“Only the unknown frightens men.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery had once remarked on the most fundamental, yet profound truth of life, but the modern consumer would have rendered him perplexed. Towering at $418 million in revenue in 2024, Pop Mart has sold over tens of millions of blind boxes of the new era’s favourite accessory, a Labubu doll! It has incentivised its purchase with the mystery it brings in itself, and owing to basic behavioural economics, its perceived value increases with a...