Boxy Girls, from Jay@Play, tap into the “unboxing” trend—but with dolls doing the unboxing. Fourteen months after their creation, this line of dolls have made a name for themselves.
A Walmart exclusive, the 8-inch fashion dolls each come with four blind boxes full of accessories, shoes, makeup, and other fashion surprises. The premise is that the dolls purchase these surprise boxes themselves, online.
According to Joe Sutton, managing director of Jay@Play, the dolls combine two play patterns: fashion dolls and collectibility. Kids know which doll they are getting, but not which matching accessories.
The dolls’ physical features are specially designed to correspond with their name, including squared heads and square (or “boxy”), pixelated eyes. Sutton says this styling also gives the dolls diverse appeal.
“Little girls can see themselves in the dolls no matter what their background is,” Sutton says. “That’s what makes them so exciting, because there is no ethnicity as it pertains to Boxy Girls.”
While the dolls may not have a specific ethnicity, each comes with a name and personal interests that Sutton says help kids connect to the dolls and want to collect them all. The back of each box gives a snapshot of the doll’s specific interests, from sparkles and bling to the beach and boho fashion.
The first season features four dolls: Nomi, Riley, Brooklyn, and Willa. The second series is in development and will feature four new dolls: Mila, Hannah, Hazel, and Kiki. For the holiday season, Walmart is carrying a Boxy Girls Big Box, which includes 28 blind boxes and two exclusive dolls, Stevie and Everly.
“Girls that own Boxy Girls want to collect them,” Sutton says. “They want to be able to have the ability to interact with all of them”
The online shopping aspect of Boxy Girls, the original concept behind the line, is what makes them most unique. Kids can partake in the grown up activity of shopping online without actually doing so when they open the surprise boxes, each with a shipping label on its exterior and tissue paper wrapping the object inside.
For continued play, Walmart also sells fashion packs, which include six additional shipping boxes full of surprise accessories.
Walmart played a direct role in developing Boxy Girls and the dolls’ style. Jake Knight, an associate buyer for Walmart says the store is excited about Boxy Girls’ launching this fall.
“The items are off to a phenomenal start because the brand incorporates trends like unboxing, online shopping, and fashion surprises,” he says. “We are excited to see the brand grow.”
