The House of Labubu

What if I told you that a nine-toothed cartoon elf with a sneaky grin just made more money last year than most Hollywood blockbusters?

Meet Labubu, the unlikely star of Pop Mart, a Chinese company that has turned buying mystery boxes into a global obsession worth $47 billion.

This isn't just another toy story.

Pop Mart has cracked the code on something much bigger: turning the simple act of opening a box into an experience that millions of adults around the world can't resist.

I first learned about this craze through a friend in Hong Kong who couldn't quite explain why these little toys had taken over Asia. "You have to see it to understand," she said. When I visited a Pop Mart store there myself, the place was absolutely packed.

From packed stores in Hong Kong to celebrity Instagram posts, Pop Mart has built an empire by understanding exactly what makes people tick in the digital age.