The Business of Labubu and the Power of Manufactured Obsession

People are lining up at 4 AM, crashing websites, and dropping
thousands on a fuzzy vinyl creature with nine teeth and a cult
following. Meet Labubu: part toy, part fashion statement, part
emotional coping mechanism. Born from a Nordic mythology-inspired
art project and catapulted to fame by Pop Mart, Labubu has become a
collector’s dream and a status symbol—thanks to limited drops,
blind box buying, and celebrity fans like BLACKPINK’s Lisa. Today,
Sammi unpacks how scarcity, nostalgia, and the chaos of modern life
created the perfect storm for Labubu’s rise—and what that says
about the future of fandom, consumption, and identity. Follow Sammi
on Instagram here Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter here
Here’s what Sammi covers today: 00:00 Labubu’s Bizarre Social
Currency 01:08 Where Labubu Came From 02:55 Scarcity as a Business
Plan 04:10 The Lisa of It All 05:27 What Labubu Tells Us About the
State of the World (Really)  06:31 The Future of Fandom 07:22
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