Plush toy collectables, Labubus, are taking the world by storm.
Plush toy collectables, Labubus, are taking the world by storm.
Collecting, coveting, and curating have been pop culture staples for decades.
There’s an innate human need to purchase the new “in” thing.
Whether it’s a hacky sack, troll dolls, Tamagotchis, fidget spinners, Pokémon cards, or Beanie Babies - consumerism is quick to take hold of a fad and makesomething once minuscule the most desired product overnight.
The mischievous-looking fluffy monster dolls have fast become one of the most wanted objects in the world at the moment, with stores selling out faster than shelves can be restocked. They were even pulled from UK stores after reports of customers getting into physical fights over them.
In New Zealand, the resale market is huge, with collectors unhappy with the colours they get reselling them online for more than the retail price.
SAE Creative Media Institute academic dean, Dr Lorna Piatti-Farnell, told The Front Page that the fact that the dolls are hard to get adds to the excitement for potential buyers.
“There’s definitely a layer of prestige that comes from owning the latest and being able to share photos in places such as Instagram.
“Popular culture trends go in cycles. Things go in and out of popularity. They may be similar items, like in this case, plushies or dolls, or they may be completely different. They reach a peak and then, more often than not, they either go away completely or they become part of subcultures.
“What these trends actually do, they tend to both reflect but also shape people’s expectations of what is fun and why they do it for entertainment. They often become very much associated with a particular context and particular objects. This can range from wearing certain clothes, to owning certain items, to even playing certain games, or even engaging in particular pastimes,” she said.
Two stylish Labubus in the NZME office.
Some experts trying to explain the Labubu phenomenon have pointed to something called the “lipstick index”, a theory that suggests sales of relatively inexpensive luxury items, like lipstick, tend to increase during economic downturns.
“I believe the term was coined by Leonard Lauder [chair at cosmetics giant Estée Lauder] as he apparently observed that lipstick sales seemed to rise during and around the 2001 global recession.
“I think a lot of the time with these trends, what it comes down to is that feeling of belonging, of being part of a community, and of standing out within the community that inevitably is associated with a sense of happiness,” Piatti-Farnell said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about pop culture, superhero franchises, and how something thought to be niche has entered the mainstream.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
