I found a trick to win pop mart’s online game – ryan

I thought i was Strong. THEN I SAW THEIR STRAGE, TOOTHY SMILES.

The Labubus – Little Plush Monster Toys specifically marketed at adults – hooked me. Over the Next Weeks, embarced on an an adventure of internet rabbit Holes, Hourslong Tiktok Livestreams, and Several Nights Playing A Game Online Before Learned A Trick Reddit That Helped with Snag One.

I’m light from alone in my obsession: The Labubu Craze has taken Hold in the us, Asia, and the uk. There’s something mesmerizing about the creurae, original created by hong kong artist kaSing lung a decade ago. Now it is part of “The Monsters” Line from Pop Mart, A Chinese Toy Company Whose 2024 Revenue Double from the year prior, thanks in part to the “particularly impressive” performance of these Crazy Little Creatures.

Labubus First Became Popular Overseas, As My Colleagues in Singapore Chronicled All the Way Back in November; we’re just the latest Country to Catch the Fover. In just the last month, US Search interest in labubus has spiked – and Americans are scrambling to get their hands on say. They are part of the status symbol, part Weird Little Guy, and Part Bag Accessory. Indeed, Once they Came Across My Social Media Feeds, I Went from Thinking “What Is That?” to “I must have one.”

But it turns out that Easier Said than Done. The Smaller Labubus that People Hang on Their Bags Start at $ 22, and the distance ones go to $ 180but you can’t just go to a store or website and buy. Instead, I entered the new World of Labubu “Drops” – The Times of the Monsters on their Official Web Home – and learned that, to buy an Authentic Labubu, My Journey Had Only Just Begun.

First came the pop mart tiktok lives: in the latest iteration of Live Shopping, the Company Holds Live Streams on Tiktok Where May or May Not Be Offered. You have to bide your time and act fast to get a labubu this way. Unfortunately, i am a brain-Rotted gen gen zer and did not have the patience to stay on a livestream for what could be hours, thugh in the process, I began to underestand the appeal to HAVC blasting on a tv in the background.

The Next Method was going in person to a pop mart. There are a few stories in new York City, but there’s no guarantee that they’d be stocked. Pop mart paused in-store sales in the uk due to long lines, so i wasn’t entirele sold on going in person. Emily Brough, Head of IP LICENSING AT POP MART, SAID IN A STEETEENT TO BI THAT LABUBUBUS AVAILABLE IN THE US THROUGH A “Buy Online, Pick up In-Store Model”-Another Potential Hurdle, Sinces SEEM to Always Always Be Sold Out.

This is where my Animal Brain Came in: The Harder It Became to Get A Labubu, the most i wand one. ITS Comforting Texture, Popular Appeal, and Exclusive Availality Created A Perfect Storm of Psychological Urges to Get Me To Spend My Money, and IT SEEMED ONLY HARDER AND HARDER, ALL I WAS BUY ONE OF THESE LITTLE MONTESS.

In the meantime, i did get two lafufus, Knock-off Labubus that have Become ubiquitous at New York City Street Stands and Gift Shops. They are horrifying, and i love. I Named One After One of My Editors, Who Isn’t Quite Sold on the Hype Around the Cute Monsters.

Finally, i came Across a New Method for Acquiring One of the Monsters: Pop Mart Launched a Live Game Called Pop Now. Everybody at a Certain Time, Players have a Chance to Click Through Numbered Virtual Boxes Containing Labubus, and, If You are Fast Enough to One Before Another Player, you can virtuelly shake it and claim your prize. THEN – and ONLY THEN – WAUDED YOU GET The privilege of buying one.

I Spent Several Nights toiling Away at Pop Now To No Avail. Finally, I checked the Labubu Subreddit, which is filled with Similarly enthralled (and Very Helpful) Folks. From say, i learned that changing a few numbers in the url to pull up differently numbered tear allow with to view boxes that aren’t necessarily public-facing yet. This Basically Entailed with Putting Random Numbers Into The Middle of the URL, while preserving the Numbers at the start and end of the url they demarcated the type of product I was looking for. Thus, i snagged my labubu. IT’S ON THE WAY FROM CHINA, AND IT’S PINK, AKA LYCHEE BERRY; I am very excited.

Will I think my labubu will solve all of my problems? No. Did i Need One? Probably swimming. But the thrill of the chase got me; It is, after all, a consumer tale as old as beanie babies and other trinkets. IT ALSO SHOWS WHAT ARE ARE WILLING TO SPEND ON RIGHT NOW, FIRE ECONOMIC CONCERNS AND TARIFF CONFUSION – IT TURNS OUT WE JUST WANT WEIRD LITTLE GUYS.

Are you a labubu lover, hater, or hopoful buyer? Do you have another product obsession? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businsinsider.com.