Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down. I am not here to insult the Labubu trend at all. Pinky promise. I KNOW that calling it a plague is probably not helping my case right now, but PLEASE, hear me out.
I simply want to talk to you about the way that blind boxes, such as the infamous Labubu, have slowly been trickling gambling into our society more and more. But blind boxes are not the only suspects today. We also have gacha games, such as Genshin Impact or my best friend's personal favorite, Infinity Nikki. And you may be thinking, "What is so bad about this? I just enjoy not knowing what color plushie I'm about to get." There is nothing BAD about any of what I'm going to talk about, and let's get it straight that this ALL just Kay's opinion! I'm simply comparing blind boxes and gacha to gambling, so take that as you will.
First, let's ask the important questions: https://surveymars.com/q/3fnPVr5k0
No judgment here; the survey is anonymous! It is simply for my own pleasure, as I love looking at and analyzing numbers (don't ask why).
Now, back to the topic at hand. I remember, around a year ago, when some of my friends who liked blind boxes and plushies long before the onset of the Labubu Plague began getting into Labubus. At the time, this was more of a niche community type deal. This was probably around the time that Smiskis and Sonny Angels were just getting over their hump of popularity. A couple of my friends and creators I followed began posting their Labubus, but there were no custom Labubu or live auctions for them like there are now. The authentic Labubu also ran for a measly $35 USD at the time. I remember telling myself I would PERCHANCE get one later, but by the time later came, the Plague had begun. The prices of a Labubu shot up to around $79 USD at the minimum. At that point, I told myself I did NOT need a Labubu.
Here's the thing, though. I find Labubu innately ugly, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. I think that Labubu's are meant to be ugly, but in an endearing kind of way. And I can 100% appreciate that! I love ugly cuties. For example, we have the Fugglers.
Ugly,slightly endearing, and you can buy one from Five Below for only $5. And NO, this is not like the LaBabies concept, where it's just Five Below fighting for its life to make a cheap trend knock off. No hate on the LaBabies; they'd be perfect for little ones.
There is something so smart about the concept of the blind box. It relies heavily on gambling. You're typically given nine options for what you might get, and then, you open the box and get one of the nine options. If you don't get what you want, what do you want to do? BUY ANOTHER. And on top of that, there are "secret" options in blind boxes that are typically exceedingly hard to get.
There's so much that goes into blind boxes, but the two main parts are excitement and FOMO. The general anticipation and excitement of opening the box adds an extra element to buying things. You can give yourself the feeling of opening a present by just buying a blind box instead! And again, as I said before, if you don't get what you want, you can always buy another.
And then, there's FOMO. Maybe some people just LOVE the Labubu that much that they are willing to buy it for $70, but I tend to believe that most people are buying Labubu because their favorite influencer got one or because their friends at school have one. And I get it! There have been trends that every single one of us has wanted to take part in at one point. I remember being little and wanting an American Girl Doll SOOOO BAD when I was younger, and I think it was just because I didn't want to miss out on the trend.
It's similar to the science behind gambling BECAUSE IT IS GAMBLING! Gambling has THREE main elements: money spent, chance, and a prize. In the case of Labubu, the three main elements are money spent, chance at different color variations, and, HOPEFULLY, the color variation you want. Another example, in Genshin Impact, the three main elements are Primogems (earned or purchased with real money), a chance at the character or weapon you want, and then again, HOPEFULLY, whatever character or weapon you want.
The sad part about both blind boxes and gacha games is the fact that their target consumer is children. Maybe if the money aspect of it were removed, it would be okay, but that's because it wouldn't be gambling anymore. Genshin Impact blocked children under 16 years old from making purchases without their parents' consent. So... a win??? It is a little bit late, but they did do identity verification, or else they deleted your account (RIP my 2020 COVID Genshin Impact addiction).
I am NOT trying to deter you from buying blind boxes or playing gacha games. First of all, that would be SO hypocritical of me, as I am literally the gluttony they speak of in the Bible. Second of all, if you are an adult, YOU are entitled to spend your money how you want. And I'm not here to parent anyone's child, but guys $75 for a Labubu for a child? Get them a Beanie Baby. Get them... a Fuggler from Five Below. I am simply warning you that you CAN and WILL form an addiction to the blind box and gacha way if you start, as it is as addictive as literal gambling.
So... you know, are you going to let the Plague infect you? I already have, so like technically, I may have already infected you.
Want me to yap another mind-boggling topic? Contact me or comment!
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