The typical long queues and instant sell-outs were absent, with little fanfare from consumers. On the morning of February 27, POP MART's first new IP for 2026, "After-School Merodi," officially launched in physical stores. Visits to multiple Beijing locations revealed that this highly anticipated release failed to generate the expected excitement.
On its first day, only a handful of consumers stopped to look, with very few making purchases. Even speculative resellers were notably absent. Some customers commented that the school-themed青春 series felt too common and lacked immediate appeal. Store staff also acknowledged that the initial performance was modest compared to previous new IP launches.
Later that evening, POP MART announced another new IP, "Key A," with a release scheduled for March 13. This marks the shortest interval between new IP launches in recent years, at just one week.
An industry insider noted that POP MART has significantly accelerated its new IP release schedule, reducing the cycle from approximately six months to under two months, sometimes even weekly. In 2025, the number of new IPs surged to 57 from 29 in 2024, nearly doubling. However, market reception has not kept pace. From "Supertutu" to "After-School Merodi," several new IPs have underperformed, raising questions about where the next breakout hit like LABUBU will come from.
New IPs Face Cool Reception; Multiple Stores Report "Average" Performance In December 2025, POP MART launched Supertutu, characterized by pink colors and cute rabbit ears. A Goldman Sachs industry report in January 2026 noted that initial sales on Tmall barely exceeded 500 units. By the time of reporting, cumulative sales on Tmall were around 1,000 units. Compared to established, market-proven IPs like THE MONSTERS (LABUBU) and Starman, Supertutu's initial performance was underwhelming for a new IP with high expectations. On the secondary market platform千岛App, the Supertutu series had only 244 users expressing interest, with most products selling at discounts of up to 50%. Some consumers humorously called it POP MART's "least profitable IP."
Just two months after Supertutu's launch, "After-School Merodi" debuted online on the evening of February 26. However, this much-anticipated premiere met with unexpected冷淡. Although POP MART's Tmall live stream attracted over 800,000 viewers, chat discussions focused almost entirely on restocks of other popular products, with little mention of the new IP. As of reporting, "After-School Merodi" had sold just over 1,000 units on Tmall.
In stark contrast, another new product released the same day, the "Angry Molly" plush toy, sold out within minutes. It reached sales of over 7,000 units on Tmall and POP MART's official mini-program, leading the live stream host to state that no pre-orders or restocks were currently planned.
On February 27, "After-School Merodi" made its offline debut. Store visits in Beijing found consumer reaction to be tepid. Some felt the style was overly cute, while others found the school theme too common. Staff confirmed that first-day performance was average, noting that new IPs need time to gain familiarity.
While new IPs struggle to sell a thousand units, popular IP restocks sell out instantly. This same-day "tale of ice and fire" highlights POP MART's anxiety about creating new hits.
Accelerated IP Creation, But Where Is the "Next LABUBU"? An industry participant observed that POP MART's new IP release pace has quickened from roughly every six months to about every two months. The number of new IPs nearly doubled from 2024 to 2025, maintaining a high-frequency launch rhythm.
This acceleration stems from concerns over over-reliance on a single IP. In the first half of 2025, THE MONSTERS (LABUBU) generated 4.81 billion yuan in revenue, accounting for 34.7% of total IP revenue. Such dominance raises sustainability concerns. In October 2025, Bernstein issued two short reports predicting POP MART's growth would slow to 15% in 2026-2027, with margins returning to 2024 levels. Morgan Stanley also lowered its target price, citing over-reliance on a single IP.
POP MART has actively worked to cool the LABUBU frenzy. In June 2025, it conducted a large-scale LABUBU restock with online pre-orders, real-name verification, and purchase limits. This sudden supply increase caused secondary market prices to plummet, with blind box prices falling about 50%, leading to significant losses for resellers. Subsequent large-scale restocks of popular LABUBU products continued into January of this year, triggering抢购热潮 at physical stores.
While cooling its top IP, POP MART has accelerated new IP孵化. Founder Wang Ning even claimed they can incubate new IPs faster than Disney. From 2024 to early 2026, the release interval shortened dramatically, with four new IPs launched in just four months, the shortest gap being one week. This represents a high-density, rapid-fire孵化 strategy.
This approach has enriched POP MART's "IP pyramid." In the first half of 2025, 13 artist IPs generated over 100 million yuan in revenue. Five IPs—THE MONSTERS, MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, CRYBABY, and DIMOO—each exceeded 1 billion yuan, forming a stable top tier. IPs like HIRONO, Starman, PUCKY, and HACIPUPU provided mid-tier support with revenues over 100 million yuan.
However, despite nearly doubling new IP releases over two years, only "Starman" has emerged as a clear success. Signed in 2024, it achieved over 100 million yuan in revenue that same year and contributed 380 million yuan in the first half of 2025. In contrast, other IPs like "CHAKA," "Tinytiny," and "POLAR" released between 2024 and 2025 have seen limited market traction. Notably, all five current top-tier IPs (revenue over 1 billion yuan) were launched between 2016 and 2020. This indicates that POP MART has not successfully replicated a new "top-tier IP" in the past five years to succeed LABUBU and support future growth.
Quantity Over Quality? Risk of IPs Entering a "Fast-Born, Fast-Forgotten" Cycle Is this "high quantity, low success rate" IP incubation model a growth engine or a risk?
"Doubling new IP numbers is a clear offensive move, using a 'horse race mechanism' to shorten the hit-making cycle," said Chen Jingjing, founder of Jingjie Brand Consulting. "Short-term, this strategy can increase hit probability and sustain consumer novelty and repurchase motivation. Long-term, IPs risk becoming 'fast-fashion'流量 products, diluting their value as long-term cultural assets."
She added that after the successes of MOLLY and LABUBU, POP MART faces pressure to find a successor. "The probability of replicating another LABUBU-level hit is not low, but the bigger challenge is sustainably monetizing popular IPs. If the focus remains solely on quantity and speed, the company resembles an IP efficiency factory, but IPs may fall into a 'fast-born, fast-forgotten' cycle, consuming resources without building lasting asset value. Strengthening narrative and IP asset management capabilities is crucial for evolving from a hit-maker to a long-term IP asset platform."
Beyond accelerating new IP孵化, POP MART is expanding IP commercialization boundaries. Recent moves include launching the independent bakery brand POP BAKERY on Xiaohongshu, featuring products like Starman and SKULLPANDA ice cream, and DIMOO and LABUBU butter cookies; collaborating with Honor on a潮玩 smartphone; and partnering Starman with Beast Family's Beast Boulevard and tbh home brands for a Valentine's Day-themed product line.
Wang Jingting, a digital life analyst at NetEconomy E-commerce Research Center, commented that initiatives like POP BAKERY are natural extensions of POP MART's IP strategy. Integrating popular characters into daily消费 scenarios like food enhances fan engagement and represents a shift from "toy seller" to "emotional lifestyle provider." He noted that diversifying into甜品, jewelry, and card games reflects a mature, systematic strategy for an IP company: using high-frequency products like food as流量入口 and high-value items like jewelry to deepen IP value, building a resilient ecosystem.
However, Wang emphasized that the real challenge lies not in跨界 itself, but in ensuring each new business feels like a natural extension of the user's emotional life. "When dessert isn't just dessert, and jewelry isn't just jewelry, POP MART truly transforms from a 'toy seller' into a long-term brand that 'shapes cultural companionship'."
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