Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since December 2020, Pop Mart experienced a 405 per cent increase in share price between November 2024 and August 2025, when the craze peaked.
However, its share price is now starting to fall – down 32 per cent – as investors voice concerns over the sustainability of the toy’s popularity. Retailers have reported slower sales, with newer edition releases no longer selling out immediately.
Some commentators have suggested that Pop Mart has a trick up its sleeve in the shape of a new toy. Kim Taehyung (known as V), member of K-pop band BTS, was photographed in early October with a Hirono Living Wild doll attached to his bag as he made his way through Seoul’s Incheon airport en route to Paris Fashion Week.
The doll sold out almost instantly in South Korea and Japan, with resellers making up to three times the original price on eBay.
Despite the initial furore, online searches don’t seem to indicate that it’s created a new global craze. Google Trends suggests that although Labubu is on a downwards trajectory, Hirono Living Wild is yet to come anywhere close to rivalling it.