So I have recently starting getting into Pop Mart and got myself 3 blind boxes from the SkullPanda series.
They are now nestled in my CPU because it's lighted and there is space to house them there.
Am I tempted to get more? Yes.
Will I actually get more? Probably not. Hopefully I won't get tempted to, I mean I did visit Pop Mart another 2 more times since I got my last Skull Panda blindbox and I was able to leave the place empty handed, so my willpower is still not wavering.
The problem with blind boxes is you never know what you will get, which means the more I get, the higher chances are of getting repeats, which is something I do not want because each figurine cost $15. I should have just gotten the full set for this Skull Panda series because all the designs are actually really nice, but the full collection is around $200, not a very financially responsible decision to be making.
The one series from Pop Mart that has been getting sold out like crazy is Labubu.
I didn't really get the hype at first because I didn't think it was particularly cute., but the more I look at it, the more it starts to grow on me.
A huge reason why this series got so popular is because Lisa from Blackpink really likes it, so she was the one who made is super popular. This popularity resulted in stocks constantly getting wiped out at all the Pop Mart stores, so getting my hands on them officially was not gonna happen.
I then started seeing a lot of resellers putting them up for sales on Shopee and TikTok with ridiculous mark up prices. The Labubu Macaron retails for about $24.90 at Pop Mart, resellers are selling it at an average of about $60, the lowest I saw was $39, and anything lower than that is probably fakes.
I got one from a Livestreamer yesterday who was selling it at $39 per box because I FOMO, and she was doing live unboxing to see which colour her buyers would get.
I was going to be happy with anything except green, so the livestreamer took my box, got my permission to open the box and as she peered into the box to look for the little tag that will indicate the colour of the Labubu once she had cut it open, she started screaming out in excitement, the chat was going crazy as well...
... I ended up pulling the secret. The girl who had picked her box before me must have felt really shitty because she literally had a 50/50 chance of getting a secret, but I think she got the Soy coloured one, which was also one of my top colour choices.
The Livestreamer was so excited she ask if she could open the plastic packaging to look at the actual Labubu doll, I told to tell her I didn't want it open, but I could definitely feel her excitement from actually seeing the tag.
The rarity for the secret colour is 1:72, compared to 1:6 for the rest of the colours, so I was actually really lucky to have gotten the secret colour for my very first Labubu. Not sure when I will actually receive the package since the Livestreamer is based in China, but that's exciting... and that's how you get addicted to Pop Mart. The more practical side of won't be getting single blind boxes for this Labubu series anymore, since I already have the secret, if I wanted the full collection, I will just a full box of 6 to properly complete it, but again, because of the insane mark up this product has been getting, it's going to be around $350 for a full box and I don't like the Labubu series enough to want to spend that much money on it.
One is enough... for now.
Speaking of Livestreamer, I feel like this Livestreamer that I got my Labubu from is one of the more ethical ones, even though she is still making around a $15 profit for each doll she sold, and she was selling a lot, I have come across streams of some local livestreamers actually doing a roulette system and essentially letting their viewers pay for a slot to get a chance to get a Labubu blind box.
That is insane!
When you get a blind box, you are already sort of gambling because you don't know what color or desuign you are getting, but what some of this livestreamers are doing are adding another element of gambling to that gamble, and it's not cheap!
For every single box of Labubu, they will allow 6 viewers to partake in the roulette system, and what is so scummy about this whole thing is that you have to pay the livestreamer $15 to take part in this roulette, this $15 is not refundable, if you win, then great, you are able to get the Labubu for lower than the retail selling price, but if you don't, then that's $15 gone, just like that, and you don't get anything out of it, there is no consolation price, you are just $15 poorer.
$15! That is fucking expensive for 5/6 of the participants to be getting nothing in return!
This means the livestreamer is essentially selling each blind box for $90 and what is so baffling is people are actually willingly participating in gamble.
If you are a Livestreamer who is doing this, you may be a smart business person, but you are not a good person.
"As if scalping isn't bad enough, let's introduce this roulette gamble as well and let paying folks have a 16.6% chance of getting a Labubu."
.. it's so scummy. You are already scalping by hoarding all the Labubu from Pop Mart to sell, but then to introduce another element of gambling on top of that scalping.
I remember coming across this one livestream that had 2 male host and one of the host had the very "generous" idea of letting all the losers take part in a final roulette of a few dozen people at the end of their livestream, so at least they will still have 1 last chance of getting a Labubu. I didn't stay long enough to see how many people ended up being in that final round, but it was definitely a smart way to ensure your viewers don't leave the stream because they have no choice but to wait to the end unless they decide to forefeit their chance.
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