When you open a blind box, four words decide how lucky you got: regular, secret, super-secret, and mega (sometimes called "chase"). They look interchangeable on Reddit threads but they map to very different odds. Here is what they actually mean — and how to read pull rates without doing maths in your head every time.
The four tiers, in order
Regular — the common figures in a series. A typical 12-figure series will have 11 or 12 regulars, each with roughly equal odds. If a series has 12 regulars, your chance of pulling any specific regular from a sealed box is about 1 in 12, ignoring the secret slot.
Secret — the rare bonus figure that isn't shown on the box artwork (or is shown as a question-mark silhouette). On a Pop Mart series, the secret is usually distributed at a ratio like 1:72 or 1:144. A 1:72 ratio means that across a sealed case of 72 boxes, roughly one will contain the secret. You are not guaranteed it — it's an average.
Super-secret — a tier that only some series have. When present, the ratio is much rarer than the secret: 1:288, 1:576, sometimes far rarer. Some collectors call these "ultra-secrets" or "hidden secrets". The brand doesn't always confirm they exist before launch.
Mega / chase — the rarest classification. Often used for one-of-a-kind production variants, signed pieces, or seeded promotional pulls. If you see a "1:1000+" figure being talked about, this is the tier.
Reading the ratio honestly
Two things to remember:
- 1:72 is not a guarantee. Probability is per-box, not per-case. Buying a full case improves your odds substantially but doesn't promise anything. Treat secret pulls as a happy surprise, not an entitlement.
- Ratios are brand-published, not law. Pop Mart publishes the ratio for most series on the box. Some smaller IPs and partner brands don't. If a series has no published ratio, anything you read online is community estimation.
What "the chase" means socially
Among collectors, "chase" tends to mean whichever figure people are willing to pay the most for on resale, not necessarily the rarest by ratio. Sometimes a regular is the most coveted because it's the most beautiful, even though it's not rare. This is why prices on secondary marketplaces don't always track the rarity tier — they track desire.
How Shelfd labels rarity
In the Shelfd catalogue, every figure has one of these four labels, set from the official source where available. If we couldn't confirm the tier, the figure is left untagged rather than guessed. If you spot one that should be tagged, the catalogue is open to community correction.