Before designer mylars became a defining feature of cannabis retail, flower was commonly sold in turkey bags and mason jars. Packaging eventually became part of the product itself. The original account traces this evolution from California's early branded packaging experiments through the gray-market explosion that reached New York by 2023.
2014: Connected and the Designer Bag Era
The original account identifies Connected International as one of the early pioneers of branded cannabis mylar packaging.
In 2014, the market was still dominated by turkey bags and mason jars. Connected introduced a different approach, helping establish the idea that packaging could function as part of a cannabis brand rather than simply hold the flower.
The original account credits Connected with popularizing one of the first branded mylar bags and helping establish a blueprint that other companies would follow.
The change was significant because it gave cannabis products a visual identity that could be recognized before a customer ever opened the package.
A bag could communicate the brand, distinguish a release and become part of the customer's experience.
2017: The Runtz Wonka Wave
According to the original account, just days before the 2017 Emerald Cup, Yung LB Litt and The Fire Society released a pink, Wonka-inspired Runtz mylar.
The bag was reportedly produced by Sticker Farmer.
According to the original account, this release helped establish the modern designer mylar trend.
The combination of a recognizable cannabis name, playful candy-inspired artwork and custom packaging demonstrated how a product's presentation could become an important part of its appeal.
The Runtz Wonka release represented another step away from generic flower packaging and toward limited, visually distinctive product drops.
July 1, 2018: Proposition 64 Changes Packaging
California's Proposition 64 created another turning point.
According to the original account, on July 1, 2018, loose flower sales ended and prepackaged mylar became the required standard.
The change created a new opportunity for growers and brands.
Instead of simply placing flower into a traditional bag at the point of sale, companies could develop packaging that reflected their identity.
The caption describes this as giving every grower a blank Photoshop canvas.
Packaging became a new area of competition, allowing companies to distinguish themselves through graphics, colors and design.
Candy Carts Become the Blueprint
The next influence came from flavored cannabis cartridges.
Fruit-flavored distillate products, including Dank Vapes cereal carts and Mario Carts, became prominent across Snapchat and Instagram menus.
Their presentation combined recognizable flavors with cartoon-inspired artwork.
The original account connects this marketing approach with the later development of designer flower packaging.
The same visual language that helped sell flavored cartridges could be transferred to mylar bags.
Candy-inspired names, colorful graphics and familiar cartoon imagery became part of the emerging packaging formula.
Downtown Los Angeles: The Toy District
Downtown Los Angeles became a major marketplace for cannabis packaging.
The original account identifies the Toy District as a center for bootleg packaging and counterfeit designer bags.
Fake versions of recognizable brands, including Cookies, Backpack Boyz and Runtz, were reportedly selling for approximately 10 cents per bag.
The market included designers, legitimate brands and counterfeit sellers.
The availability of inexpensive imitation packaging made it easier for sellers to reproduce the visual identities of established brands.
According to the original account, the Toy District became an important part of the packaging supply chain that would eventually reach New York.
September 2019: The Vape Panic and THC Pivot
The teen vaping backlash of September 2019 brought another shift.
The original account describes California and New York restricting flavored nicotine vapes and flavored blunts.
As flavored nicotine products faced restrictions, cannabis sellers increasingly turned toward THC products.
The caption describes the transition through the idea that if candy flavors were restricted in nicotine, they could continue in THC products.
The packaging became louder, the bags more distinctive and the spray technology more elaborate.
The relationship between flavored cartridges, terpene-infused products and designer packaging continued to develop.
2020: Pandemic Packs Go Global
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel in 2020, but according to the original account, DHL continued moving mylar packaging internationally.
Lockdowns increased demand, while online menus and informal retail networks became increasingly important.
The caption identifies several recognizable packaging themes that began flooding menus: Rick and Morty, Froot Loops and PlayStation.
The packaging market expanded alongside new approaches to treating cannabis products. The original account identifies distillate-treated flower, terpene-infused joints and flavored trim as part of the evolving product landscape.
Exotic flower reportedly reached $60–$80, while Instagram menus and trap tables continued growing.
B-Eazy: The King of Cereal Box Drops
Around 2020, B-Eazy emerged as a major figure in high-end mylar and cereal-box packaging.
The original account credits him with pushing exclusive rapper collaborations and developing packaging that functioned as a collectible.
His releases combined cannabis culture, recognizable imagery, exclusivity and hype.
The caption describes him as arguably the number-one trapper, associated with some of the street's most coveted designs.
His approach helped establish packaging as a collectible element of cannabis culture rather than merely a way to contain flower.
Summer 2022: New York's Packaging Supply Chain
By summer 2022, New York's legal cannabis market was still developing, and licensed shops remained scarce.
Bodegas and smoke shops filled much of the retail gap.
According to the original account, many bags circulating through New York could be traced back to Los Angeles' Toy District.
The caption specifically identifies the packaging market as a source for counterfeit bags appearing in New York City bodegas.
This connected Los Angeles packaging production with the growing New York gray market.
2023: The Mylars Are Coming
By 2023, the gray-market wave had accelerated.
Spray-pack mylars began spreading throughout New York City.
The original account presents this as the next stage of the story: a packaging culture developed through years of California innovation, now arriving in New York.
Legacy: Packaging Becomes Cannabis Culture
The designer mylar movement developed through several connected changes.
Connected helped popularize branded packaging, the Runtz Wonka release pushed candy-inspired design, Proposition 64 made prepackaged mylar the standard, and the Toy District supplied both legitimate and counterfeit designs.
The pandemic accelerated the movement, while B-Eazy helped elevate cereal-box packaging and rapper collaborations.
By 2023, the same packaging culture had become central to New York's gray-market spray-pack movement.
Sources
nuggnotes. "New York Spray Packs Pt 2." Instagram, 9 Dec. 2025, https://www.instagram.com/p/DSEC45IDbxF/.
The original post: a caption history of designer mylar packaging, from Connected and the 2017 Runtz Wonka bag through Proposition 64, the LA Toy District, and New York's spray-pack wave.
Burns, Matt. "Connected Cannabis Co. Raises $30 Million to Bring Its Designer Weed Strains to More States." TechCrunch, 14 Apr. 2021, https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/14/connected-cannabis-co-raises-30-million-to-bring-its-designer-weed-strains-to-more-states/.
Verifies Connected's "designer weed" brand-building in California — but dates the company's founding to 2009 and credits its genetics, saying nothing about mylar bags or a 2014 packaging milestone.
"The Leafly Strain of the Year for 2020 Is—Runtz!" Leafly, 8 Dec. 2020, https://www.leafly.ca/news/strains-products/runtz-2020-leafly-strain-of-the-year.
Confirms Runtz debuted in December 2017 at the Emerald Cup in Santa Rosa, fronted by Yung LB of the Runtz crew (Ray, Nick, and Yung LB), was marketed like a fashion drop, and was quickly flooded with counterfeit packaging.
"5 Regulatory Provisions Cannabis Retailers Should Know." IndicaOnline, 18 June 2018, https://indicaonline.com/blog/5-regulatory-provisions-cannabis-retailers-should-know/.
Confirms that on July 1, 2018, California's transition period ended: retailers could no longer package or label their own products, and every product had to arrive pre-packaged and child-resistant from a distributor, with non-compliant goods destroyed.
Downs, David, et al. "Journey of a Tainted Vape Cartridge: A Leafly Investigation." Leafly, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/vape-pen-injury-supply-chain-investigation-leafly.
Documents LA's Toy District as the wholesale hub of the fake-cart trade during the September 2019 lung-injury crisis: counterfeit Dank Vapes, Chronic Carts, and Cookies packaging, Chronic Carts Runtz packaging sold at 20 units for $2, and a wholesaler openly offering counterfeit Connected bags.
"Up to 1,400 Illegal Marijuana Sellers Proliferate 'Unchecked' in New York City." MJBizDaily, 23 Jan. 2023, https://mjbizdaily.com/news/1400-illegal-marijuana-sellers-proliferate-unchecked-in-new-york-city/350944/.
Verifies the draft's 2022–23 New York backdrop: roughly 1,400 unlicensed sellers (bodegas, smoke shops, food trucks, delivery services) supplied the city while only two licensed adult-use stores were open in the entire state.
"B-EAZY: Bobby Ryan on Zebraz, Zkittlez, and Surfing the Cannabis Wave." Honeysuckle Magazine, 2025, https://honeysucklemag.com/b-eazy-bobby-ryan-global-weed-flavor-packaging-culture/.
Confirms B-Eazy (Bobby Ryan) turned the per-eighth cereal box (Cap'n Runtz) into an industry-standard collectible drop format and first broke through with a viral mylar pack (Duck Sauce), building a devoted New York following.
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