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Bloks' IP-figure bet: Ultraman blocks from a ¥225M loss to a 5,999x-subscribed HK IPO
A Youzu co-founder bet kids would pay for licensed buildable figures; Ultraman-driven Bloks went from a ¥225M loss to a 5,999x-oversubscribed HK IPO.
Bloks（布鲁可）
What the business is
Bloks designs and sells buildable character toys (拼搭角色类玩具): block-based figurines under ~50 licensed IPs — Ultraman, Transformers, Naruto, Marvel — plus own IPs (百变布鲁可, Hero Infinity 英雄无限), sold across China and overseas.
Starting capital：IPO raised ~HK$1.67B (~US$215M) at HK$60.35 per share (top of the range); earlier backers included Legend Capital, Source Code Capital, Yunfeng Capital and Gaorong Capital.
How it started
Zhu Weisong, a Shanghai Jiao Tong graduate and co-founder of gaming company Youzu Interactive, cashed out after Youzu's 2014 backdoor listing and founded Bloks the same year (initially as Putao Tech). He spent years on unprofitable educational bricks and own-IP animation (百变布鲁可) before signing Ultraman in 2021 and launching licensed buildable character toys in 2022.
What happened
The pivot worked immediately: revenue rose from ¥326M (2022) to ¥877M (2023) and ¥1.05B in H1 2024 alone, and adjusted profit turned from -¥225M (2022) to +¥72.9M (2023) and +¥292M (H1 2024). Ultraman alone was 63.5% of 2023 revenue and 57.4% of H1 2024. On 2025-01-10 Bloks listed on the HKEX (0325.HK) at HK$60.35, the top of the range: retail demand hit 5,999.96x oversubscription, shares opened +80% and touched +82%, valuing the company at about HK$21.9B.
How it ended up
Still scaling: brokers forecast 2024 revenue near ¥2.2B and adjusted profit near ¥600M (roughly tripling 2023), with 2025-2026 growth to continue; the open risk is that Ultraman's China license expires 2027 and Transformers' in 50+ countries expires 2028, and licenses renew for only 1-3 years without guarantees.
Background
Bloks (布鲁可) is a Shanghai toy company founded in 2014 by Zhu Weisong, co-founder of the gaming firm Youzu Interactive, which listed on the HKEX on 2025-01-10 (0325.HK). Its bet: Chinese kids and collectors would pay for 'buildable character toys' — block-based figurines of licensed IPs such as Ultraman and Transformers — making it China's answer to Lego and Bandai.
The pivot worked. Revenue rose from ¥326M (2022) to ¥877M (2023) and ¥1.05B in H1 2024 alone; adjusted profit turned positive in 2023 (¥72.9M) and hit ¥292M in H1 2024, with Ultraman alone at 57.4% of revenue. Frost & Sullivan ranked Bloks #1 in China (30.3% share) and #3 globally (6.3%) in the category by 2023 GMV (¥1.8B).
The IPO was a spectacle: retail demand was 5,999.96x oversubscribed, shares opened +80% at HK$109.6 and touched +82%, valuing the company around HK$21.9B. The structural risk is that ~97.8% of revenue is licensed: Ultraman's China license expires 2027, Transformers' in 50+ countries expires 2028, and renewals are never guaranteed — so Bloks is racing to build its own factory, own IP and overseas channels before the licensing clock runs out.
What has to be true
- Choosing licensed character figures, where kids' willingness to pay was proven by Ultraman fandom, let Bloks escape the low-margin unlicensed brick business.
- The Ultraman license (signed 2021) turned a category launch into instant demand, so marketing fell from 117.9% to 11.5% of revenue and the company hit profit in 2023.
- Going public at the peak of the 'goods economy' (谷子经济) craze, with 5,999x retail demand, gave Bloks capital for its own factory and global expansion.
- The bet is deliberately rented: ~50 licensed IPs (Ultraman, Transformers, Naruto) rather than original characters, which is fast but leaves renewal risk every 1-3 years.
What can be applied
A licensed-IP pivot can turn a stagnant toy business around fast, but growth built on third-party IP is rented, not owned — watch license expiry dates and build own IP before the clock runs out.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02, Bloks is live and scaling: it is building its own factory (due around end-2026) to cut reliance on third-party manufacturers (top-5 suppliers were 71.6% of purchases in H1 2024) and pushing overseas into the US, Southeast Asia and Europe. The structural bet remains unresolved: ~97.8% of revenue comes from licensed buildable figures, and Ultraman's China license runs to 2027 while Transformers expires in 50+ countries in 2028, with no guarantee of renewal.
Sources
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