In the past month, as one of the largest domestic agents of Jellycat, JOYCODE has rapidly expanded its stores across various commercial districts in Beijing. According to its official data, the number of directly operated stores has reached over 20.

Comparable to Pop Mart, which primarily relies on proprietary IPs, Jellycat boasts a gross margin of nearly 70%. Its latest financial report reveals a 2024 revenue of approximately £333 million (equivalent to about 3.2 billion RMB), marking a 66% year-on-year increase. The gross profit reached around £226 million, up 74% year-on-year, while after-tax profits surged by 99%.

The plush industry is still in its wild growth phase, far from reaching the intense competition akin to a hundred schools of thought vying for dominance. At present, it can at best be described as a stage of rapid emergence, said Shen Ze, founder of Wentongzi, a company primarily focused on high-end plush fabric toys, to Tech Planet. In his view, there are significant differences between the trendy toy sector and the plush sector. In terms of consumer perception, rubber plush dolls still belong to the trendy toy category rather than the plush toy category.

While Jellycat's agents accelerated offline store expansion, during this year's Double 11 shopping festival, its sales temporarily topped Tmall's "Plush Toys" category, consistently surpassing the plush toys under Mayday's "Bub" brand, sparking discussions in the celebrity IP plush toy market.

Compared to the already saturated blind boxes and trading cards, who will emerge as the next "Jellycat" in China?

A plush toy sells for nearly 20 million, making the celebrity edition Jellycat a hit

During this year's Double 11 shopping festival, a carrot-shaped plush toy named "Bububu," which became wildly popular due to the rock band Mayday, consistently topped the Tmall plush toy sales rankings.

In its official flagship store, a plush toy named "Bubba" priced at 159 yuan has achieved sales exceeding 19.68 million yuan. The latest larger version of "Bubba," priced at 699 yuan, has sold out and is now only available for pre-order.

The birth of this plush toy originated from the early social media profile pictures of Mayday. Nowadays, at Mayday's offline concerts, unlike traditional fan items such as glow sticks and photo cards, carrying a "Bububu" serves as a secret code among fans.

Moreover, these plush toys have already begun to be exclusively operated by a celebrity team. According to their official flagship store, "Bobo" is managed by STAYREAL, a trendy brand previously launched by Mayday, which primarily focuses on apparel. The plush toys are co-created and designed by Mayday's lead vocalist Ashin and artist Bu Er Liang.