Your Guide to Bearbrick: The origins, how and where to buy, plus more!

What is Bearbrick?

Bearbrick (stylized as BE@RBRICK) is a series of bear-shaped designer toys by Medicom Toy Inc and are most often sold in “blind box” assortments. The design is a variant of another popular line by Medicom, the Kubrick. Each figure appears as an anthropomorphized bear with a pot belly. Bearbricks are articulated, with the head, waist, arms, wrists, and legs all able to swivel.

The first ever Bearbrick was released in 2001, as a gift to visitors of the World Character Convention 12 in Tokyo. Not long after their initial debut, Bearbricks became a must-have collectible not just in design toy circles, but also in the world of hip-hop. Celebrity collectors of Bearbrick include Pharrell Williams, DJ Khaled, and BAPE founder Nigo.

Due to the sheer amount of variety when it comes to these designer toys, the world of Bearbrick can seem quite daunting to the would-be collector. But fear not, as this article has you covered! Read on to get the lowdown on the world’s favorite designer toy.

Bearbrick Types, Themes, and Rarity

Medicom releases 18 new Bearbrick per series; at the time of writing the latest is Series 37. Each Bearbrick drop is categorized under three different Bearbrick Types:

Bearbrick Types
· Standard The most common of all Bearbrick formats. All Bearbricks in this series are released under several different recurring “themes”.

· Basic: Solid-color Bearbricks with a letter of contrasting color on its chest. There are nine varieties of Basic Bearbricks in this set, which spell out the word Bearbrick when lined up. Their rarity is categorized as 14.58% by MediCom.

· Artist: Bearbricks made in collaborations with visual artists. Usually, two artist figures are released per Bearbrick series. MediCom rates Artist Bearbrick rarity as 4.26% or 1.04%.

· Secret: Unannounced designs that are usually of higher value and rarer than the above Bearbrick types. As such, MediCom ranks them as 0.52% in terms of their rarity, the highest of all the Bearbrick types.

Bearbrick Themes
While there are some outliers from this model, most Bearbricks fall under the following themes, with the blind box stating the rarity of each theme.

· Jellybean: Solid-color clear Bearbricks molded from translucent plastic. Their rarity is 11.44%.

· Pattern: These Bearbricks feature all-over patterns and designs ranging from polka-dots to more unique offerings from collaborating artists. MediCom rates their rarity as 11.45%

· Flag: Bearbricks painted with a nation’s flag, with a 9.37% chance of occurring.

· Animal: Bearbricks based on animals which have a rarity of 8.33%.

· Cute: Adorable Bearbricks that encapsulate the Japanese concept of “kawaii”. These Bearbricks have a rarity of 13.54%.

· Horror: These Bearbrick designs are based on well-loved horror film franchises or other sources from the horror genre. They occur at a rate of 9.37%.

· SF (Science Fiction): Bearbricks based on characters and themes from popular Sci-Fi franchises. Their rarity is 9.37%.

· Hero: The newest addition of the Bearbrick family, Hero Theme Bearbricks depict superheroes from DC Comics, with their chance of occurring being 7.29%.

Bearbrick Sizing

100% Bearbricks are considered the standard size of the figures, standing at 7 centimeters tall. The other Bearbrick sizes are named relative to this size: 1000% being 70 centimeters, the 400% at 28 centimeters, 200% at 14.5 centimeters, 70% at 5 centimeters and the 50% coming in at a tiny 3.5 centimeters! The bigger sizes of Bearbricks tend to be sold as-is and not in the blind box format.

There are some Bearbricks that fall outside of the typical shapes and sizes of the toy, categorized as “other”. While each size of Bearbrick has its own unique charm, the 400% and 1000% sizes are the favorites amongst serious collectors.

Bearbrick Collaborations

There is always huge hype around each new Bearbrick drop, especially as Medicom is known for collaborating with famous faces in the art, music, and fashion world. Some of the highest-profile collaborations have included Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, H. R. Giger, Casio, BTS, BAPE, and the Sex Pistols. Check out some of our favorite Bearbrick Collaborations below:

Bearbrick BAPE 25th Anniversary Multi-Colored Foil 1000%
MediCom created this Bearbrick with long-time collaborator BAPE to celebrate the legendary streetwear brand’s 25th birthday.

Bearbrick Chanel (Coco Chanel) 1000%
Luxury fashion brand Chanel teamed up with Medicom to create this suitably chic version of Chanel founder, Coco Chanel. It sold at a charity auction for $28,000, making her one of the most expensive Bearbricks ever.

KAWS “Chompers” Bearbrick 1000%
This Bearbrick named “Chompers” was designed by one of America’s most well-known graphic artists Brian Donnely, also known as KAWS. The Bearbrick was made in conjunction with the Japanese musical festival “a-nation”, selling at auction for $2,800.

Bearbrick Star Wars Stormtrooper Chrome 100% and 400%
This rendition of Star Wars’ iconic Stormtrooper was released at the 2015 Medicom Toy Exhibition alongside other Bearbrick versions of Star Wars heavyweights including Darth Vader and Boba Fett.

How to Buy Bearbrick

Unfortunately, Medicom’s online store does not take orders from outside Japan or ship overseas, making these already exclusive figures even more difficult to get your paws on. But that’s where FROM JAPAN comes in! FROM JAPAN’s proxy buying service allows you to buy directly from Bearbrick’s official Rakuten Store and have your Bearbrick shipped directly to your door. Start your Bearbrick collection now with FROM JAPAN!

1. Go to Bearbrick’s official Rakuten store.
2. Check the details of your item.
3. Create an account with FROM JAPAN.
4. Copy and paste the URL of the item page into FROM JAPAN’s order page.
5. Hit search and complete the price quote request form.
6. Wait for your FROM JAPAN price quote.