Not My Monster: The Strange Rise of ...

In this episode of MyLatestFixationPod, we trace how Kasing Lung’s mischievous character Labubu jumped from indie art books into Pop Mart’s blind-box machine and wound up everywhere—from TikTok unboxings to celebrity bags. We unpack the design language of “weird-cute,” the psychological pull of variable rewards and secrecy, and Pop Mart’s deliberate scarcity and resale dynamics that transform toys into trophies. Along the way we examine community rituals (unboxings, trades, and chasers), the vintage-beanie-baby echoes in modern collector culture, and why small, face-like objects are so easy to anthropomorphize. I share a mini blind-box puzzle, a soft take on competing Hirono designs, and one collector’s confession about what these figures mean when they stop being objects and start being characters.  ...