only wants one or 2 figures out of the whole set [listen, there’s a lot of cool mystery mini figures out there, but I’m kinda picky about which ones I want in my collection], I really appreciate the people that post weights so I can go out, buy the one I want, and not have to fuss about in the aisle for 20 odd minutes trying to math out what the rough weights of the figures should be based on the checklist on the back of the box.
I would be more than happy to be the kinda person that posts all the weights for everything, if I had that kinda money.
Part 2
https://blindbaghell.tumblr.com/post/173536335709/my-tricks-for-blind-boxes-pt-2
[I don’t know how to shrink this]
