Haunted Dolls and the Labubu Curse

0:01 The Boo Boo dolls, despite what some might consider an off putting albeit harmless appearance, have become the subject of online stories and theories suggesting they are just playing creepy, haunted, or demonic, or otherwise evil. Of course they are, yeah, or they are Chinese spies. Ooh, actually that's put your tinfoil hats on. Yeah. Yeah. These narratives often portray the dolls as having a dark or evil side. Hi, Chris, Hi, Caitlin, Hi creepy people.

0:43 Hello? Did I do it right? Yeah? Okay, excellent so far. So this is PNW Hansen Homicides, where we chat about true crime, the paranormal, and all things spooky in the Pacific Northwest. The P and W if You're nasty that Yeah, Cassie's going to be so proud of me. If I ever forget to say P and W if You're nasty, she really gets after me. Why because she loves it? Oh okay, right, it is pretty great. Yeah, I can't forget that. No, it's critical stuff.

1:26 I'm kind of nervous. No, I mean that it's it's very on brand. So, I mean I've been here once, yeah, and I've been invited again. Graciously. I'm very happy about that. Well your previous performance. I think the reviews were really excellent. So really yeah, yeah. Who reviewed me? Just the people or is this your guys reviews? I mean I would say all of the above, but yeah, I did have actually several people that reached out and either commented on you know, posts that we did about the episode, or that DMD or emailed directly and said.

2:07 That was really cool, Like you have to have him back. Wow, Like, okay, why didn't you tell me about this? It's definitely so long. I definitely have. No I'm sure you did tell me. Yeah, and I you know, I don't want to get a bloated ahead about it. Yeah, yeah, just you know you're trying to stay humble. I get that exact. Yeah, So, uh, what are we doing today? I have a few stories to tell you. This is sort of a a little bit different type of episode, and part of it was designed to really get into Cassie's psyche, really throw her off. But I'm going to see if it maybe it'll work for for the two of us.

2:51 Still, Oh, okay, so you're going to torture me a little bit? Oh, I don't know that I would say, torture. I don't feel like that's totally accurate, but yeah, we'll have. Some fun with it. Okay, you promised, Yeah I did. Okay, Well, let's get into some unsettling first hand accounts people have shared online. Wonderful. Yeah, I'm kind of stealing a little bit from Cassie's genre this time. So okay. Yeah, if she's upset about it, she's not here to defend herself, so. Oh well. Yeah. Our first story comes from a Reddit user who swears their friends doll set off a chain of unsettling events.

3:35 Spooky, spooky. Wait are you is this Cassie's episode or this. Is my episode? I told you, I'm stealing a little bit from her genre. I get it, I get it. I'm dipping a toe. I know it's confusing. My friend's doll is haunted. My friend posted from her perspective. And I were having a day out in town yesterday. We walked past a shop and she saw these dolls in the window. She was dying to get one, and I just kept going on about how scary they look and how ugly they are. Dolls are creepy, Dolls are creepy.

4:18 That's listen, it's a long standing belief. And have you seen my mom's dolls? Like all the dolls she has, all those porcelain ones. No, she just hasn't tucked away in the closet. I assumed that's why I don't go upstairs. I thought you guys were just trying to protect me. Take a peek in that closet and you'll scream. I think I'm good. Anyways, she bought one and we unboxed it at dinner. She got the one she wanted. We laughed about it and then just focused on our meal. Anyways, we get back to our house, middle of nowhere, surrounded by dense trees and forests, and go to her room. We were in the middle of Things I Hate About You when she suddenly gets the idea to decorate it. Which this story really makes me want to watch Ten Things I Hate About You again. Yeah, although if it's a precursor at all to the rest of the story, I think maybe I'll skip it.

5:19 I mean, they put it in there, does it have something to do with it? I feel like it's a it's a valid question, right. It's very important to the story. Yeah, it's it's at least fair to ask, So she gives it false lashes, eyeliner, sparkly lips and cheeks, earcuffs, and a chain necklace. Wow. Okay, so they're they're really going ham on this doll. Wow. We just find it purely funny at this point and don't know what to do with the horrendous looking thing now, So she decides to clip it to her light shade. That's a choice. It's yeah, that's so funny. Literally my exact words.

5:59 I know, we speak the same a little bit. Yeah, we do sandwich. A while later, we decided to go out to smoke and watch the sunset, bearing in mind we are home alone and left the house at eleven pm. We go into this field by the woods, it's next to our house. We smoke or whatever and start heading back to our house at about eleven forty five. Her dogs, two spaniels one whippet were with us and kind of had free roam around the field we were in and in the field she keeps her two horses in. Okay, so she's a horse girl. So I don't know, just you know, making a mental note of that. Sure, sure, yeap. Her youngest spaniel was running through the horse field chasing something.

6:43 At first, we thought it was a big rabbit because from afar it looked like it was. But then I heard a different bark, not like a dog's. It was actually kind of terrifying. That's when I first paused and thought, that's definitely not a rabbit. Anyways, got closer and it was a badger. Those things are scary. They're like very they're vicious. You're tough little critters. Yeah, sure, I got a badger hunter over here. Lineage. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like Molly the instinct would still be there. She'd be you know, must have a blood of badger.

7:24 Oh yeah, but I think given her stature and her lack of training, I feel like she may, she may struggle. I don't think I'm ready to test that out. It's in blood only, yeah, in practice. Yeah, I've never seen one before, but I hate these things. Her dog was chasing it, kind of attacking it, but it was running towards us until her dog chased it under a fence and into the woods. After a while of screaming for her dogs to come back. We were going to go through the horse field to get back to hers as it was a quickest way. Her horse then tries to jump on her other dog and almost killed the thing. Okay, so we got a lot of really wild animal activity here.

8:09 Yeah. So by this point we were very shaken up, like this stuff never happens to us at all. Rather than going through the horse field, we climb into a different field and go around it. Her dogs then started rolling and pawing at their faces, so we assumed it was a nettle. Hm, a wasp's nest. Oh okay, a wasp landed on my friends. So I tried to swat it away, but it ended up going into her jumper. Whoops. Yeah, not great. She's deathly allergic. Really yeah, no. So she was on the brink of tears. By the time we got back. We were both genuinely so freaked out on it. Like on the brink of tears, I would be hysterically sobbing. Yeah, thanks for backing me up.

9:02 We get to her room, she uses her phone torch, and the fricking doll is just dangling and looking at us. We forgot it was even there. To be honest, anyway, we think nothing of it other than the fact that it still looks creepy as hell. We go to turn her TV on to finish the movie. But it's not working. It was unplugged at the wall, okay, which obviously she says, we never did that before we left. So then she plugs it back in. Still not working. We check the back of the TV and the whole cable connecting it to the wall has been taken out. Wow. I didn't even think the.

9:43 How Okay, her TV all, I mean, I feel like that's the insinuation already. But her TV is like airtight against the wall. You need long tweezers or something to take the cable out and put it back in. Oh god, Okay. So yeah, they're saying, like, literally, how is this physically possible? Right? Okay, again, we were home alone, the house was empty the whole time we were out. What was the only other thing here? I think you called it, she says, the doll? Mm hmm. Okay. I swear these things are actually haunted because neither of us did it. We remember vividly leaving everything on before we left. Bad stuff like this has never happened until she got that freaky little doll. I'm convinced they're demonic slash haunted. Okay, that's holy shit.

10:38 Yikes. Oh, gosh, freaked out by your own story, well someone else's story. Yeah, you know how we feel about dolls, which makes it makes it very confusing that this is this is what I chose to do. I thought I would be sort of at least torturing Cassie along with me. I guess if that? Yeah? All right? In another post from the same subreddit, a different user shares and equally unnerving experience after bringing a doll home and it's her friend. So this is the other friends perspective. Oh okay. I was like, thank goodness that, like, we can find both of their accounts, right, you know. So it all started yesterday when I was walking through my town and spotted dolls in a local shop. I decided to get one as a joke and see which one I would get just for the giggles. I opened the package with my friend while still in town and got the one I wanted, and we had a laugh, etc.

11:44 No, real quickly, presumably do these two posters do they know that the other posted? I think maybe not when they like first posted, but then they probably you know, were like, oh yeah I posted it, so but yeah, I think that's interesting. I would I would be interested to go back and kind of look at the timestams and be like who posted first? Yeah. Fast forward to later. We both come back to my house and I decided to decorate the doll and did she ever? This involves super gluing eyelashes, earrings, glitter lips, and dripping her out with chains.

12:26 Oh my god, this is. Such a makeover. Yeah, well that is so gen z. Yeah that drip. A couple hours later, we decide to go out and smoke, so I hang this doll off my ceiling light to dry and we go outside for context. I live in the middle of the woods with a lot of fields around, so we go out into a field smoke, start walking back, and lo and behold, we see my dog chasing a badger right towards us. My dog is much faster than the badger. Bear in mind, so me and my friend scream and run away whilst I'm screaming at my dog because I don't want him to be mauled by a badger.

13:10 Of course that's fair. We go into my field and then my horse tries to kill my other dog, like stomping and trying to bite her, etc. So we leave the field and walk down the side of the field next to it to get back to my house. We reach the end of the path about to jump the fence when two of my dogs stick their noses in the ground and start crying and wiping their faces on the ground. I think, oh, it's just some nettles, they'll be fine, But no wasp nest. A wasp proceeds to fly into my hair. I scream. It leaves flies into my jumper. I take my jumper off. We run inside.

13:51 Both of us are shaking and close to tears at this point, but it's not over yet. We go to my room, sit down, turn the TV on. Nothing. I check it's unplugged at the wall. Why I don't. I don't like it. What's going on over there? Are you having an issue? No? No, I I thought I knew what nettles were. Oh were you trying to look at them? Right? And I did know what they were. Yeah. It's a type of plant, Yeah, yeah, with you know, spiky little. Edge they're they're kind of gnarly. Yeah yeah, And so I was just curious. Yeah, so she's checked the wall. It's unplugged.

14:34 I don't like that. I have never done that once in the eight years that I have lived here. I plug it in, still not working. I check the power cable in the TV. It is unplugged. What she says, what? And this is a very hard to reach cable because I have to use tweezers to. Reach it and put it back in. But get this, we were home alone. Yes, fast forward. I give the doll to my brother. It sleeps in the hallway, et cetera. But we are now thinking of either burning it or performing a ritual on it. This was absolutely insane. I regret ever buying that creepy ass doll. Give it to someone you hate, yeah, right, like.

15:24 Or or send it to one of like the creepy doll museums. Okay, yeah, wow what a night they had. I know. Okay, Well, now we're going to actually read some stories that come from elsewhere. They're going to be it's We've got some new characters over on our slash Scary Stories. One post recounts all haunting that seemed to change the mood of an entire household. Hey everyone, I wanted to share a creepy experience that happened recently at my uncle's house, and it's all linked to this viral doll trend. So here's what went down. My uncle has two kids, and a few weeks ago, my aunt had to travel abroad for an office tour. That left my uncle alone to manage the kids. As you can imagine, two little ones can be a handful. One day, after seeing all the hype about the doll online, the kids got super stubborn about wanting one. To avoid further tantrums, my uncle gave in and bought them a doll. Things were fine for a day.

16:32 One day. Yeah. The night after my aunt returned from her trip, she heard something disturbing, a woman crying somewhere in the house. She checked every room, but there was no one and nothing unusual. She ignored it, thinking it might just be her imagination or jet lag, an imagination. I know, I'm like, girl, if you think that's your imagination like I feel, I don't know, maybe you need to talk to someone. She's just trying to rationalize it. I can respect that. Uh yeah, I can respect that. I don't understand it. Right, And as far as jet lag, I don't think that I've ever been that tired.

17:13 Well, how are you. Ever going to fall asleep after you've heard a phantom woman? Crying in your house. Sometimes people just get that sleepy. I guess. You can fall asleep anywhere, so I'm probably I'm barking at the wrong. Tree earlier today, Yeah, and it's not. It's only three thirty right now. But then the next night, same thing. Late at night, she heard the sound of a woman softly weeping. Again, nothing was found. On the third night, it happened again. This time she woke up my uncle and told him everything. To her surprise, he said, you've been hearing this for three nights and didn't wake me before.

17:57 I was just gonna say, yeah, I would tell you on the first time I heard it. Yeah, you hear that? Yeah? Can you imagine? Yeah? I guess, like if you're waking up. In the middle of the night, you know, maybe the courteous thing to do is like not wake up your partner if there's no immediate danger. Yeah, who cares. I would not be convinced I was not in immediate danger. I'd be waking yo. Way you have Yeah, you've done it before. Yeah. Yeah, Well, we've had several instances where we both wake up because we've heard a noise, or like we've both woken up randomly and been like, why are we both suddenly awake at the very same time.

18:39 I remember the times that it has happened. I don't remember what I heard. I just know something woke me up. Yeah, and then danger danger yeah yeah, oh and. Then I immediately investigate. He then paused and added, maybe it's that doll. I feel like that's kind that Yeah. I you know, it's interesting because I'm like, listen, I already have established for myself that dolls are up to no good. But I just didn't realize that so many of these people would be with me on this. Yeah. So I mean it does feel I feel a little bit vindicated.

19:21 Sure. Yeah. Turns out he had come across some strange articles online saying that certain dolls are believed to be cursed or demonic. That same night, my uncle didn't take any chances. He got up, took the doll and threw it far away from the house. Good for him, Yeah, that's I mean, that's a dad. That's that is a dad, And uh, like you got to do that. That's fae for me. I would just you know, I would say, I'd be skeptical. Yeah, but what's a doll going to do? A doll doesn't. But he and I I agree with that move.

20:01 He's just like, just get rid of it, let's get it out of here. Did that fix it? Yeah? I think based on the next sentence, I'm going with no. Okay, I'm going to go with no. I feel confident in the know. Here's where things get even weirder. For the past few days, the kids had been behaving oddly. They were super cranky, refused to go to school, even their favorite classes, and we're always upset for no reason. But the very next morning, after the doll was thrown away, it was like a cloud had lifted. The kids woke up smiling, full of energy, no mention of the doll at all. It was like they didn't even remember it.

20:54 The whole vibe of the house change peaceful, cheerful, and light. We still don't know what exactly was going on, but one thing is clear. That doll wasn't just a toy. Anyone else experienced anything strange with these dolls? That, Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, okay, so like, what are these dolls that people like? Okay, I want to know what doll. I'm not buying any dolls, just to be clear, but what are these dolls? Because I want to like, stay far, far far away. No, let's good one, let's find out. It's funny you should say that. I think I might have a lead, So I don't know. Maybe we'll explore that.

21:38 I was just joking. I know I don't want that in my I don't want that in my home. I know that's that's like house rules here. And then there are the quick real world encounters like this one from a fan who got an unexpected warning from a stranger. And this one is kind of odd. All of these are odd, but I think that this one is kind of like, what the hell it really? I had to go back and reread it. It's very short. Today I went to a store with my doll on my back, and as I was checking out, one of the workers came up to me and said, you know, those things are really cute, but if you knew what they stood for, you'd no longer want it, and then followed by telling me it was a demon.

22:34 Really, yeah, it seems kind of intense. I already have so many questions, but go on. Please, okay, good. I've seen discourse on TikTok about dolls. Being demonic, but never thought people took that serious enough to approach strangers, Which is like, I don't think I take anything seriously enough to approach strangers opinions. Yeah, yeah, I just they go let the world know. Yeah, absolutely, I know Beach to Sandy wouldn't exist if they didn't. Just wanted to share because I thought it was weird and I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

23:18 I have, not you have. I don't carry dolls on my backpack. Oh maybe I should, but now I've learned that they represent demons, so now I won't. Yeah, I feel like it's a it's a tough situation here. You may have pieced together by now that we're not talking about just any doll. Is that fair to say? Yeah? I mean this is not a child's. Okay, I mean arguably, I mean they're supposed to be okay. So you should have some links popping up here. Oh it's hard to find a good one that gives you lead.

24:00 Shit, this is crazy? What what? Okay? So you sent me this link for laboo boo. I don't know what this is, but I see a photo of uh leabooboo. The monsters. Yeah, okay, I've never seen this up until yesterday. Really, up until yesterday, I saw this. You know where I saw this? Where I went to the Ducks game. Yeah, somebody had on their back, didn't they? No Puddles the mascot. Yeah, the Oregon Ducks mascot was dressed up as Labooboo.

24:41 Shut the fuck up? Are you kidding me? I'm not you get pictures of it. I'm gonna have to look this up. When I saw him, I had no idea what it was. To this moment, I did not know what it was, and I'm gonna have to see if I have pictures of it. But he was dressed up as this, and it confused me. And it was like just for the first quarter, and then after the quarter was over he got back into his regular Puddles mascot. Yeah for him, but I didn't know what that was. I'm gonna see if I took any photos. But I just kind of chalked it up to I don't know, like Halloween's coming up or something I don't know. And then you send me this link and I see the photo and I'm like, oh my god, he was wearing that I never seen this primary.

25:34 It was so upset because I was like, this whole episode, the basis of it was that I was gonna like totally throw Cassie off about how I'm talking about haunted dolls and. Oh my god, yeah, yeah, I gotta I got a video of it. Look at this. Okay, so I'm gonna pause. This was meant to be. This is crazy. Look that's him, dude, the Ducks mascot was dressed up to this thing. And I want to know what you have to say about this, because I know nothing about this. Here's the here's the back of it.

26:15 Oh my god, Okay, okay, So if you just showed me the front, I would have said, okay, like they're doing like kind of a cheap knockoff. It is like fully supposed to be a lu boo boo. Okay. So I saw Toddles, the mascot from the Oregon Ducks football team, dressed up as this. I didn't know what it meant. This was yesterday, okay. So they were playing the OSU cow Cowboys. This was September sixth. It is now September seventh, and you're now talking about this. I had no idea you were going to be talking about this. I had no idea what it meant when I saw the mascot. Dr You didn't even have tickets for that game until like what two days ago?

26:58 I bought it on Friday. Yeah. Yeah, and you couldn't have known that no Puddles was going to be dressed up. I mean, even in this moment, I have no idea what this thing is. You're going to tell me more about it, yeah, but I just saw the photo and I was like, oh wow, I saw Puddles, the Oregon mascot dressed up as a. Freaking out. That's crazy. Okay, So what is this thing? Oh my god? The lu Boo Boo phenomenon began innocently enough in twenty fifteen, when Hong Kong born and Netherlands raised artist Kay Sing Lung introduced the character as part of his story book series The Monsters.

27:45 Ever heard of it? I have known. The series is deeply rooted in Nordic folklore and fairy tales. Initially known only to a niche audience. Lou Boo Boo's quirky, ugly cute aesthetic, a furry elf like creature, each iteration flaunting nine serrated teeth and mischievous grins was later catapulted into the spotlight by the Chinese retailer PopMart. Their exaggerated expressions create a confusing, animalistic blend of wholesomeness and ambishness. I see that. Yeah, they've kind of in a weird way.

28:26 And I'm certainly not the like, the first person to draw this parallel, but they remind me of a. Furbie a little bit. Are you looking at him? Uh? I'm looking at it. I don't remember what a furby is. That sounds familiar. Okay, so you need to look up a ferbie really quick. Oh boy, Okay, we're just going down one rabbit hole after the next. Oh okay, I remember these No. I hated these things. I had one. These are awful looking. They're kind of scary looking. I like let boo boo. I don't like furb you like labuobo Okay. I actually am kind of partial to lu booboo as well as compared to a ferbie. I had a furbie, and I will tell you that like those things, they really they had kind of a similar reaction, like in terms of like the public consciousness.

29:20 People were like they're evil, they're demonic. Oh, okay, And I definitely had a late night experience with it, just like starting talking in the middle of the night. And they're not supposed to talk. Well, the furbies did talk, but it was like it was totally unprovoked in the middle of the night. And then even when I put it in a drawer, because they say like, oh, you know, put it somewhere where it's like dark, and then it knows it's nighttime and go to sleep, it. Just kept talking. Nope. So I think we. Understand where some of Caitlin's trauma regarding dolls comes from.

30:01 They come in various forms, including figurines, plushies, and bag charms. They even have like phone charms with the boo boo okay. A significant aspect of their appeal is the blind box model. Are you familiar No? I do? Okay. So this is where consumers purchase sealed boxes without knowing which specific character they'll get. Oh sure, yeah, that's done for a lot of things, a. Lot of things. It's wildly successful. When we're in Disneyland, we're looking at a bunch of those the yeah Mystery pin mystery. So it adds an element of surprise and scarcity. That's according to experts familiar with the psychology behind the brand's wildly successful marketing strategy. So while the character's origins trace back to Lung's illustrated book series The Monsters, it's the Chinese toy company PopMart that's responsible for the rapid commercialization and distribution of Le Boo Boo and related products. Even NPR is talking about le Boo Boo these days.

31:16 And it's fun to say it really is La Booboo La Booo. But how the. Hell have these creepy, cute Furby esque creatures suddenly become a household name and they are. Thishold well like it. It's like a fifty to fifty in this household up until today. Even an infinite marketing and advertising budget can't fully ensure that any particular product will take off in the way that La Boo Boos have. This is kind of thing that every ad agency they want to bottle it like this energy. In this case, the endorsement of one pop culture sensation led to another. Lisa of the K pop girl group Black Pink is largely credited with their rise to meteoric popularity. Like so many of the viral trends, that came before this all started. On Instagram, Lisa first publicly shared her love of Laboo Boos in April twenty twenty four. The reaction of fans was swift and began to catapult the brand in the global market.

32:29 The Labooboos were really primarily popular in parts of I believe like Southeast Asia, sure, and this took them to a whole new level. Many have speculated, but no official ties to a paid promotion of any kind have ever been identified. But do I smell a brand colerb. Right, I don't think they need it. Well, here's the thing. In fact, Lisa has expressed interest in a possible collacs operation with the Boo Boo, suggesting it would be a lot of fun and could blow up the internet, which is like the most K pop like thing to say.

33:14 I think, yeah, I kind of love it. But I mean, think about this, this situation. It's like if imagine MJ just rocked Nikes without ever collecting a dime. Yeah, okay, right, so she's doing that basically, Yeah. I mean she yes, And you're going to see because we're going to talk about the scale at which these things have just become. It is. It's mind boggling. Yeah, she needs to get paid. She needs to get paid. Pay Lisa. I'm sure Lisa's getting paid, but to be honest, they should pay her for this as well. Okay, get you obey girl.

33:54 The incredible surge in demand for their products led to Popmart's brick and mortar stores as well as their roboshops quickly selling out. And we have a robo shop within a handful of miles from us. I happened to have checked. What is a robo shop? It's basically a vending machine. Okay, yeah, I had the same question. I was like, this sounds like a vending machine, and then I looked it up and I was like, that's exactly what it is. Gotcha, Yeah, we may need to take a field trip. Could be. In turn, the resale market went crazy and prices for particularly desirable La Boo boos inflated to almost unimaginable levels.

34:37 Yet with fame came controversy. According to shen Yen Customs data, more than four hundred PopMart toys were seized in April and May of this year. Resellers have been trying to smuggle them in all over China. Price gougers are able to fetch a price of nearly twenty times the original cost. Has been cracking down those scalpers. I know, honestly, I think that is problematic, but it is. It's kind of laughable, right because it's like it's all about a toy. But you know, people get excited about. These things and then unfortunately, like the resale market, there's a lot of really problematic activity.

35:23 Yeah, that happens in so many things. Yeah, I mean all kinds of memorabilia and collectibles. So real. This is far from the only controversial or criminal behavior plaguing the brand. Stories about late night robberies have been sprouting up stateside all over the country. La County, Saint Louis, La Puente. No locality seems immune to the Laboo Boo trend or the thievery targeting it. There was actually one robbery that probably almost anybody who's already aware of the Laboo Boo trend heard about, where thieves allegedly went into a shop and they stole thirty thousand dollars worth of La Boo boos because they had some very like desirable ones.

36:13 Wow, eight of them. Yeah, exactly. I know begs the question how many Laboo boos is that, of course, anything worth stealing or smuggling is typically also worth duping. The better business bureau and news organizations worn of the risks of online purchases, as well as labooboo scams, which is like the most fun sounding scam aside from just generally looking off or cheap, there is one sure fire way to determine whether you've got a true blue Laboo Boo or a knockoff known as a lafufou.

36:57 Which is I don't like that as much, still fun, not as much. I was really curious to get your reaction on that, because part of me almost likes the lafufu more. They're both really fun to say, It's quintas the legitimate La Boo Boo brand dolls have nineteeenth well, the lafufu is said to typically. Have ten if they just do nine. Well, okay. So the thing about it is that you get into trademark issues. Okay, So when. Certain types of highly recognizable products, or you know, if it has a specific like logo, and this happens a lot with designer handbags, you can only match it so closely because otherwise, you you know, you run the risk of being sued by the actual brand.

37:48 I feel like you can still be sued though, yes. I mean, I'm sure you could. I think they do certain things to kind of be like, well, this is clearly different because this is well established of you know, the particular you know brand. So ours this just a little bit different. That's a whole another topic. It really is, it really is, and and yes, my sentiment is very much that coming up here. There are other similar slight discrepancies in the overall appearance of the dolls out there, but I'll leave the collectible slew thing up to somebody who's interested enough to follow up on their own time. So the number of teeth is a good one. That's an easy verifiable thing. In general, they just look not quite right. That's the feedback that I got from so many sources. Yes exactly. I feel like, you know, if Congress doesn't know how to define porn, but they know it when they see it. Same thing for La Boo Woo versus lafufu so bad they're good appeal.

39:03 Some Lafufu lovers appreciate the unintentional flaws and quirky appearances of the fake dolls, finding them ugly cute or even comical, according to Business Insider, challenging the notion of authenticity. For some, buying and showcasing lafufus can be seen as a way to push back against consumerism and the pressure to own expensive, authentic items, which I can totally get that it's kind of like anti establishment vibes. Joey Kong, a trends manager at London based market research agency Mantel, said, like most fakes, lafufouos reflect a combination of systemic market inequalities and genuine human motivations, the desire to belong, to experience joy, and to participate in the cultural moment, because that's what a trend is. China has never been so determined to fix IP in parentheses intellectual property thefts thanks to the booboos contribution not just as a global best selling toy, but as a soft power tool. A Chinese consumer trends analyst said, defending the Boo Boo's IP is no longer just about business interest but about national interest. Wow him, Yeah, so a lot of that sounds a little bit more aligned

40:35 with true crime, right sure, yeah, Because none of that piece of things was like super spooky. That was all like price gouging and theft and. Yeah, yeah, I thought we were just talking about toys here. Yeah. No, it's very intense. It always happens that way on this show. Yeah, but did I just bait and switch? After reading knew those scary stories at the top, Like if you were a betting man, what would you say? I know, not exactly. It turns out they're all Reddit stories about la boo boos. La Boo Boo dolls, despite what some might consider an off putting albeit harmless appearance, have become the subject of online stories and theories suggesting they are just playing creepy, haunted, or demonic or otherwise evil.

41:31 Of course they are, yeah, or they are Chinese spies. Ooh, actually that's put. Your tinfoil hats on. Yeah. These narratives often portray the dolls as having a dark or evil side, despite their original design by casing Lung being inspired by Nordic folklore. And they're actually intended to be tarted. Seems doesn't it. I mean they have kind of a mischievous little look about them, but it's like. I don't know, it's cute, it's fun. Yeah. Some stories suggest the dolls move on the room whisper, or even exhibit other supernatural behaviors, and these eerie accounts set the stage for the strange blend of pop culture hype and supernatural rumors that follow. Some people have reported generally feeling uneasy or experiencing a sense of dread around the dolls, which I mean, yeah, that feels fair, leading to speculation about their psychological impact, as well as honestly like the weakest version of the Satanic panic that I can recall. Yeah, just feels like, I don't know, is there nothing else to be alarmed about in today's world?

42:58 This is why you're picking this is. This is the hill you'd like to die on. I guess, okay, Bobby, And it doesn't just end at Satanic panic, because this is why we can't have nice things. A viral social media theory began linking ll Booboo to Pazuzu, the ancient Mesopotamian demon god made famous by the cult classic film released in nineteen seventy three, The Exorcist. The comparison hinged on a few visual similarities that I can't find, and was amplified by users sharing ominous posts, including a clip from The Simpsons featuring Pazuzu. Despite the dramatic narrative, experts and fact checkers have thoroughly debunked the theory Lo Booboo was born from childhood nostalgia and folklore, not dark mythology. Also, let's not forget Pazuzu was itself, at least in part of fictional character created by the author of The Exorcist, William Peter Blattie. Y'all need to touch some grass, although I could make an argument that maybe they've already touched some grass, you know, like which, Personally, I don't think

44:33 La booboos look like the pictures that I found of Pazuzu in any way. Like you said, they both have faces. Yeah, the only thing arguably more scary than corporate greed laid bare or even the paranormal is maybe racism. Go on. I was counting on that being a little bit both confusing and intriguing. Take the UK based social media influencer who was racking up the views for her increasingly rare, unusual and expensive La Boo boos and her homespun Ksi.

45:16 La Boo boo Ksi is a British YouTuber, rapper. And professional boxer. I've heard of him. Yeah you have have you seen him? Yeah? All right, so you know where this is going maybe. Kinna, no no idea. Honestly, even if even if you have some context, your brain's not going to go there, I promise. He is widely known as JJ and is also a co founder of the Sidemen, a group of popular YouTubers. He's even a successful entrepreneur, co owning the energy drink company Prime Hydration with Logan Paul. We'll just sidestep the co owner's questionable persona and say good for KSI for diversifying his portfolio.

46:02 And career prospects. The backlash and public outcry about the wildly racially insensitive modifications that she made to her doll led to her removing the video she had posted about it, but the video was saved before she managed to wipe the instance of blackface from the interwebs. Oh boy, I just can't. As I was writing up my notes over several days, KSI finally responded to the whole thing because there were a lot of people saying, like, well, how does he feel about it? Does he feel like it's racist? And I feel like blackface is kind of racist. Even if he doesn't necessarily take a ton of offense. Sure, it's just probably not something we should do. And according to a short clip of the TikTok he posted in reply, his major complaint was that on the doll his forehead was so big.

47:02 Nobody likes that. Nobody likes that. So he's responded in good humor. That's only to his credit. I don't think that's anything in her defense, because it is, like, it's pretty gross. Collectively, these controversies give us a glimpse into the dark side of any modern collectible grace. How design, asthetic, internet culture, safety or other regulatory oversight gaps, and speculative market dynamics can converge into fear, frenzy, and even crime. Yet, paradoxically, even these shadows contribute to la booboos mythos. The toys blend of ugly cute charm, blind box thrill, celebrity endorsements and fringe rumors only intensified its status not as a toy born of darkness, but as a mirror of our own fascination with the uncanny and the unknown. Mm hmm, well put, yeah, I know, it's such an interesting thing.

48:10 I feel like there are so many trends that kind of it's like it really it kind of makes you think, you're like, like, it's not that deep, but it shouldn't be. But man, I mean, you involve people all over the world and you're going to get all different kinds of perspectives, and any opportunity to make a book is really you know, there's opportunities there that people are going to take advantage. Yeah. Yeah, popularity, boredom and money. Yeah yeah, it's a winning combination. It seems to be here, well, at least.

48:50 For PopMart Well, Christopher, should we tell the people what we've done? Yes, let's do it. We went to a place, we took a field trip. Yeah we did. Okay, so aside from a little bit. Of uh TV watching, we took a little break. We went on a field trip and we had a meal mm hmm. But we also came back with a pirate coach. Yeah possibly. Okay, I'm gonna have you shuffle.

49:33 Like actually shuffle or just cut it. You can do whatever you want. I'm just gonna cut it. I'm lazy. I took another nap. Did take another nap, okay, all right, and we are down two cameras. But you know, we're good for it. Okay. So I'm going to do kind of what I classically do. I'll just spread and you tell me if there's like one end of the deck or kind of a specific card that you feel like is calling us. What do you think? Hmm? Wait, you just put your finger across it and I'll tell you when, well, when that one?

50:19 This one okay, on the left hand side. Oh, okay, the ace of cups. Oh, she's pretty. I don't know what that means. Okay, Well, I'm gonna tell you. Good I need. Thank goodness, I'm here right, thank goodness, I'm here, all right. So we drew the ace of cups in the upward position, the upright, I should say. Keywords are new love, beginning, a creative activity, and joy. Well look at that. Look at that?

51:00 A single large chalice appears on the ace of cups. Sometimes water flows out of it fountain like, or the cup sits in water. In the rider Waight Smith deck, a hand emerging from a cloud offers the cup as a gift to you. This represents a gift of love, either of a personal or divine nature. This ace reminds us of the Holy Grail. The most famous Chalice of All which some people believe now lies in the chalice well in Glastonbury, England. All right, so I'm going to read you the main interpretation, and then there is.

51:42 An extra excerpt, so wonderful. The upright ace denotes a burst of joy, the kind that comes with falling in love. Often, its appearance heralds a new romance, but it can also represent the start of a creative project about which you feel happy. Are we getting into the la boo boo business. Us? We may be. I feel like I don't know what that means, but maybe we are. I'm scared, yeah, as you should be. When this beautiful card shows up, it indicates you're on an emotional high and enjoying life. Sometimes it indicates the birth of a child or idea.

52:29 Mm hmm, okay, all right. In a reading about money, the ace suggests the beginning of a creative endeavor that promises to be profitable. Well, I've like that. Too, I'm with you. Nurture it carefully and the seeds will bear fruit. If the reading is about your work, you may be starting a new job and feel enthusiastic about it. Perhaps this position will allow you to express your creativity or the bill a dream, even though it might take some time. In a reading about love, the ace symbolizes the first stages of a romantic relationship. Nurture it so your love will blossom. Sometimes it represents awakening to divine love. Wow, yeah, okay, and then our extra excerpt is a wicked blessing. Sharing a beverage and a chalice is a popular practice in Wickan rituals. Sometimes the chalice is offered with the blessing may you never thirst.

53:36 Because the chalice is passed from one person to another, it may feature a long stem that makes it easier to handle. Okay, interesting, all right, and then I guess we break into our package. Now SEFA has anything to do with any of that. Okay, So I didn't plan to do this for theisode, but I'm going to be honest. Chris broke me down. I did. Yeah, Okay, Okay, so. Big into energy. Yeah, A la boo boo, a labooboo. We found one. There were multiple ones.

54:18 Honestly, Yeah, if money were no object, I think probably we would have acquired multiple la boo boos because. I kind of feel like I want to know what all of the fuss is about it wasn't cheap. No, they're not giving them away. Uh. I believe that it was more than retail. There's some debate about that. Yeah. Well so Chris actually found on Facebook marketplace a lot of the Boo Boos being advertised at or below the price that PopMart offers them at. Caitlin thinks they're cheap or they're fake.

54:59 Yes, I think they are. In fact, yeah, they could be. Yeah, so you've already cracked it open just a t course. Let's explain here. This is a mystery pack, right, we don't know what we're getting. Yeah, they really all are, all of them? Yeah, yeah, I'm not aware of any that you can buy from a legitimate dealer where you can know. What they are. So on the side, it shows what we could get, right, what what are the options there? So our options are love, hope, serenity, luck, happiness, loyalty, and then there's a secret option.

55:42 So we'll see. So we're destroying the value here, I imagine by opening it. It's obviously, like any collectible item, more valuable by keeping it sealed, unopened, brand new. I think in terms of resale, this is a little bit different than some of the other collectibles like beanie babies, just because ultimately the value could be higher depending on what you have in the box. Until you open it, you kind of don't really know if this is just sort of a run of the mill or if it's, you know, one of the secret ones.

56:22 I just want to know what we got. Okay, So our chances are one in six of receiving one of the regular edition. We have one in seventy two chance of receiving the secret So all right, it's the moment of truth. Open that next to the mic. Oh that's a good opening. Oh that feels good. It's got real good ASMR. I was just gonna say, I didn't know we're doing an ASMR pod.

57:06 Now, Okay, my. Gosh, So just for reference, do not eat it is the uh I want to eat it. He's never wanted anything more. Don't tell me what to do. I'm thinking. I'm thinking that's the card that tells us what it is. It's so much suspense. Okay, Yeah, the box had a bag, and now we have to open the bag. The bag is open. It looks really cute. Oh oh, he's got sort of a tie divebe that's like.

57:46 A pink and orange little la booboo. Look at his eyes. Okaye, I'm going to pass this to you. He looks his eyes are sparkly. Wow, that's that's pretty cool. Yeah, he's cute. It feels like a orange creamsicle type thing. You know what. It makes me think of Rainbow Suirbert. Yes, that's one of my favorites. Okay, So who is this guy? So this is this is loyalty. Loyalty Okay, yeah, yeah, pretty cute, pretty cute. I like it. That feels like a good omen for the newly married couple, doesn't it. We just celebrated our one year anniversary with a loyalty la boo boo.

58:41 Yeah it's cute. Oh, you know what. Its ears are different colors. He's very soft. Okay, just counting his teeth like any good dental assistant would, just just to be sure. Yeah, it feels like good quality. That is not a fake. Yeah okay, well we didn't get the secret one. Yeah that's okay. What are you going to do? I guess by seventy. It doesn't really feel like it has anything to do with the taro we drew though, maybe just the act of getting this thing. And yeah, I feel like, it's kind of an interesting one.

59:22 To have gotten with the subject matter, right, because loyalty. It's like, okay, first of all, don't steal, don't maybe make dupes. Uh well, there's a lot of brand loyalty into this little toy. I'm just saying, and I'm starting to understand why I'm already becoming emotionally attached to it. It's soft, it has cute, little sparkly eyes. I mean, this is way cheaper than a puppy. Yeah, and it's not alive or I don't know, I don't know. We've got some Reddit stories that might bake to differ.

1:00:02 I'm so sorry, friend, I just don't I know. Gosh, I'm so sorry friend. Just in case. Yeah, I mean, you know, just be careful. He's awfully cute. Yeah cool, we got one. I might have to put it on my shelf back here. What do you guys think? All right, well do you think is it about that time? Should we say the thing closer out? Have a day? See you next Tuesday.

1:00:49 Yeah, it's cute. I'm serious. I'm forming an emotional attachment to it already. I'm worried