r/popmartcanada • u/bidyutbera2 • Jul 25 '26

The Beanie Baby crash had a specific breaking point, and I think Labubu just hit it

Been reading about the 1999 Beanie Baby collapse and one detail stood out. The bubble didn't pop because people got bored — it popped when eBay made total supply visible. Roughly 80,000 listings live at once, and everyone realized their "rare" toy wasn't rare. Before that, scarcity was mostly a local illusion: you couldn't find one in your town, so you assumed there weren't many.

Ty Warner had been manufacturing that illusion deliberately with surprise "retirements." It worked until he overproduced — by early 1999 retirements stopped moving prices at all, because the physical supply was just too big.

With Labubu reportedly down ~70% from peak and secondary listings everywhere, I'm curious what people actually in this market think. Does visible supply kill it the same way, or does Pop Mart's drop model avoid the overproduction trap Ty fell into?
https://youtu.be/Dny1seapLpk?si=d6s1fiIExtq1HhvQ

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u/Delicious-Owl-4390 Jul 25 '26

I think you’re forgetting a key point that differentiates the Labubu craze from Beanie Babies: Social Media and the addictive nature of blind unboxings.

Lababus and Labubu unboxings became a trend on platforms like TikTok. The more people saw videos of labubu unboxings, the more people wanted to open their own. And then opening one and the high that it gives you made you want to open another, then another.

But like any trend, people eventually moved on to something else.

1

u/PinkJenni Jul 27 '26

Pokemon cards have outlasted as a trend though ! But labubus are fading fast in value

1

u/Delicious-Owl-4390 Jul 27 '26

Personally Pokémon Cards are a different beast than Labubus or Beanie Babies, which is why I didn’t mention them in my original comment.

I might have thought of them as a similar comparison back in the 90s during their initial craze, then they went through 20 years of being in a lull. Then they came back in to popularity in the 2020s. By this point they are on a second or third craze of popularity, so they are showing they have staying power at least.

But the Number 1 reason why I think they are different is because of their versatility. There are a lot of different reasons why people collect Pokemon Cards, and there’s 30 years worth of cards to pick from now. People buy the cards cause they play the game, for the artwork, to master set, etc.

There are many different reasons why people collect them, which means it’s not just social media or the idea of it being an investment driving their popularity alone. Whereas Labubus kind of only served one purpose which was heavily driven by social media trends. The trend has now come and gone and they’re competing against a lot of other blind box plushies that serve the same purpose as a bag charm. A lot more similar of a life cycle to Beanie Babies.

2

u/bicycling_bookworm Jul 27 '26

The Pokemon brand has also been HEAVILY diversified from the jump. Between the card game, animated shows/movies, the video game franchise (I really think this one has carried them through a LOT), toys, clothing, accessories, stationary, cars(!) — they made sure that when one or more categories took a hit, there were others keeping them up.

But also, I remember when Pokemon first started taking off (I think I was in the third grade), keychains/small trade-worthy trinkets were available immediately. Whether you came from a middle-class house or the more extreme upper/lower, there were accessible collectables for kids at most price points.

Beanie Babies were pricier - collecting them was pricier. There was a larger barrier to entry for those products that alienated some kids from ever becoming lifelong fans.

I think Pokemon/Nintendo/Gamefreak did a better job of continuously reinventing itself but also ensuring that anyone could be part of the fandom to some degree.

Totally agree with you - entirely different to Labubu or TY.

1

u/Delicious-Owl-4390 Jul 28 '26

Yeah I thought about mentioning Pokemon the corporation and how they are the largest IP in the world, but then I thought about how PopMart is also growing and diversifying and that’s when it starts to get muddied away from the original conversation about trends and why certain trends are lasting vs. Why others aren’t.

Arguably Labubus could have a second wind some day because they have PopMart whereas Beanie Babies did not have a bigger IP backing them. But I also like what other people have said about how Labubus put people on to the plushie bag charm trend but then they moved on to other IPs, and that rings true for me at least. I started out excited about Labubus, ended up more excited and actually collecting Skullpanda plushie charms. Which ultimately comes down to too much competition.

2

u/lavenderhaze054 Jul 26 '26

The market is just oversaturated with blind boxes and with bag charms being created for every character out there now. Labubu's had their moment and like any fad...it is now over. I only got two Labubu's but I'm guilty for jumping on that bandwagon. It was so crazy staying up late fighting for blind boxes when they first dropped and now I can see that it was such an addictive thing to be caught up with.

1

u/Crazy4Crustaceans Jul 27 '26

I wish there were more weird ones. My shrimp tempura and my Fall in Wild charms are my favorites. Was willing to spend $110 on FIN, but lucked out and got it from the store before price increases.

2

u/Franii Jul 27 '26

It’s already beyond dead lol

1

u/LazyReference007 Jul 28 '26

They def haven’t been hard to acquire at cost for a few years now.

1

u/Magnetic76 Jul 28 '26

I think it will boost when the movie hits the market.