Porter Airlines is extending last year’s “The Little Things” brand platform by jumping into a new product category: blind boxes.

Created in collaboration with Toronto-based Academy, each Little Things blind box comes packaged with one of five limited-edition collectibles for consumers to purchase and unbox, including a Mr. Porter figure and two different aircraft used by the airline. To make the chase more exciting, Porter has only produced 5,000 blind boxes in total (or 1,000 of each item) to increase the rarity of each collectible and has also included a Golden Porter Pass in 20 of the boxes, which lucky passengers can redeem for 20 free flights to any destination to which Porter flies.

Academy partner and head of strategy Sabrina Babooram tells strategy that the blind boxes kick off the airline’s 20th anniversary celebrations by giving passengers a tangible way to take home the small moments and experiences that make Porter feel distinct from its competitors. The agency landed on blind boxes as the best strategy for this, as the unique format adds a layer of anticipation and surprise when passengers unbox them.

Image courtesy of Porter Airlines

“We were quite deliberate about what made the collection: each piece had to retain the feeling or personality of the Porter experience when taken out of the aircraft,” says Babooram. “Ultimately, it gave us a way to extend the brand into people’s lives without losing what makes those little things meaningful in the first place.”

The collectibles will sell exclusively through Porter’s e-commerce site until supplies last, with fulfillment slated for later in November. On top of handling creative strategy and product design, Academy will also amplify the reach of the collectibles with a launch campaign spanning owned, paid, earned media, social and PR.

One vital detail Babooram wanted to include with each collectible is a keychain attachment, allowing it to be carried around on any consumer’s bag as a charm. While traditional advertising methods can tell people what makes Porter different from other airlines, the collectibles become a piece of the experience that they own and can showcase to others to spread awareness like no media buy can accomplish, she adds.

Porter Airlines president Kevin Jackson says that while he can’t give away any additional 20th birthday celebrations in the works, the blind boxes also serve as one of the airline’s first entries into merchandise, which passengers have asked about for years.

“We see the birthday as an opportunity to build on ‘The Little Things’ platform in new ways, while staying true to the details and experiences that have made Porter distinctive over the past two decades,” says Jackson. “The positive feeling of flying with Porter is intangible in many ways and its something that we want to capture and represent overall.”