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Sun Yuanwen: From Uniqlo Management Trainee to Founder of TOP TOY on the Path to Pop Toy IPO

Founded: Sun Yuanwen · TOP TOY International Group (Pop Toy brand under MINISO Group)

JOURNEY

Key Fields

FIELD STAMPS
IndustryE-commerce / Retail
RegionChina
ScaleMid-size
ChannelOther

Origin

Sun Yuanwen entered the retail industry in 2013 as a management trainee at Uniqlo, promoted to regional manager in 2018, and later joined MINISO as operations director for the business division. In 2020, Ye Guofu proposed the interest-driven consumption strategy, judging that Gen Z is willing to pay for IP and emotional value. Realizing that the core '10-yuan store' mindset of the MINISO master brand could not support higher-ticket pop toys, Sun Yuanwen spearheaded the internal startup. In December 2020, the first store opened at Zhengjia Plaza in Guangzhou, positioning itself as a global pop toy collection store covering blind boxes, building blocks, figures, and assembling Gundam models, with prices ranging from 59 RMB to over 10,000 RMB.

Milestones

2013
Accumulation of Retail Fundamentals Turning Point
Sun Yuanwen entered the industry in July 2013 as a Uniqlo management trainee, undergoing standardized store operations training in Japanese retail, and was promoted to regional manager in June 2018. This experience allowed him to master large-store traffic flows, merchandising, and inventory turnover methods, laying the groundwork for operating large pop toy collection stores exceeding 400 square meters. It also explains why TOP TOY dared to open large stores rather than grid shops from the very beginning. This phase lasted from 2013 to 2018.
2020
Brand Foundation and First Store PMF
In December 2020, TOP TOY's first store opened at Zhengjia Plaza in Guangzhou, covering over 400 square meters with a turnover of more than 1.08 million RMB in the first three days. The strong sales of the first store validated the pop toy collection store model: leveraging MINISO's supply chain and site-selection capabilities to aggregate external IPs such as Marvel, Disney, and Sanrio, filling the gap for multi-brand collection stores outside of Pop Mart's proprietary IP specialty stores.
2021
Expansion and Profitability Validation Growth
Relying on the MINISO system to rapidly replicate stores, revenue reached 1.461 billion RMB and adjusted net profit reached 213 million RMB in 2023, making it the group's de facto second growth curve. During this period, TOP TOY adopted an asset-light strategy featuring a high proportion of externally sourced IP collaborations, which also planted hidden risks such as weak proprietary IP and being criticized as a channel operator rather than an IP company. This phase lasted from 2021 to 2023.
2025
Expiration of Initial Listing Application Failure
TOP TOY made its initial filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2025, but the prospectus lapsed after six months without completing the hearing. Market valuation divergence in the pop toy sector, questions regarding the low proportion of proprietary IP revenue, and concerns over earnings sustainability caused the initial push to fall short, exposing the capital market discount on a channel-heavy, content-light model.
2025
Financial Surge Growth
According to MINISO's 2025 financial report, TOP TOY's annual revenue under the comparable caliber grew 94.8% year-over-year to 1.916 billion RMB (alternatively disclosed under consolidated caliber as annual revenue of 3.587 billion RMB and adjusted net profit of 522 million RMB). Hits launched in 2024 included Disney's Lotso-themed figures and Sanrio's amusement park series building blocks. GMV reached approximately 4.2 billion RMB, and Frost & Sullivan recognized it as China's largest and fastest-growing pop toy collection brand.
2026
Second Filing and Going Global Turning Point
On March 31, 2026, TOP TOY filed its IPO for the second time with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange using a Cayman Islands restructured architecture, with JPMorgan Chase, UBS, and CITIC Securities acting as joint sponsors, planning to raise approximately 300 million USD for store expansion and IP development. As of March 2026, overseas stores surged from single digits to 39, entering markets such as Japan and Malaysia, with global stores totaling 334 by the end of 2025, attempting to hedge concerns over domestic growth peaking with a globalization narrative.

Turning Points

  • In 2020, Ye Guofu established the interest-driven consumption strategy, upgrading pop toys from a single product category in MINISO into an independent brand and large-store format.
  • The expiration of the initial IPO filing in September 2025 forced the company to strengthen its proprietary IP narrative and restructure into a Cayman holding architecture.
  • During the second IPO filing in 2026, globalization was made the core narrative, with overseas stores surging from single digits to 39 within a year.

Failures & Pitfalls

  • The initial HKEX IPO filing in September 2025 failed to progress within the six-month validity period, causing the prospectus to lapse and delaying the listing schedule by over half a year.
  • The low proportion of revenue from proprietary IP led to repeated questioning by the market and media regarding its fundamental nature as a stamp-collecting channel operator, making valuation logic difficult to benchmark against Pop Mart.
  • Over-reliance on the MINISO blood-supply system—with MINISO Group holding an 86.9% stake—means independent brand momentum and independent pricing power have yet to be fully validated.

关键成功要素

  • Leveraging MINISO's supply chain, site selection, and franchise system to achieve industry-leading startup costs and expansion speeds for pop toy collection stores.
  • Covering a broad customer base ranging from 59 RMB blind boxes to 10,000 RMB collector editions using large stores and full price ranges, creating a format dislocation with Pop Mart.
  • Rapidly scaling up through external IP collaboration hits from Disney, Sanrio, and Marvel, while subsequently making up for proprietary IP weaknesses through joint ventures like HiTOY.
  • Decisively spinning off during the consumer IP listing window, supporting the independent financing story with secondary filing and overseas expansion data.

Lessons

  • Internal startups should make good use of parent-system resources, but cannot rely solely on them; the capital market will question independent value after leaving MINISO.
  • Channel-type brands grow quickly, but their ceiling and valuation logic are constrained by IP bargaining power, meaning content shortcomings must be resolved before listing.
  • An expired initial filing is not the end; filing a second time with stronger revenue and net profit data may instead secure a better pricing narrative.
  • First-store validation for new formats is extremely vital; early signals such as 1.08 million RMB in revenue over the first three days provided the decision-making basis for subsequent expansion into hundreds of stores.

Core Data

  • 2023 Revenue：1.461 billion RMB (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • 2025 Revenue：3.587 billion RMB (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • 2025 Adjusted Net Profit：522 million RMB (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • 2025 GMV：Approximately 4.2 billion RMB (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • Global Store Count at End of 2025：334 stores (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • Overseas Store Count as of March 2026：39 stores (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • Planned IPO Fundraising Amount：Approximately 300 million USD (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)
  • MINISO Shareholding Ratio：86.9% (Publicly disclosed caliber, independent review not verified)

Competitors / Peers

The most direct benchmark is Pop Mart: the latter has built a content empire with a market capitalization exceeding 400 billion HKD anchored by proprietary IPs like MOLLY, whereas TOP TOY follows a channel route combining collection stores and collaborative items, where weak proprietary IPs cause its valuation logic to be treated differently by the market. 52TOYS has also filed for a HKEX IPO, focusing on collectible toys and original mecha. Kayou entered the young-demographic market through cards and has already gone public, proving the explosive potential of niche categories. In addition, MINISO's master brand IP collaboration zones create internal diversion, and Bloks has established an independent listed company in the building blocks track, rapidly shifting the pop toy sector from a blue ocean into stock competition centered on IP reserves and overseas expansion speed.

Sources

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⚠️ This entry draws on self-reported accounts and public reporting, not independently verified, and is not investment, startup, or legal advice; revenue figures are case-specific and not representative of typical results.