Get your paws (and Labubus) up, little monsters — ’cause SF’s Castro neighborhood will be bumpin’ with all things demonic plushies next month.
Labubus are everywhere. The popular demonic plush toys — (which perfectly fit inside the late-stage capitalism model of overconsumption with its dopamine-soaked blind box selling points, Millennial nostalgia, and rare special editions) — are truly a recession indicator. They’re also primed to push us further into the climate crisis.
Nevertheless, people can’t get enough of them (i.e. Pop Mart, the billion-dollar Chinese toy company, has enmeshed both gamification and gambling psychologies with familiar novelty to create a product that tickles every dopamine receptor in our micro-plastic-ridden brains). Pop Mart is set to open a location in downtown San Francisco at 200 Powell Street; the store, which will be close to the newly opened Nintendo Store, is among the over 20 new overseas locations Pop Mart intends to open before the year’s end.
For San Franciscans, it means they’ll reside within the Bay Area metropolitan area, which boasts the highest number of dedicated Pop Mart onsite stores and roboshops in the region. But alas, with no official opening date set (yet), those looking to grab one of the viral toys before San Francisco’s inaugural Labubu-themed rave will need to look elsewhere.
“Get weird, get wild, and get rave-ready for Labubu Rave in the Castro — a night dedicated to the chaotic, adorable, fabulous world of Labubu and all the queer joy it inspires,” reads a post on Instagram by Q Bar, the San Francisco club that suffered a catastrophic fire in 2019, forcing the watering hole to close for five years; the beloved queer bar reopened in this past December to celebrate updates and a new layout.
The party is being billed as an assault on the senses for all things Labubu — “we wanna see glitter, neon, ears, lashes, LED ears, all of it.” The vibes? “Whimsical, ravey, and just the right amount of unhinged.” Photo opps? Absolutely. Insulin-sensitive to eye candy? Don’t go … because they’ll be sucralose-dipped looks in every direction.
There will also be a few surprises sprinkled throughout the night, backed by K-pop remixes and techno house beats from DJ Fox.
Early bird tickets for the 21-and-up event are already for sale (click this link), and we expect this to sell out hella fast — because if Beanie Babies taught us anything, it’s that people will go crazy for anything and everything concerning monster-like plushies.
Feature Image: Courtesy of Reddit
