Pop Mart stock, shoots up 370% on collectibles craze
In a video from November for Vanity Fair, a member (Lisa) of the K-pop band Blackpink, talked about her obsession with the Chinese company Pop Mart International Group's toys.
“I'm going crazy. It's like I'm spending all my money,” she laughed as she unwrapped dolls from the manufacturer's PUCKY Roly Poly Kitty range. “I go to Pop Mart everywhere. When I go to New York, I try to find a Pop Mart there. Paris, you know, everywhere. (It's) like a treasure hunt.”
Worldwide phenomenon
She's not alone in this. The Beijing-based company has gone from a well-known favorite of China's Generation Z to a worldwide phenomenon in 2024.
According to reports, fans in the USA and Australia queue for hours, sometimes even in the middle of the night, to buy new products. Stores have also opened in Paris, Milan and New York. Overseas sales have increased fivefold.
Protected intellectual property products
Founded in 2010, the company generates the majority of its revenue from protected intellectual property products. When designing its dolls, it works with artists, established providers of intellectual property and its own design team. The toy manufacturer also licenses brands from companies such as Disney and Universal Studios. Pop Mart dolls are often sold in a blind box, which means the consumer does not know which figure is inside until they open it.
“Pop Mart is still a very young company and more time is needed to tell if they can continue seamless execution and revitalise their IPs,” said Chris Gao, a consumer research analyst at CLSA in Hong Kong. “When it becomes one generation’s memory, that definitely creates more long lasting demand.”