Wonder Festival, the world’s largest anime and collectible figure expo, recently opened in Shanghai, drawing more than 100,000 fans from across the country. Long queues formed before dawn and first-day tickets sold out in four minutes. Inside the 100,000-square-metre hall, over 400 brand exhibitors and more than 2,000 individual creators displayed some 100,000 pieces, from classic IP collectibles to original works.

Crowds surged around limited-edition drops while creators nervously showcased their labor of love and vendor booths prompted repeated gasps. Data show Shanghai hosts 80 well-known anime-and-game brand stores and ranks first nationwide on both measures, feeding a rich offline scene of events, themed eateries and immersive play spaces.

In 2024, China’s IP trend-toy market topped 650 billion yuan (about 94 billion US dollars), making the country not only the fastest-growing consumer market but also a core source of IP incubation and manufacturing and a major engine for the global collectible toy industry.