The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2019–2021
Henan Museum's archaeology blind box buries replicas in real soil — ¥5.2M in 7 weeks
Sell a compacted block of Luoyang earth with a mini Luoyang shovel: buyers excavate hidden replica relics, turning blind-box luck into a real dig.
Henan Museum (河南博物院) · Luoyang Gudu Cultural Creative (洛阳古都文创)
What it had to solve
In the pandemic, Henan Museum was still capped at 75% of normal visitor flow, so its cultural-creative office needed an online product that stood out from the sticker-and-magnet souvenirs other museums sold. Partner studio Luoyang Gudu had done archaeology toys before; the museum wanted one no other museum could copy.
How it works
In late 2020, with museums still limiting visitors because of COVID, Henan Museum's cultural-creative office was looking for an online product with a difference. Instead of another logo-stamped notebook, it worked with partner studio Luoyang Gudu on an archaeology toy that used real soil: compacted blocks of earth from the Luoyang area, each hiding a replica relic and packed with a miniature Luoyang shovel.
The resulting 'Lost Treasures' archaeology blind box made buyers wet the block, dig it open with the shovel, and brush the find clean, ending with anything from a coin or bronze tripod to rare hidden items modeled on the museum's treasures, such as a replica of Empress Wu Zetian's gold tablet. Priced from 40 to 90 yuan, it launched in late 2019 but exploded from December 2, 2020, when unboxing videos and posts on Douyin, Weibo and Douban turned it into the season's most talked-about museum product.
Demand ran far ahead of supply: the Taobao store capped each 8pm drop at about 1,500–1,800 boxes and sold out in roughly a minute, and a separate 600-box drop disappeared in two minutes. Director Ma Xiaolin reported over 20,000 boxes sold in the first month for more than ¥2 million, and by late January 2021 total sales across channels reached ¥5.2 million. The museum's Weibo added 10,000 followers in a few hours during a giveaway, and the box lifted sales of its other cultural merchandise to record highs.
Why it lands
- Real soil from Luoyang's Mangshan gave the product authenticity and a story no copycat could easily replicate, anchoring it to an actual place.
- The miniature Luoyang shovel turned unboxing into role-play: buyers became archaeologists performing a ritual instead of just opening a prize.
- Blind-box rarity mechanics (tiers, hidden items, collection rewards) made single purchases the start of a repeat loop, not the end.
- The product doubled as content — every dig was filmable, which let buyers distribute the marketing on Douyin, Weibo and Douban for free.
- The museum kept iterating after complaints (empty boxes, boring coins), adding consolation badges, coin-collection chocolate and expert livestreams, so the product improved in public.
What it did
From its December 2, 2020 spike to late January 2021, all-channel sales reached ¥5.2 million, and in the first month alone over 20,000 units sold for more than ¥2 million. Nightly online batches sold out within about one to three minutes (600 boxes in two minutes per Shangguan), the museum's Weibo gained over 10,000 followers in hours, and sales of its other merchandise hit new highs.
What you can take
Give an everyday format a real process with authentic material, and the product stops being a random prize and becomes an experience people film, share and repeat — the soil itself was the moat.
Since then
Imitators appeared, so Henan Museum added anti-counterfeit codes and iterated publicly: empty digs earn a 'diligent' badge, and eight replica coins trade for coin-shaped chocolate with curator livestreams. The 2021 Spring Festival batch hid lucky coins in over 70% of boxes. The hit pushed Shaanxi History Museum, Sanxingdui and others into archaeology blind boxes, and Henan Museum's office said the format proved museums could build a self-funded cultural brand beyond ticket revenue.
Sources
- How the 'out-of-the-circle' museum archaeology blind box was born
- Archaeology blind box sells over ¥2 million in one month: what the Luoyang-shovel dig teaches cultural products
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