Since late August this year, spot gold prices have continued to climb, historically breaking through the $3,690 per ounce mark on September 16. In this environment where international gold prices repeatedly hit new highs, major brands have been positioning themselves in the gold market segment, and trendy toy giant POP MART (09992.HK) is no exception.

On September 12, POP MART's independent jewelry brand popop officially launched its first pure gold series products. The series features the brand's core IP Baby Molly as the design theme, covering gold beads, pendants, gold bars, and ornaments, with pricing ranging from 980 yuan to 56,800 yuan. One gold ornament weighing approximately 41 grams is priced at over 50,000 yuan.

On September 18, POP MART stated that IP-centric group development has always been one of POP MART's core strategies. The popop pure gold series products are created with IP Baby Molly, primarily targeting parent-child audiences. POP MART hopes to continuously deepen emotional connections with fans through jewelry product series.

Currently, the popop pure gold series has not opened online purchase channels and can only be purchased at two physical stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

According to sources, the two offline popop stores experienced significant customer traffic growth after the pure gold series launch, driving noticeable sales increases. However, on the launch day, there were no queuing situations at the popop Beijing Guomao store for the pure gold series products, and all new products were in stock.

Additionally, in the second-hand trading market, searches for "popop pure gold purchasing service" show only two stores currently providing such services.

Compared to POP MART's previous new product launches featuring long queues and instant sellouts, this popop pure gold series launch appeared relatively quiet.

**"Gold + IP" Becomes Z Generation Consumers' Favorite**

Unlike traditional gold brands, popop does not adopt the "gold price + processing fee" pricing model but implements a fixed-price model where prices do not fluctuate with real-time gold prices.

Accompanying this pricing strategy is a relatively high IP premium.

The popop mini-program shows that a 0.7-gram apple gold bead is priced at 1,380 yuan, equivalent to approximately 1,971 yuan per gram, far exceeding the daily market gold price. Similarly priced "fixed-price" products from Lao Pu Gold's classic Cross Vajra pendant cost approximately 1,355 yuan per gram. In the thousand-yuan category, Liu Fu Jewelry's Starry Sky pendant costs 1,036.8 yuan for 0.96 grams, approximately 1,080 yuan per gram.

With such high premiums, will consumers be interested? The answer is yes, they will be.

Before popop launched its pure gold series, POP MART had already tested the gold market. In May 2023, POP MART collaborated with Chow Sang Sang to launch co-branded gold jewelry. In December 2024, under the theme "Journey of Wonders," they launched six themed pure gold pendants and Charme bead series. The "Dream" gold bead from the "Journey of Wonders" series was priced at 1,743 yuan for 0.8 grams, equivalent to 2,179 yuan per gram.

E-commerce platforms showed on September 17 that the "Journey of Wonders" series remained popular, with all six pure gold pendants selling over 2,000 units monthly.

"We sell IP + design, not material prices," popop staff have stated directly: "Baby Molly's milk bottle and astronaut helmet designs cannot be made by ordinary gold shops, and they wouldn't dare to make them."

In recent years, "Gold + IP" has increasingly gained favor among young consumers. Gold jewelry or collectibles co-branded with anime, gaming, and other IPs are called "pain gold" or gold "merchandise."

The World Gold Council mentioned in "2024 China Gold Jewelry Retail Market Insights" that people aged 18 to 34 contribute over one-third of gold jewelry sales. The China Gold Association's "China Gold Jewelry Market Report 2024" similarly pointed out that young people are more willing to consume, and under continued economic recovery, the purchasing power enhancement of younger generations helps sustain gold jewelry consumption growth.

iiMedia Research data shows that China's pan-ACG and peripheral market reached 597.7 billion yuan in 2024, with projections that China's merchandise economy market will exceed 300 billion yuan by 2029. Among Generation Z (post-95 and post-00), pan-ACG users account for as high as 95%.

Labubu's global popularity and the strong rise of the ACG market both point to core characteristics of Generation Z consumption: they highly value personalized expression and deep emotional experiences. Trendy toys and merchandise, as physical manifestations of cultural IPs, serve as important vehicles for them to express themselves and release emotions.

For them, the "Gold + IP" combination is not only a bulk currency, value-preserving commodity, and hedging investment but also "social currency" used to showcase their identity.

According to Lao Miao Gold data, the brand's co-branded gift box with popular IP "Heaven Official's Blessing" achieved over 15 million yuan in sales on its launch day, with over 1.6 million viewers for the launch event. In second-hand platform markets, some limited gold "merchandise" can be priced even higher. For example, Lao Feng Xiang's collaboration with the game "Honkai: Star Rail" gold note originally priced at 899 yuan (1g) is priced at 1,600 yuan on second-hand platforms; Lao Feng Xiang's collaboration with anime IP "Saint Seiya" gold character statue (666 grams) is marked at 988,000 yuan in the second-hand market.

"Because it's an IP I love, and it's also gold material, it allows 'merchandise' to have dual value in my heart and in universal terms." Multiple consumers stated in interviews that if it's an IP they really like, they can accept paying premiums for sentiment when their budget allows.

Many consumers on social media also admit that although they clearly know gold "merchandise" has high premiums, they still choose to "indulge" in purchases out of love.

**IP Long-term Operation Challenges: From Market Enthusiasm to Capital Concerns**

In June this year, on the opening day of the first popop store, POP MART founder Wang Ning stated on-site: "We hope to explore more possibilities through different categories. Jewelry is a very important category we've been trying."

The "2025 Xianyu Trendy Toy Consumption Insight Report" shows that the top 5 IPs in trendy toy sales rankings over the past two years all come from POP MART. As their IP creation capabilities continue to strengthen, POP MART is now conducting long-term IP operations across multiple fields. Besides product category expansion and numerous collaboration activities, POP MART is also trying various approaches to tell IP stories well.

For example, in the theme park sector, Beijing Pop Land theme park, though equivalent to only 2-3 large supermarkets in area, has already achieved profitability. In film and television, Wang Ning announced the formal establishment of a film studio in June this year, with the first animated series "LABUBU and Friends" coming soon.

However, capital markets hold cautious attitudes toward POP MART's long-term operation strategy.

On September 15, JPMorgan warned that after POP MART surged over 200% during the year, "valuations have reached perfect expectations," significantly reducing the cost-effectiveness of current entry, with risk-reward ratios rapidly deteriorating.

In fact, since creating a historical high on August 26, POP MART's stock price has continued to decline, with cumulative drops of 15.74% in half a month.

As of 11 AM on September 19, POP MART traded at HK$263.4 per share, down 1.42%.

Actually, the core of IP expansion ultimately comes down to whether the IP itself is recognized by the public. For example, on September 11, when POP MART's popular IP SKULLPANDA's new "Sleepless Theater" series officially launched, it immediately became a trending topic with "#POP MART New Product Launch Only 10 People Queuing#," vastly different from previous new product sales featuring long queues.

The star product Labubu "High Energy Ahead" series launched in 2025, after the heat subsided, currently maintains trading prices around 100 yuan (original price 99 yuan per piece). The hidden edition "Id" that was once hyped to nearly 5,000 yuan with premiums as high as nearly 50 times has now significantly fallen back to the hundred-yuan range. Additionally, "Mini Labubu," which has been on sale since August 28 this year, has also seen gradually declining heat in the second-hand market, with hidden edition prices in this series dropping by over 50%.

However, industry insiders indicate that second-hand market price drops are major positive signs for POP MART in the long term. Taking the LABUBU series as an example, after the IP became popular, scalpers hoarded goods and inflated prices, hindering genuine connections between IPs and consumers. Through supply chain optimization, gameplay innovation, and multi-channel sales, POP MART has regained pricing control and can more precisely respond to end-consumer demands. Second-hand market price drops may impact stock prices short-term, but long-term, they prove POP MART's capacity improvement, allowing more consumers to purchase products, which is more beneficial for long-term company performance development.

The IP market is like gold panning - from rapid popularity through marketing tactics or trending elements, to "scarcity" from limited releases triggering rushes, then returning to calm after the heat subsides. IP products heavily hyped and released by capital are like fireworks - fleeting, eventually becoming "has-been stars" forgotten by the public after the tide recedes, disappearing into dust with company discontinuation, like past phenomena of Bing Dwen Dwen and Bearbrick.

Will the next hugely popular IP still come from POP MART? The key to this question lies in whether POP MART can continuously create and operate IPs that evoke emotional resonance. This requires not only design ingenuity but also careful long-term maintenance of their IP ecosystem.

In the first half of 2025, 5 IPs under POP MART achieved over 1 billion yuan in revenue, and 10 IPs exceeded 100 million yuan. Besides the domestic market, POP MART's IPs continue to perform excellently in overseas markets. Beyond LABUBU's global popularity in the first half of this year, SKULLPANDA and Hirono have also been welcomed in European and American markets; CRYBABY and Zsiga have gained high popularity in Southeast Asia.

Regarding this, POP MART stated that LABUBU has reached its tenth anniversary, and MOLLY is about to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. A series of facts prove that IPs require long-term continuous operation and incubation, respecting time and management to remain fresh through the river of time. Currently, multiple IPs under the company are gradually gaining recognition globally. In the future, POP MART will continue to discover more localized artists worldwide to meet consumer demands in different regions. On the other hand, they focus on adapting to local conditions, creating more products that local consumers love in different countries and regions. For example, launching Labubu Merlion-themed products in Singapore, and introducing LABUBU derivatives combined with world famous paintings at the Louvre in Paris. Such localization initiatives can significantly boost brand recognition locally.