Someone wise once said that just when you think you have seen everything, something new appears to test that theory. Now as someone approaching the ripe old age of 49, I have lived through many different collectible crazes. From PEZ to Beanie Babies to Funko Pops, the world of speculative crazes and mass-produced scarcity knows no bounds. I honestly once thought that eventually the buying public would get tired of all these over-produced collectible novelties. Then I had my own epiphany and realized that the products may change, but the same marketing strategy appeals to different generations and demographics time-and-time again. Almost every generation has their own collectible equivalent of the ill-forgotten Beanie Baby. And for anyone alive in the mid-1990s, I am sure you remember those little under-stuffed plush critters that took the world by storm. The craze perfectly coincided with the beginning of online auction sites like eBay and other e-commerce platforms. There are countless stories of people paying thousands of dollars for these little plush critters all because the company that made them retired them rather quickly using a marketing strategy called mass-produced scarcity. Mass-produced scarcity is when a manufacturer of a collectible type of product purposely manufactures only a limited amount of the product to make it appear as though the item has a lot of demand on the secondary market, when in all actuality, most of these kinds of items lack any true organic collectability. Speculators operating in the collectibles trade tend to fall for this concept easily because they view these items as having value due to the intended scarcity. Over the short term, this can work, but over the long term most items produced in this manner end up having very little collectible value decades later. Case in point, just go to almost any flea market or yard sale and you are bound to see pile after pile of Beanie Babies that are readily available for purchase for far less than their original retail price. Collectors of most Funko Pop figurines are starting to learn this lesson all too well. Funko Pops came on the scene in 2011 and are a series of deformed vinyl figures that are based on a variety of different pop culture characters and licensing properties. Some of the figurines are limited in production, making them quite hard to find at retail locations, and collectors of these items pay a premium to get them on the secondary market. While it is true that even today certain (very few) Beanie Babies and Funko Pops do have substantial value on the secondary market, most are and will always be nothing more than a passing fad with very little true organic collectability. An example of this is that while there are Funko Pop figures based on popular franchises like Star Wars and Pokemon, none of these items are going to ever rival the true collectability of a vintage first generation Pokemon card, or an original vintage Kenner Star Wars toy that first premiered in the late 1970s alongside the release of the movie. This is why I often refer to Funko Pops as Beanie Babies 2.0. The similarities are exactly the same, especially from a marketing standpoint. And lo and behold, just as I was getting quite comfortable watching the slow demise of the Funko Pop market as the company continues to dump product after product into a softening secondary market, a new craze has started to take the collectible world by storm. Labubu is the hottest collectible fashion craze that is being driven by well-known celebrities and social media influencers, and most of the world is still not even aware of its impact. Packaged in blind boxes and sold by the Chinese company Pop Mart, Labubus are a line of plush gremlins that look both quite adorable and quite creepy. Major celebrities and social media influencers have been attaching the roughly 8- to 15-inch critters to their designer handbags, and now this has started a collectible frenzy. Since the toys are packed in blind boxes, a buyer doesnt know which Labubu they are going to get, and of course, some of them are harder to find than others. As a result, and as of this writing, some of these harder to find sought after little critters can be seen selling for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on sites like eBay. Mind you, these toys can usually be seen selling for well under $50 at launch, with some readily available for $20 to $30 each at retail, assuming you can find them. The trick is all in the marketing and the fact that celebrities are now attaching the little critters to $10,000 designer Hermes Birkin Bags as a fashion statement. The company Pop Mart is profiting immensely off the craze as sales are up 900 percent just in the last year, as a result. Social media influencers have even taken to sites like Instagram and Tik Tok to show off their finds and provide tips on how to track down all the newest releases. It will be interesting to watch and see what this market does going forward. After all, the great Beanie Baby craze lasted about 5 to 6 years before it was said and done and the Funko Pop craze has managed to last almost a little over a decade, but has definitely been deflated over the past few years. Will Labubus buck the trend? Dont bet on it. In the collectibles trade, what goes around comes around, and most of us have seen this same thing many different times. But, I wouldnt want it any other way. I mean how else will the younger generations of collectors learn firsthand about the dangers of mass-produced scarcity? This will be another great teacher, assuming they are buying these items as a financial investment and not just for the joy of owning them. Shawn Surmick has been an avid collector since the age of 12. He currently resides in his hometown of Boyertown, Pa., and is a passionate collector of antiques and collectibles. His articles focus on various topics affecting the marketplace.