TikTok

Conkers dubbed 'nature’s Labubus' in Autumnal 'blind box' TikTok trend

University of East Anglia issues 'do not eat conkers' alert to students
Bang Showbiz - Bang Bizarre / VideoElephant

As the crunchy orange leaves fall to the ground, the weather gets chillier, TikTok's 'blind box' opening trend has been given an Autumnal spin...

Forget Labubus or Sonny Angel dolls, we're going back to nature as people have been sharing videos of themselves "unboxing" conkers from their spikey casing.

That's right, conkers. The childhood staple growing up from collecting them to finding the best one to compete in a conker tournament with your schoolmates - talk about a nostalgic throwback.

Now, Millennials and older Gen Zs bring this classic playground pastime back by dubbing conkers as "nature’s Labubus" and "nature's blindbox", as the horse chestnuts have sparked a TikTok trend with people filming themselves collecting them and cracking them open to see what kind of conker they get (and sometimes even get more than one in a single case!)

Here are some of the best examples from the viral trend.

TikToker Jamie (@hotbeigemate) shared a video of his conker unboxing where he unveiled two conkers in one of the spikey green cases, which has racked up over 725,000 views, and he has dedicated his entire account to posting videos like this.

@hotbeigemate

conker unboxing 3

Viewers in the comments shared their thoughts and their own conker-collecting experiences.

"I found 3 in 1 the other day! It was massive," one person said.

A second person added, "I felt the excitement for you."

"Found a few decent sized quads the other day was soo gassed," a third person shared.

Similarly, Mollie (@mollieart) posted a video of herself "opening nature's blind box" and was excited to see she got two conkers in one case.

"Conkers are nature’s blind box that keeps on giving! I can’t believe I got the twins!" she wrote as the video caption which now has over 751,000 views.


@mollieart

Conkers are nature’s blind box that keeps on giving! I can’t believe I got the twins!! 🐰🎃❤️ #blindbox #trinkets #autumn #autumnaesthetic #fyp

In the comments section, people revealed some of their memories of collecting conkers.

One person shared, "Me and my grandparents collect them every year because there are conker trees everywhere where they live and last year we got 105."

"I used to LOVE breaking these open as a kid," a second person said.

A third person added, "Used to walk past a house that had a garden full of conkers every year on the way home from school as a little kid, and I was obsessed."

"Favourite fall activity ever," a fourth person said.

"This is why England is the best," TikToker @phoebeisginger1 declared in her conker unboxing video.

In the caption, she added, "CONKERS ARE TRULY THE BESt thing about living in england. I LOVE CONKERS."

@phoebeisginger1

CONKERS ARE TRULY THE BESt thing about living in england. I LOVE CONKERS 🌰🌰#fyp #conkers #england #britishculture #autumn

The video now has 5.3 million views and viewers in the comments shared their thoughts.

One person said, "Childhood memories unlocked."

"Conkers! I haven't played conkers for donkeys years!" a second person wrote.

A third person added, "Tbh never thought I'd come across a video like this, but I actually love it."

"We used to use these in primary school as currency, we sold mud/stone/grass cakes for these," a fourth person recalled.

But that's not all, as people are also sharing how they use conkers for other things, such as a spider repellent, to a natural washing detergent.

However, horse chestnut conkers are poisonous and should not be ingested.

It's fair to say blind boxes have become a hugely popular type of content on TikTok, with plush toys such as Labubu's being sought after, while there have been 4M creations under #blindbox and more than 209K under #blindboxopening on the platform.

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