The Labubu File, Ep. 2 : The Cat That Started It All

Last time, we cracked Pop Mart’s blind boxes wide open. But here’s the bigger mystery: why are millions of twenty-somethings hoarding plush toys like they’re Birkin bags?To find the answer, we have to rewind fifty years. To a sketch of a cat.In this episode, we travel from Hello Kitty’s birth in 1970s Tokyo, through China’s Gen Z explosion, to a half-a-billion-dollar marketplace for cute. And we end on a cryptic question from Pop Mart’s founder that might just hint at the future of this craze.Want more pulp? Here’s how to get it: 📩 Subscribe on→ ⁠Substack ⁠🍊 Instagram → ⁠@mandarin_unpeeled⁠💬 Bluesky → @mandarin-unpeeled.bsky.social🎙️ Podcast Homepage → ⁠www.mandarin-unpeeled.com⁠🌏 About Mandarin Unpeeled: Bite-sized explainers that unwrap how China really thinks, feels, and evolves, and how it is already impacting you — told by someone who’s lived, studied, and worked across both East and West.References: 泡泡玛特招股书及年报（2017-2023）弗若斯特沙利文《中国潮玩行业发展报告》艾媒咨询中国盲盒行业消费者行为调查数据Statista: Global Collectible Toys Market ReportEuromonitor: Toys and Games in Key MarketsIBISWorld: Australia Niche Retail Trendshttps://m.huxiu.com/article/4478007.htmlKAWO. (2023). Social media marketing to Generation Z in China 2023. Retrieved from https://kawo.com/en/reports-guides/social-media-marketing-to-generation-z-in-china-2023Statista. (n.d.). Generation Z in the UK. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/topics/11047/generation-z-in-the-uk/https://www.digitaling.com/articles/411621.htmlSina Finance. (2020, December 19). 闲鱼成为国内最大盲盒二级市场 有超44万玩家交易 [Xianyu becomes China's largest blind box secondary market; over 440,000 players trading]. Sina Finance.​​guitar beat thing by Seth_Makes_Sounds -- https://freesound.org/s/730217/ -- License: Creative Commons 0