26th June 2025

Mad about Monchhichi

I've been a fan of Monchhichi for several years now. You know, the little monkey plush with a plastic face, where you can put their thumbs in their mouths. They're not my main interest, but I have quite a few, and I'm fond of the little creatures - they have been made since the 1970s and have a variety of unique designs and collaborations over the years. Even my mum had a Monchhichi back when she was a kid.

Recently, I started to see a resurgence in Monchhichi merchandise over here in the UK. "Great!" I thought, "other people are starting to recognise that Monchhichi is a cute plushie, it'll be easier to get the merchandise now!". Well, actually, I'm feeling a little betrayed now, because I discovered the reason why I was starting to see more Monchhichi merchandise.

It turns out that the reason there's been an increase in Monchhichi merchandise isn't just based in a genuine love and appreciation for Monchhichi... Poor Monchhichi is playing second fiddle to the Labubu trend. People who aren't able to get the Labubu due to the small supply in comparison to the demand, are turning to the more readily available Monchhichi.

I am even seeing brands that are collaborating with Monchhichi encouraging the mix-up or substitution. The phrase "The choke-hold blind boxes have on us is no joke" implies that monchhichi are known for their blind boxes. Now admittedly I can see that they've begun to take a step into the world of blind-box formats — mostly just offering two possible variants, like gender or colour — but nothing to the level of the full POPMART lineup, with things like rare pulls and secret editions. As of now, Monchhichi still operates almost entirely using a more traditional sales model, allowing you to know exactly which item you'll receive when you purchase it. So therefore this feels like Lazy Oaf are offering Monchhichi up as an alternative to Labubu. Like they're saying "We couldn't get the collab people really wanted, but isn't this just as good?"

In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal, it just makes me feel annoyed that people aren't appreciating Monchhichi for what it is, appreciating the legacy, the individuality, it's just being thrown in with the Labubu trend. And I like Labubu, I like POPMART, but Monchhichi is just a different brand, a different design, a different marketing strategy. It's frustrating to see it all be mixed in together, because Monchhichi deserves to be appreciated on its own terms.