Unique Bearbrick hobby

Many children love the Bearbrick paint pouring model

Nowadays, many young people are willing to spend a lot of money and time and effort to hunt for unique Bearbrick models on the market.

Passion

Starting from her love for the appearance of Bearbricks, Ms. Nguyen Quynh Hoa in Hai Tan ward (Hai Duong city) has spent a year collecting these bears for herself. Initially, she only intended to buy 1-2 Bearbrick models to decorate her house, but the more she learned, the more attracted she was to this toy model. The most impressive in Ms. Hoa's collection are 10 Bearbrick models 80 cm high with different colors and patterns. Among them, we must mention the ceramic Bearbrick model with marble patterns, handmade. In addition to searching on social networks, Ms. Hoa asked her friends who live and work abroad to help her find and buy them. According to Ms. Hoa, buying Bearbricks is mainly done on social networks or hand-carried goods, so collectors are at risk of buying fake goods. Ms. Hoa herself has also fallen into that situation.

Ms. Hoa added that while 2-3 years ago, there were few people playing Bearbrick in Vietnam, now there is a large Vietnamese community participating in this hobby. Bearbrick models are not difficult to find. However, the most difficult to find are limited editions or versions that have been released for a long time but are still new. In addition, a Bearbrick version has a quantity of several thousand, but there are collections with only 24 pieces worldwide. Therefore, the value of each Bearbrick model is often expensive, ranging from several million to several tens of millions of VND. "Many people think that Bearbrick is a luxury toy, but perhaps the effort and time spent collecting them is really the most valuable thing," Ms. Hoa shared.

Footballer Nguyen Van Toan, from Hai Duong City, is also a famous "follower" in the Bearbrick collecting community. On his personal Instagram page, Van Toan often shares pictures of the Bearbrick he owns. Among them are some Bearbrick bears with a height of 0.7 m, size 1,000%, worth up to hundreds of millions of VND. The 1,000% size Bearbrick is also the largest version today, with a limited quantity, often appearing only in art exhibitions and special galleries. Owning a "fat-bellied bear" of this size not only proves the owner's "willingness to spend" but also shows his passion and deep research into this toy world.

The 1996-born player Van Toan also brought his favorite Bearbrick model to ask his teammates for autographs on the bear's body after winning the 2018 AFF Cup. Van Toan once revealed that he always brought his Bearbrick with him whenever he played abroad.

Footballer Van Toan owns many unique Bearbrick models (social media photo)

The first Bearbrick color pouring model in Hai Duong

Along with collecting, the Bearbrick coloring experience is also an interesting activity, helping customers design and choose colors to create their own bears at a reasonable cost. In Hai Duong, there is the first Bearbrick coloring model that is loved by many young people, which is the Dodome store in Ecoriver urban area.

Ms. Duong Viet Hong, owner of Dodome store, shared: “I learned about the model from abroad, then came up with the idea to implement it in Hai Duong since the beginning of this year. This new activity helps customers create their own decorations and relieve stress after hours of studying and working. Since its launch, I have received many positive feedbacks from customers. Many families bring their children to experience it on weekends.”

When coming here, customers will choose their own bear size and favorite color, and the staff will guide them on how to mix and color the Bearbrick. Depending on the size, the Bearbrick has different prices. Bears with the size of 8 cm are used as keychains or the size of 23-75 cm are chosen by many customers to paint and bring home to decorate. "I really like the Bearbrick. When I can color them according to my own creativity, I find it very interesting," Nguyen Bao Anh, a 3rd grader at Binh Minh Primary School (Hai Duong City) happily shared.

NGHIA AN