Across Australian shopping centres, sealed mystery toys have quietly borrowed the emotional architecture of gambling — offering children the same cycle of anticipation, randomness, and disappointment that drives poker machines. Researchers at two Australian universities are raising the alarm as the global market approaches $34 billion annually, while countries like China and Singapore move toward regulation and Australia remains without consistent rules. The deeper question being asked is not whether children should collect, but whether the design of these products is shaping young minds in wa