Digested week: NeeDohs, Knox and news from the far side of the moon | Emma Brockes

The hottest day of the year so far was this week, obliging everyone to lose their minds Easter Monday and we’re out in Camden, observing the tween girls’ stations of the cross: namely, Pop Mart and Miniso, Chinese retailers selling toys, collectibles and “blind boxes”, for which the devotional parent is invited to pay 15 quid for their child to unwrap a surprise. (The surprise – can you guess? – is that it’s not worth 15 quid.) Other purchasing options include the “Action Figure Squid Game Set”, which retails for – adjusts glasses – £250. A range of DC Comics collectible figures starting at £32 a pop. And something called a “Cinnamoroll figurine”, which is, inexplicably, £95. We come to look not to buy, which seems to be the general position of everyone in the shop and may be why Pop Mart’s share price has lately been tanking. Until this year, almost 40% of the company’s revenue was generated by sales of the Labubu, the “ugly doll” spiritual heir to the Cabbage Patch that sold for up to £70 a unit and that tweens briefly went crazy for last summer. Since then, enthusiasm for Labubus has cooled and Pop Mart’s share price has plunged 22%. As we speak, its top scientists are, presumab

Apr 10, 2026 → Apr 10, 2026