3 ms·

Maybe things go a little faster now, but doesn't seem too different from Pogs, or Beanie Babies or any other trend in a long line of them.

m0llusk 11mo ago
Labubus got extra kick from being gambling also. Many were sold in boxes without labels or with minimal labels that listed possible contents. That makes the actual product into more of a loot box kind of thing. That might have contributed to the speed of the trend passing.
- firecall 11mo ago
  I recently learned that many collectables are sold this way! Labubus just happened to get a wide appeal and had a moment in the US for some reason..
  - tourmalinetaco 11mo ago
    They are and I hate it. It‘s bad enough with trading cards, but now every single collectible is employing gacha mechanics and it’s frustrating.
    - throwaway48476 11mo ago
      "Everything is gambling now"
      - georgefrowny 11mo ago
        Protip: If you call it an investment, it becomes not only respectable but it is in fact the responsible thing to do for your customer's financial security.
    - eru 11mo ago
      For eg Magic cards, a secondary market formed very quickly where you could buy exactly what you wanted.
    - parl_match 11mo ago
      I don't get it. It's a "collectable". Your "hobby" is "collecting". You put your "collection" on a shelf and look at it. That's not a hobby to me. It's just consuming for consumption's sake.
      - PunchyHamster 11mo ago
        Well, they took that formula and made it worse because now you can't just buy it, you have to roll a dice or get a second hand. Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at.
        megablast 11mo ago
        Perfect then, don't buy it. > Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at. I completely disagree.
        parl_match 11mo ago
        > Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at. Sure. That's a collection of things you like but it's not "collecting". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4onp1zbjSjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4onp1zbjSjU
  - nsonha 11mo ago
    are they regulated under gambling laws? Sounds like fraud to me.
  - pjc50 11mo ago
    "Gatcha", from Japanese "gatchapon"; there's little dispenser machines which sell plastic eggs containing a random collectible from a set. There are thousands of different product lines. Basically game lootboxes, but IRL. People like gambling, it seems.
- wahnfrieden 11mo ago
  So were pogs
- somnic 11mo ago
  I think I heard it was a bit more than that - you'd buy them online direct, blind, and be informed immediately after purchase what it was you'd actually bought, so bringing in the immediacy and "convenience" of online gambling/gacha/etc. too, compared to ordering a mystery box and opening it when it was delivered, or buying foil packs of trading cards where you need to actually be present at a particular location.
- georgefrowny 11mo ago
  Pogs, Tazos, Pokémon cards (all cards actually), Happy Meals, Knuckleheads/Gogos were/are still all sold lootbox style. I think a Labubu novelty was lots of direct sales and a deliberately(?) flaky website that had people frantically strategising for secret methods to get an order placed successfully. When you did, they told you what you got without having to wait for it to arrive for an instant dopamine payout. I suspect if the website worked very predicably and you could easily and calmly reserve what you wanted, even with the gacha mechanism, it would not have been such a frenzy.
yieldcrv 11mo ago
beanie babies were rational, there was a supply constriction that seemed permanent, the founder resolved it and flooded the market, leaving bagholders and decades of mockery but I would content it was not an example of irrational exuberance labubu’s are part of a flooded market as well, but there was never anything to suggest it wouldnt be flooded only an expectation for demand to keep up longer than just half of this year
- bluefirebrand 11mo ago
  Beanie Babies were irrational because it is irrational to go into a collector craze over stuffed animals
  - yieldcrv 11mo ago
    unless more people want them than exist
    - bluefirebrand 11mo ago
      No, because wanting them is an artificially engineered, irrational thing based on their hype not their value
      - yieldcrv 11mo ago
        the entire art and collectibles markets has functioned the same way for half a millennium, there is nothing to support utility based value

m0llusk 11mo ago

Labubus got extra kick from being gambling also. Many were sold in boxes without labels or with minimal labels that listed possible contents. That makes the actual product into more of a loot box kind of thing. That might have contributed to the speed of the trend passing.

firecall 11mo ago
I recently learned that many collectables are sold this way! Labubus just happened to get a wide appeal and had a moment in the US for some reason..
- tourmalinetaco 11mo ago
  They are and I hate it. It‘s bad enough with trading cards, but now every single collectible is employing gacha mechanics and it’s frustrating.
  - throwaway48476 11mo ago
    "Everything is gambling now"
    - georgefrowny 11mo ago
      Protip: If you call it an investment, it becomes not only respectable but it is in fact the responsible thing to do for your customer's financial security.
  - eru 11mo ago
    For eg Magic cards, a secondary market formed very quickly where you could buy exactly what you wanted.
  - parl_match 11mo ago
    I don't get it. It's a "collectable". Your "hobby" is "collecting". You put your "collection" on a shelf and look at it. That's not a hobby to me. It's just consuming for consumption's sake.
    - PunchyHamster 11mo ago
      Well, they took that formula and made it worse because now you can't just buy it, you have to roll a dice or get a second hand. Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at.
      - megablast 11mo ago
        Perfect then, don't buy it. > Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at. I completely disagree.
      - parl_match 11mo ago
        > Also nothing wrong with just having a shelf with things you like to look at. Sure. That's a collection of things you like but it's not "collecting". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4onp1zbjSjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4onp1zbjSjU
- nsonha 11mo ago
  are they regulated under gambling laws? Sounds like fraud to me.
- pjc50 11mo ago
  "Gatcha", from Japanese "gatchapon"; there's little dispenser machines which sell plastic eggs containing a random collectible from a set. There are thousands of different product lines. Basically game lootboxes, but IRL. People like gambling, it seems.
wahnfrieden 11mo ago
So were pogs
somnic 11mo ago
I think I heard it was a bit more than that - you'd buy them online direct, blind, and be informed immediately after purchase what it was you'd actually bought, so bringing in the immediacy and "convenience" of online gambling/gacha/etc. too, compared to ordering a mystery box and opening it when it was delivered, or buying foil packs of trading cards where you need to actually be present at a particular location.
georgefrowny 11mo ago
Pogs, Tazos, Pokémon cards (all cards actually), Happy Meals, Knuckleheads/Gogos were/are still all sold lootbox style. I think a Labubu novelty was lots of direct sales and a deliberately(?) flaky website that had people frantically strategising for secret methods to get an order placed successfully. When you did, they told you what you got without having to wait for it to arrive for an instant dopamine payout. I suspect if the website worked very predicably and you could easily and calmly reserve what you wanted, even with the gacha mechanism, it would not have been such a frenzy.

yieldcrv 11mo ago

beanie babies were rational, there was a supply constriction that seemed permanent, the founder resolved it and flooded the market, leaving bagholders and decades of mockery but I would content it was not an example of irrational exuberance labubu’s are part of a flooded market as well, but there was never anything to suggest it wouldnt be flooded only an expectation for demand to keep up longer than just half of this year

bluefirebrand 11mo ago
Beanie Babies were irrational because it is irrational to go into a collector craze over stuffed animals
- yieldcrv 11mo ago
  unless more people want them than exist
  - bluefirebrand 11mo ago
    No, because wanting them is an artificially engineered, irrational thing based on their hype not their value
    - yieldcrv 11mo ago
      the entire art and collectibles markets has functioned the same way for half a millennium, there is nothing to support utility based value