Imagine you’re walking down the street and stop to peer into a store window, you see rows and rows of colorful minifigures! Small Sanriro figurine, Sonny Angels, Calico Critters, and more. Your eyes are blasted with a bunch of miniature little creatures and other colorful knickknacks. Trinkets, trinkets and more trinkets, but what are these and what’s the popularity associated with them? Trinkets are small pieces of inexpensive objects that can range from small minifigures, jewelry, stamps, and much more.
The joy that comes with these extremely small objects is profound because it adds to your daily needed source of serotonin, a neurotransmitter and hormone known as the “happy hormone” that is important for regulating your mood and well-being. Aside from that, these objects are sentimental to others because they hold memories that are larger than their size, and in general, the joy of collecting them.
These are “just plastic” but for others they are more than just “plastic.” Coming from a self-certified trinket collector, people find immense joy from collecting trinkets because it allows them to notice the smaller and inexpensive things in life.
Trinket collecting date back to 40,000 years ago, but they have been even more prevalent in the 19th and 20th century; they have definitely creeped back in sync with the modern trends. Fun fact: 40,000 years ago, archaeologists found shells, unusual objects and lumps of iron pyrite in prehistoric caves, signifying early evidence of the human instinct to trinket collecting.
Nowadays, trinket collecting takes the trendy form of minifigure blind boxes, such as: Sonny Angels, Hello Kitty, Popmart figurines, Legos, Calico Critters, and etc. Many people have shared over social media platforms such as: TikTok or Instagram of them unboxing blind boxes to share to viewers of what they got, this piqued the interest of many viewers and caused the sales of these to skyrocket worldwide.
Richmond Hill High school students have been seen supporting this trend. Senior Maryum Bibi said, “When I’m stressed it’s a way of a coping mechanism. These blind boxes bring one tiny joy.”
Others may view trinket collecting as a form of emotional boast into their daily lives. Senior Madeline Caro-Moyotl claims how it gives her “motivation” to work throughout the day and that “It makes me happier and it boosts my mood throughout the day.”
Students like me have decorated their phones, bookbags, and clothing with pieces they hold significant too, whether it be keychains, stickers, pins, you name it – it reveals a student’s identity and the things they take interest in. Therefore, if you seek to find an ounce of joy, maybe try finding the trinket that feels connected to you personally. It can do anything that is small and is significant to you! Here are some of my trinkets of and the collection of students that wanted to share:
