Great idea, I'll think I'll borrow it!

Sign on earphone display Miniso, New Westminster

If you are going to spend your hard-earned money on a set of earphones it is nice to be able to give them a "test drive" first.

Sign on earphone display, Miniso, New Westminster (Detail)

And the important thing is how they sound, not how they look, or how you'll look using them. So this sign with a silhouette of a person using the earphones is a good way to promote the product.

2005 advertisement for Apple iPod
(Source: https://naotw-pd.s3.amazonaws.com/images/iPodposters.jpg)

It is just a bit of a shame that the Miniso sign is exactly the same concept as this 2005 advertisement for the Apple iPod.

They liked my idea so much they adopted it

Oil Pastel display, Miniso, New Westminster (January 15, 2018)

I was visiting the Miniso store in New Westminster and noticed this display for oil pastels. The packaging has a rectangular handle at the top. When displayed using a single peg the packages hang at an angle.

Oil Pastel display, Miniso, New Westminster (Original on the left, re-merchndised by me on the right) (January 15, 2018) 

I thought this looked a bit odd and so I changed one row over to use two pegs and thus hang straight.

Oil Pastel display, Miniso, New Westminster (January 18, 2018)

The staff at the store must have thought this was a good idea, because when I returned to the store three days later all of the merchandise that had a wide handle on this rack had been changed over to hang from two pegs. 

Perhaps I should get a job with the firm advising on visual merchandising?.

Labelling to limit information

Miniso multi-bit screwdriver set

Miniso multi-bit screwdriver set (Reverse)

Miniso multi-bit screwdriver set (Detail of label)

I need to disassemble a Macintosh computer to extract a disc from the DVD drive. According to my cursory examining, and instructions that I found online, I will need to use three different sizes of Torx screwdrivers; T-6, T-8 and T-10.

This small multi-bit screwdriver set included all of the sizes that I will need. The problem is that the list of all of the sizes include in the set is obscured by a sticker that lists the names and addresses of the Miniso distributors in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

Why does the packaging for a product sold in Canada need to include the names of distributors that are located halfway around the world?  

Thermos® Evidently sometimes it's a trademark, and sometimes it's not.

In Canada, Thermos® is a registered trademark of Thermos LLC. But evidently not everyone at Miniso knows that. Of the three vacuum containers that Minso sells, one uses the Thermos name. (Without the ®.)

On the other hand in Canada it is possible find Thermos products for sale that use the Thermos® name. 

"Genuine Thermos® Brand" travel mugs, Staples

What is likely to happen? Well Staples is in the clear, but if and when Thermos® gets wind of this infringement Miniso will get a tersely worded legal letter demanding that the firm, "cease and desist" using the Thermos name.

In addition to "Small size with good plasticity" a rather unexpected difference

When I saw this building set at Miniso, I thought that it looked like a standard LEGO knock off. 

"Big Ben" building set from Miniso

At $7.99 CAD, 346 pieces, and 14 centimeters tall it looked like a much smaller version of the LEGO set. (The LEGO set is $299.99 CAD, contains 4,163 pieces, and stands 60 centimeters high.)

LEGO "Big Ben" building set, #10253

Source: http://jaysbrickblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/LEGO-10253-Big-Ben-Front-View.jpg

But when I started to build the Miniso set I was very surprised by the size of the pieces. 

On top - Original LEGO blocks
On bottom - Miniso blocks

The Miniso blocks are over 25%smaller than the equivilent LEGO blocks.

This is the first time I have seen a copy of LEGO where the blocks are not the same size as LEGO's blocks. Why would Miniso do that? And then not give any hint about the reduced block size on the packaging. Unless of course that is what "Small Size with good plasticity" means.