When it comes to creating competing products to well-known brands, no country does it better than China. But even legitimate China-made products can get a bad rep due to the country’s infamy as the land of knock-offs, though sometimes, there are diamonds in the rough.
And none shines brighter than Blokees, the China model kit and collectible company that’s making waves on a global scale with its turn of Transformers, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sesame Street, Ultraman and other well-known brands of toys.
Founded in 2014 as Shanghai Bloks Technology Group Co., Ltd., the company started making educational block toys targeted at kids, similar to those by LEGO’s DUPLO line or Mattel’s Mega Bloks. While information surrounding the company’s origins is sparse in the years that followed, somewhere along the line, it rebranded itself to Blokees and began focusing on plastic model kits in 2021, and that’s where it struck gold.
The secret sauce? Acquiring the right IPs (intellectual properties), and Blokees picked the perfect starting point, which was Much More Than Meets The Eye, with the massively popular Transformers franchise. While the model kit industry was largely dominated by Gundam, anime girls, or military vehicles, Blokees filled a void many model kit enthusiasts felt was sorely needed, even if it ironically started with a non-transforming toy lineup about transforming robots. And it didn’t stop there, as the company started acquiring even more iconic IPs over the years, totalling 32 at the time of writing, including Marvel and DC heroes, Star Wars, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Hatsune Miku.
So what makes Blokees so popular? For the entry-level series, Blokees releases each model kit in blind boxes, so you won’t know which figure you’re getting until you open it. Each Blokees product line offers several model kits, which are released in waves. Each wave offers a fixed number of these model kits, and every wave has at least one hard-to-find variant. If you want the whole set in a wave, buy the whole wave because even if you don’t score the variant, you’ll still be able to get every design within that wave in a sealed box.
If you happen to score that limited edition variant, buy the missing one from a fellow collector or trade it with them. Luckily, there are also product lines that don’t come in blind boxes, so what you see on the box is what you get.
With dozens of waves across 16 product lines, we can’t cover everything the company has released to date, so to help introduce the world of Blokees to model kit newcomers or enthusiasts looking for something new, here’s a handy breakdown of all its 16 product lines so far:
1. PreCOOL
Featuring Minions, Sesame Street, Marvel Heros and Ultraman
Healthy hobby habits are best taught from young, and that’s where PreCOOL comes in, with these easy-to-build beginner model kits spanning various family-friendly franchises. Spanning a gamut that covers the Minions, Sesame Street, Marvel Heroes and Ultraman, these kits offer decent articulation even with their simple build design, and also provide additional play features such as combinable diorama bases, interchangeable eyes or suction cups to stick the model kits on vertical surfaces.
2. Mokoo
Featuring Minions
This blind box line is exclusive to the Minions franchise, at least for now, and consists of two themes – N-Disguise and Summer Bello – each offering six model kits, with a chance for an additional secret variant. The main gimmick here is that each model kit is made of a base skeleton structure, which can then be built to form the full Minion, which does sound a little morbid but is actually pretty adorable.
3. Terraventure
Featuring Jurassic World
As another blind box line, this time themed to Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World franchise, these model kits range from iconic dinos to vehicles and even the iconic Jurassic Park gate. The range currently spans two series, each consisting of 12 miniature figurines (with a chance for a rare pull), with each box also including a separate piece that can be combined with the 11 others per set to form an additional dinosaur skeleton.
4. Warrior Version
Featuring Hero Spire
Based on China’s famous mythical and legendary model kits, Hero Spire is Blokees in-house IP, which takes famous historical icons like Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, or Ma Chao from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or Sun Wukong and Ne Zha from Chinese myths, decks them out in futuristic armour, and turns them into blind box model kits. There are eight editions of these model kits so far, with some offering unique gimmicks like the ability to collect mechs that the other model kits can pilot.
5. Armor Version
Featuring Hero Spire
This range is mostly similar to the one above, except it’s much larger in scale and comes in a more traditional model kit form instead of blind boxes. These model kits take a little more effort to build, but the trade-off is that they feature much better details and articulation, with most even coming with additional translucent effects parts for that added wow factor.
6. Galaxy Version
Featuring Transformers, Star Wars, Saint Seiya, and Ultraman
As perhaps the most comprehensive blind box line Blokees has, the Galaxy Version is basically the Hero Spire – Warrior Version mentioned above, except for all its third-party IPs. This was also the first model kit set that the company used to kick things off with the Transformers Galaxy Version 01, but to date, this line has ballooned significantly to include not just Transformers (consisting of G1, Transformers One, and IDW designs), but also Star Wars, Saint Seiya, and a whopping 15 different waves of Ultraman model kits. Just like all blind boxes, these sets come with rarer secret variations to collect, with some even providing combinable display bases.
7. Shining Version
Featuring Transformers and Kamen Rider
Essentially the same as the Galaxy Version, the Shining Version consists mostly of Transformers and Kamen Rider, but unlike the former, comes with an LED within the model kit’s chest, clear plastic head connectors and translucent eyes, offering a light-up feature when its head is tapped.
8. Classic Class
Featuring Transformers
As its name suggests, this line is the closest thing to a traditional model kit Blokees provides, offering kits with sprues in a similar scale to Bandai’s HG Gundam line, albeit with detail closer to its RG line. Initially, it only provided G1 Transformers kits, but the line has since evolved over the years to include Bayverse and Transformers One kits.
9. Champion Class
Featuring Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Saint Seiya, Pokémon, and Naruto
Initially focused solely on Transformers, Blokees eventually introduced Champion Class along the way, which offers other IPs like Marvel, DC or Star Wars and more on the same scale and quality level. Featuring an easy building experience and top-notch detail and articulation, the Classic and Champion Classes are perfect for the average model kit newcomer.
10. Defender Version
Featuring Transformers and Batman
These kits come in the same scale as the smaller model kits in the Galaxy line, and consist of only Transformers and Batman for now. The biggest draw, then, comes via the recently released Combiner Upgrade Kits, which provide the parts to turn some Transformers model kits across the various sets into Devastator and Bruticus, allowing fans to finally collect a Combiner without breaking the bank.
11. Action Edition
Featuring Transformers, Ultraman, and Evangelion
These larger, more comprehensive kits are basically Blokees’ counterpart to Bandai’s MG line, except with a much more accessible building experience. Featuring characters from Transformers, Ultraman, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, these model kits offer improved detail and articulation over the Classic / Champion Class, with some even featuring neat play details, such as massive effects parts seen with the EVA-00 kit, or the Soundwave Action Edition, which not only comes with four of his Cassettacons, but also a magnetically activated sound and lighting system that plays some of the characters iconic lines alongside light-up eyes.
12. Blokees Wheels
Featuring Transformers
Combining the joy of model building with that of collecting Hot Wheels, these miniature model kits feature Transformers in their vehicle forms, with additional gimmicks like opening hatches or cockpits. There’s also the CT01 Optimus Prime, which sees him in his trailer mode, which not just functions as a display piece, but can also be used as storage.
13. X Yearly Edition
Featuring Transformers and Ultraman
Positioned as a rarer, commemorative collection sold in waves of multiple model kits, the X Yearly Edition currently only come in three variations, Transformers Golden Lagoon, Transformers Dinobot Desertion and Ultraman Glittering Heroes. As their name suggests, the Transformers model kits come decked out in a gold finish, while the Ultraman ones feature multicoloured translucent plastic.
14. Legend Edition
Featuring Transformers, Evangelion, Naruto and Ultraman
As the largest sets of the bunch, and its newest, these are Blokee’s highest “grade” of model kits, and span Transformers, Evangelion, Naruto, and Ultraman. As its premium build line, these kits are large in both scale and accessories, with the Naruto Kurama set, for example, including both a Nine Tails model kit alongside an accompanying Naruto model kit, while the AE02 G1 Megatron Energy Explosion Version features a massive version of the iconic villain decked out in translucent purple parts.
15. Fantastics Edition
Featuring Hatsune Miku and Evangelion
Made in a similar scale to the Action Edition, this line features Hatsune Miku and the girls from Evangelion. Unique to this line are the special PVC soft-touch materials used in some parts of the Miku model kits, with each set also coming with a whole bunch of unique accessories like instruments, a massive tree-shaped base, or even parts of an EVA’s cockpit for some of the Evangelion model kits.
16. Serendipity Edition
Featuring Hatsune Miku
A line exclusive to Hatsune Miku, the Serendipity Edition features “Chibified” (a popular Japanese artistic technique that renders characters with exaggerated, cute, and childish features) versions of the iconic Vocaloid, which comes with equally cutesy outfits and additional accessories.
Bonus: Not for sale + exclusive convention items
But wait! There’s more, as if the above wasn’t quite enough yet, Blokees also offers unique sets and items that collectors can only get in a certain way. First up, there’s the gifts with purchase, additional items bundled in when purchasing Blokees sets online, which range from parts storage creatively shaped to look like Sharkticons or the Ark to entire mini sets like Shockwaves’ alternate gun mode or Unicron’s Head.
Lastly, there are the ultra-rare collector’s items, which consist of Lucky Draw kits, such as the gold-plated limited edition Hero Spire two-pack that can only be won via a lucky draw held back to celebrate Blokees being officially listed on the Hong Kong exchange, or a few ultra-rare Transformers kits like the pink Optimus Prime or clear Shockwave, which were only sold exclusively during conventions.
With so many lines already in its repertoire, and with new ones added practically every month or so, Blokees is just polishing its model kit crown at this point. These kits aren’t just affordable compared to their contemporaries on the market; their build quality and poseability are also impressive, especially considering their price points, which is quite literally what every collector dreams of, except the dream has now become a reality.
Now… if only Blokees could continue to expand their IPs to include video game franchises, with fan-favourites like Armoured Core, Titanfall, or maybe even Halo, which does sound like a long-shot, but this is Blokees we’re talking about, so it’s entirely in the realm of possibility.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Yonk
