PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

Today The 2021 PopCult Gift Guide gets small…not in a Steve Martin way, but today all five items we are suggesting as gifts are for miniature things.

These are great gift ideas for kids who love tiny objects, and also for adult hobbyists who need food and toys for their dolls and action figures.

5 Surprise “blind box” toys from Zuru are one of the hottest kids collectibles on the market right now. They have innovative packaging, a small portable size and are priced just right for kids to obsess over. Even the New York Times raved over how cool these toys are (months after yours truly had already sung their virtures here in PopCult). Our first four picks are new entries in Zuru Toys’ 5 Surprise Mini Brands line.

5 Surprise Mini Brands Mini Convenience Store

Build, display and expand your Mini Brands world with the newest playset replica, a 24-hour Convenience Store. The realistic Convenience Store design includes extendable shelving, fridge, drink dispenser, slushie machine, grab-n-go food warmer, as well as one exclusive Mini Brand collectible
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Bringing collectability, role play and storage all together, 5 Surprise Mini Brands Mini Convenience Store is the perfect gift for the kid (or adult) on your shopping list who loves to shop in miniature.

Recommended for ages four and up, Available at  Amazon now and other retailers soon.

5 Surprise Mini Brands Series 3

Hey, you have to be able to stock those store shelves with something.

The third series of the trend-setting 5 Surprise Mini Brands hit shelves in July, bringing 100 new iconic shopping brands to miniature form.

From the shape and color to the ingredients and barcodes, every aspect of favorite shopping brands like Wholly Guacamole, ICEE Cups, TGI Fridays, Bevita and PEZ are replicated perfectly to scale.

5 Surprise Mini Brands user-generated-content has clocked more than three bilion views on TikTok! Collect them all to create or enhance your mini shopping world.

A perfect stocking-stuffer, recommended for ages four and up. Suggested retail price is $6.99, Available at Target, Walmart and Amazon.

ZURU 5 Surprise Toy Mini Brands Series 1, Wave 2

For the meta collectors among us, as well as kids of all ages, we have a second series of ZURU 5 Surprise Toy Mini Brands. If you need toys for your dolls or action figures (and who doesn’t?), these are just what the tiny doctor ordered.

A super tiny Rubik’s Cube is among the nostalgic and contemporary toys now available in ZURU 5 Surprise Toy Mini Brands.

Made exactly to match their full-sized counterparts down to the packaging, the second wave of realistic miniature replicas – including Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora the Explorer, as well as a JoJo Siwa bow accessory and Nickelodeon Slime – there are now more than 60 5 Surprise Toy Mini Brands available in stores.

Each capsule includes four mini toys and toy shop accessories such as a shopping basket, cart, bag and shelves. The assortment includes rare metallic and glow-in-the-dark minis, and super rare golden Minis too.

Another great stocking stuffer idea, recommended for ages four and up. These have a suggested retail price of $6.99. Available at Walmart, Target, Amazon and other major retailers.

5 Surprise Toy Mini Brands Mini Toy Store

Sometimes when you collect toys, people visiting your house for the first time will say, “Why don’t you open a toy store?” They don’t realize that selling your toys, or even working in retail, is a horrific nightmare that many people would rather die than face. However, ZURU has come to the rescue with a “toy” Toy Store! So now you can have your toys, and a toy store too!

Build, store and display over 100 Toy Mini Brands with the ultimate toy store playset. The dream toy store includes shelves, accessories and magical extras like hidden compartments as well as a modular base allowing collectors to connect multiple units to build out an extraordinary little shopping world.

Includes 5 exclusive mystery mini toys, only available in the Toy Store (and it looks like some retailers might have different exclusive mini toys). Recommended for ages four and up, with a suggested price of $29.99 Available at Target, Walmart and Amazon.

Jada Nano Hollywood Rides

These are very affordable (usually less than ten bucks) 3-packs of  roughly 1/160 scale vehicles, based on hit movies and TV shows, and they are pretty cool stockign stuffers for the toy car collector or fan of the properties involved on your shopping list.

Their size is a bit odd, too small for HO Scale, but slightly off for N Scale, but they look really cool, and they display well with Micro Machines.

What makes these teensy vehicles so cool is that they depict some of the coolest pop culture vehicles ever. You can choose from Back To The Future, Batman (1966 and 1991), Harry Potter (a two-pack, since one of them is a triple-decker bus), GI Joe, Transformers, Fast & Furious and Jurassic World.

The detail is amazing for such tiny toy cars, and you can’t beat the price.

Recommended for ages three and up, these are small enough to hide on a desk at work, or collect in a very small space.

Available at most major toy retailers.