July 21, 2025 • 51 mins
Why are we so obsessed with the tiny, adorable objects cluttering our desks, bags, and social media feeds? From plushies and vinyl figures to keychains and charms, trinket culture has exploded - but behind the cuteness lies something deeper. What do these seemingly insignificant objects reveal about us, our identities, and the times we’re living in? In today’s episode, we explore the psychology of trinket culture: why we love collecting, how these objects shape our self-expression, and what they tell us about joy, nostalgia, and even economic anxiety in our twenties and beyond.
We explore:
- The digital rise of trinkets through TikTok, Pinterest, and aesthetic micro-trends
- How trinkets offer identity, status, and belonging
- The role of inner child healing and nostalgia
- Why scarcity, blind boxes, and “drops” feel so addictive
- Links between trinkets, impulse spending, and economic uncertainty
- Using trinkets to spark joy
Whether you’re a proud Labubu owner or just curious about why these tiny objects hold such big meaning, this episode is for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Psychology of Your Twenties,
the podcast where we talk through some of the big
life changes and transitions of our twenties and what they
mean for our psychology. Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show.
(00:27):
Welcome back to the podcast. New listeners, old listeners. Wherever
you are in the world, it is so great to
have you here. Back for another episode as we, of
course break down the psychology of our twenties today. I
am absolutely buzzing to dive into a topic that I
(00:47):
think has seemingly exploded out of nowhere, yet when you
really like take some time to look into it has
kind of always been part of humanity in one form
or another. We're talking about trinket culture, and you might
be raising your eyebrows thinking trinkets, like you're gonna do
a whole entire episode on tiny little decorative objects.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
And I get it. Not everyone will like them, not
everyone collects them, that's totally fine, but they are undeniably
a really big deal at the moment, a big part
of the current culture. I'm sure you've seen these unboxing
videos or adorable figurines and la booboos. Maybe you've even
got a little special shelf at home, meticulously dedicated to
(01:33):
a collection of utterly non functional items that just simply
make you smile. You know, love them or hate them.
It is highly likely that you have been exposed to
some kind of trinket doing the rounds online or in
real life. It is a widespread, almost cult like obsession
that we're seeing these days, the psychology of which is
(01:55):
so fascinating and only just beginning to be talked about.
And I have to admit I myself am a trinket collector.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that
not only do I have a stupid amount of Sunny Angels,
like four hundred in county at this point, but I
also have like a huge collection of mugs and toys
(02:16):
and decorative things that I've picked up from the time
I was a child, like displayed all throughout my house.
You know, when I was a kid, I collected Beanie babies.
Then it was kinderregg toys. Now it's key chains and
sunny angels, whatever it is. And so, as a member
of the trinket collector society, I am really fascinated by
(02:37):
what it is about these things that attract us to them,
is there a certain kind of personality that is more
drawn to it than another where And what does our
kind of collective infatuation with the boo boos and miffy
and sunny angels and jelly cats really say about us
as a society and even even about the kind of
(02:57):
economic times that we're living in. So that is precisely
what we are going to unravel today, the psychology of
trinket culture. This topic is so much more than a
passing fad. As we get further into it, you're gonna
be shocked at how much this, you know, kind of
obscure topic really has to say about our minds as humans,
(03:21):
about our economy, about our identity, about how we relate
to other people. Like who knew you could go so
deep when talking about key chains and fluffy animals and
tiny baby dolls. But turns out it is a lot
deeper than you may initially imagine. So, my lovely listeners,
(03:42):
strap in for a kind of wacky, kind of different conversation,
but one that is like chock full with science. Surprisingly,
let's talk about the psychology of trinket culture. Stay with us.
So let's start with the biggest question to begin with,
(04:04):
where the heck has this all come from? How did
something as seemingly niche as collecting small figures go from
a hobby for just a select few, something people even
thought of as kind of weird, to literally being everywhere,
to being part of a celebrity culture to being part
of the literal economy. Maybe unsurprisingly, a huge part of
(04:27):
it recently, and probably the main driver lies squarely with
our digital landscape, especially platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest. These
platforms are perfect for short lived esthetic trends like ballet core,
tomato girl, summer cottage core. We've seen them come up
(04:48):
and down for years. Ever since, like TikTok and Instagram
really hit their like high point trends have been a
part of that, and things like trinket whole video or
unboxing experiences or trinket shelf tours that are racking up
millions of views. It is, in some ways just another trend,
(05:10):
and this kind of content is also really engaging. It
creates a lot of desirability, there's a lot of buzz
around it. There's a much deeper part to our culture
that it's become quite obsessive with this level of consumption
and also like displays of just like excess, like someone
having all of these things and being able to watch
(05:32):
them and like live this, like cool life through their
eyes is really really appealing. You see it, you want it,
and before you know it, you know you're not just
a passive observer like you are part of the movement,
you are part of the business model. Take Popmark for instance.
PopMart has been everywhere. They are the powerhouse behind the
(05:54):
Booboo figures, I guess, the little booboo toys. The reason
they became so successful is because they marketed themselves so well,
especially through social media, and especially through their packaging, especially
through their entire business model of blind boxes, not knowing
what you're gonna get. Popmark shops are like consistently selling
(06:17):
out in London, in America, in Australia, literally anywhere you
can name a city in a country, you will find
a labuoboo. And this isn't just a toy for children.
It's a legitimate, like cultural touchstone. There's even Labubu keychains.
You know, at London Fashion Week, some of these things
sell for like thousands of dollars. It's like a craze
has taken over and something that was meant to be
(06:38):
cute has turned into kind of like a status symbol
in a way. You know, individually, these items are kind
of seemingly like semi affordable niceties. They're like a special treat.
If you buy one, you know, a sunny Angel figurine,
for example in Australia, that's gonna cost you like maybe
seventeen to twenty dollars. That's you know, a lot of money,
(07:00):
but also not a lot of money, Like that's how
much you would spend on a nice light on lunch,
you know what I mean. But here's the kick up.
They're a small purchase, but they accumulate fast, especially when
you're on a quest to complete a full set, or
you know there's this latest drop that you just have
to have, or there's a rare item that you want
(07:21):
to keep buying boxes in order to get behind the
cuteness of this all is a business model that is
capitalizing on our desire to accumulate more and more and more.
Each new release taps into the psychology of scarcity and completionism.
There's limited editions, then there's mystery boxes and the thrill
(07:44):
of getting the one you secretly wanted all along really
plays into your impulse to keep collecting. So it's not
just about owning a figurine, and it's not just about
owning the toy. That's something that I think people sometimes
don't understand. It's about the feeling of anticipation. It's about
even being able to get your hands on one in
the first place. It's the rush of the unboxing and
(08:04):
the sense of belonging to a community that kind of
gets it. And so the cycle continues. A tiny figurine
becomes like this tiny obsession, and the dollar value on
that business model is insane, Like it is a highly
lucrative industry. Let's focus back in on PopMart again. Their
(08:26):
company valuation has completely skyrocketed. In twenty twenty four, their
like valuation, how much they were worth, how much money
they made, was sixty point four five billion dollars B billion,
not M billion, like billion. I let's just think about
(08:47):
that for a moment, Like that is actually more than
and I looked this up, more than the combined valuations
of mattel So literally the creator of Barbie hot wheels.
It's more than the combined that combined with the creators
of NERF gun my little pony transformers, Hello kitty. You
could add up how much each of those businesses was worth,
(09:08):
and all added up would it would not even scratch
the surface of how much PopMart is worth. That says
everything about how seriously this little niche thing is being
taken so other than the fact, as we previously mentioned,
why do we fall so hard for trinkets beyond just
wanting more things? Beyond just consumerism? Firstly, I think in
(09:31):
a world of traditional luxury goods, you know, designer handbags,
high end cars, exotic vacations, a lot of those things
remain largely out of reach for us. But trinkets have
emerged as these like surprisingly potent and incredibly affordable status symbols.
They offer a very clever way for us to signal
our identity and our taste and our kind of in
(09:53):
the no status without having to totally break the bank.
Which is why I think for people in their late
teens and in their twenties, there's such a pull. Their
primary power kind of lies and their accessibility. Unlike really
expensive luxury items, most trinkets are relatively inexpensive, so it
makes them accessible to a demographic who definitely wants to
(10:16):
show that they have their lives together or that they
have their finances together, but can't necessarily go after the
traditional indicators of wealth. When you see, you know, global
stylik ons like Rihanna and do a leaper, or Kylie Jenner,
or even like David Beckham like sporting a la booboo,
it just kind of amplifies this perception that this is
(10:38):
something that someone who is in the know has, This
is something that someone who's cool or who has wealth
or status has. And it's the same reason why companies
put celebrities as the face of perfumes, cars, drinks, fashion brands,
because they know we are more likely to buy something
if we see someone we admire doing it first, because
(10:58):
we think I can be more like them. You know,
I might not be rich or famous, but I can
dress or smell like a rich and famous person. I
can have the collectible on my bag that a rich
and famous person has. You know, humans, we are at
our core deeply social creatures. We have this inherent drive
to connect and to belong and these trinkets are incredibly
(11:22):
powerful at fostering a sense of in group belonging and
really solidifying our social identity and what we want to
communicate to the world. They tap directly into our fundamental
need for connection and acceptance. And if you think that
that sounds crazy, let me explain a little bit of
the psychology behind this. When you start collecting specific types
(11:44):
of trinkets, not only does it seemingly align you with
other people who see value in that item, maybe like
a celebrity, it also almost automatically leads to the formation
of communities both online and in real life. There are
entire Facebook groups for people who collect, you know, rare
littlest pet shops, the same way that there are entire
(12:05):
Facebook groups for people who collect stamps or car parts,
and in those groups you will find people with the
same interests, the same knowledge set, the same obsession as you.
And that's kind of really fun to lean into. So,
according to social identity theory, we really derive a lot
of our self esteem from group membership, and you don't
(12:25):
have to actively participate in a group like a Facebook
group to still feel like you belong somewhere. Collecting and
displaying trinkets, it reinforces a connection that you have with
a certain type of person, whether it's a sunny angel,
whether it's whatever. It is by actively like participating in
trinket culture, you're basically saying, I'm part of this group.
(12:48):
I'm part of this group who spends money on this thing,
who uses this as a status symbol, but also maybe
part of a group of people who have a lot
of whimsy and who really value like childlike w and
who are really creative, you know whatever. It is. What
this really fosters is what we call collective effervescence. So
(13:10):
a shared kind of sense of energy and enthusiasm that
is generated by communal participation. Isn't that such a beautiful
term as well? Collective effervescence, And it's also something that
you can feel. Yes, you're gonna go out and buy
the trink it yourself, but then you might see someone
else with the trinket on their bag and you immediately
feel like a pool towards them, or you might be
(13:32):
in line waiting for like a rare I don't know,
la boobo drop and you're like, oh, I feel like
I'm aligned with these people, and you can talk to
them about it, and it's something that you can share
with your friends and you can connect with people online
about that feeling is the same feeling that people in
a stadium feel when they're rooting for the same team,
or it's the same buzz that you get at a
(13:54):
concert for your favorite artist or at a trade show.
Have found a way to capture this effervestance in so
many forms, and trinket culture is just another form of that,
even if people think it's childish. The same human desire
that causes us to want to be part of any
group or want to be in the know also causes
(14:16):
us to sometimes become a collector. Beyond social identity, we
also have our self identity, and trinkets are kind of
like a nonverbal form of self expression. You know, if
you have a certain anime figuring on your desk, like,
that's not just decoration. It tells a story about your interests.
It says something about who you are and what you
(14:37):
love and how you see the world. You know, a
particular trinket might represent that you are playful, or that
you love a specific subculture, or that there's a specific
lifestyle that you feel drawn to achieve. The items we
own do become part of what psychologists call our extended self,
so basically how we think about ourselves as not just
(15:00):
like the voice in our head, but the physical things
around us. So yes, our extended self is part isn't
part made up by our relationships. It's made up in
part by our environment. It's made up in part by
what we read, what we listen to, and also what
we own and what we choose to decorate our lives with.
This is one of the biggest straws of this all,
(15:21):
Like it really is this capacity to indicate to others
who you are as a person. But while trinkets are
often self expression, I would say that's what I think
they are. I think they're self expression, they also reveal
how identity can really be commodified and how authenticity can
be commodified. So we're going to talk about the intersection
(15:41):
of trinkets, psychology, and also the big CEA capitalism. After
this shortbreak, stay with us. So I am going to
say something bold here. As a long time trinket collector myself,
I think the good old days of collecting trinkets that
(16:03):
were important to you and only you kind of gone,
you know, I've just got to say it. Previously, our
homes were filled with things that we had collected over
the years, from travel, from birthdays, from adventures, and this
entire collection, Like, yes, maybe someone else had one or
two things similar to you, but it was very unique.
(16:26):
It was a postcard from here, it was a special
stone from this speech, a collection of mugs from all over.
Each person had a different set of things. Nowadays, instead
of like carefully curating objects that reflect who you are,
were often sold kind of prepackaged esthetic starter kits. And
it raises the question with trinkets these days, are we
(16:49):
really expressing ourselves or are we just buying into a
marketable persona. And you know, a bigger question is if
everyone has something how genuine and authentic and how much
of a form of self expression can it really be
if everyone is expressing the same thing. Critics of consumer
culture might argue that authenticity in this day and age
(17:13):
itself has become a marketable commodity. Brands are very quick
to leverage the idea that a certain person would own
this product and another kind of person would buy this
kind of thing, So they really sell you the idea
that if you are this particular individual, you should buy
this candle, or you should wear this jacket, or this
(17:34):
trinket is somehow for you and it will allow you
to be more like yourself. It will allow you to
be more not just like yourself, but like the other
kind of people who own this kind of thing. In
doing so, our identities really get tied up in what
we own, what we wear, what we display, and it
(17:55):
turns consumption into a form of personal branding. What's even
more complain I think, is how consumer culture kind of
disguises these decisions as empowerment. You know, the language of
choice and freedom is everywhere when it comes to buying things,
things like treat yourself, you deserve it, express who you are.
(18:18):
It masks a system that kind of thrives on needing
to buy our identity rather than express it through our character.
We are subtly encouraged to seek emotional fulfillment in material things,
only to kind of find out eventually that that satisfaction
is very fleeting, and we need to fill that whole
(18:40):
with something else the next day, the next day, the
next week. So and you drop a fresh aesthetic, it
will quickly replace the last thing, keeping us in this
constant loop of yearning and also crucially, of spending. It's
not that consumption is inherently bad, but when it's framed
as a way to I guess have meaning in life
(19:00):
or as a way to express your identity. It becomes
a very hollow solution to a much deeper need for
connection and purpose and belonging. And I know I'm sounding
rather pessimistic. I do also believe that there's something majorly
joyful and special to this habit other than just like
(19:21):
what some people would call naive consumer behavior. And one
way that I think it is really I don't know
beneficial is the right world word, but like really joyful
and I don't know, unthreatening, is that collecting these little
objects can be a real beautiful way to connect with
parts of you that you've kind of hidden, specifically, you know,
(19:43):
expressions about inner child. It's a way to feel young
and childlike again in our very stressful adult lives. Consciously
reconnecting with the parts of you that feel innocent and
soft and playful, you know, that can be incredibly like.
It can be an incredibly power for active self care
and even of emotional regulation, letting yourself feel safe and
(20:07):
cared for by being the one who creates that kind
of whimsical environment. And trinkets, you know, really play into
that whimsical aesthetic. They might actually be very potent bridges
to this connection between who you are now and some
of the sensations and feelings that you had as a kid.
Trinkets have an amazing ability to evoke childhood memories. You know,
(20:30):
getting a jelly cat, getting whatever it is, it might
transport you back to the sheer excitement of getting a
new toy as a kid, or the thrill of collecting
something that you really coveted or being spoiled. It might
also feel like you were able to give yourself something
you never received when you were younger. And we're not
just talking about a physical toy, but love comfort. Again,
(20:54):
someone's spoiling you. So this fulfillment or I guess reexperiencing
a positive childhood emotion and also positive childhood emotions that
come from something so simple and non threatening is like
a fluffy toy. It's deeply comforting and really affirming when
everything else in life is very serious and very dangerous
(21:15):
and very disheartening. You know, this is a tangible connection
and a link to a time that is often perceived
there's a lot simpler, a lot safer, and filled with
a lot of like, you know, just unbridled joy. We
can also kind of understand this connection through the lens
of what psychologists call transitional objects. So this was a
(21:39):
term coined in the nineteen fifties by the British psychoanalyst
Donald Winnicott. We talk about him a lot on the
podcast actually and basically he I don't think he discovered this,
but he he basically talks a lot about transitional objects,
something like a security blanket or a teddy bear that
served as a really crucial role in early childhood development
(22:00):
as a way to help a child cope with separation
from their primary caregiver. If you cast your mind like
way back to like your first day of kindergarten or
your first day of school, you might remember that, you know,
you probably brought a toy to class. That's something that
a lot of early year teachers will recommend that, like
when children are first leaving their parents and spending a
(22:23):
lot of time alone without them and their comfort, to
bring an object or a toy that reminds them of
the comfort they experience, you know from a caregiver. It's
like this tangible thing that represents someone's presence or a
particular emotion when the person who normally creates that emotion
is absent. This is going to sound ridiculous, but there
(22:45):
has evidence to support that adults still kind of want
these comfort objects, and they still want these transitional toys. Basically,
you know, certain trinkets can serve a similar psychological function
or purpose. They become miniature security blankets or comfort items
that help us really navigate the anxieties and complexities of
(23:09):
adult life. I know this sounds bizarre, but they can
actually offer a real sense of consistency and safety and
familiarity when the rest of the world feels overwhelming. I
for one, It's gonna sound strange, but anytime I get
on a plane, I always bring one of my little
(23:30):
cherub figurines one of my Sonny angels with me. Like,
whenever I travel, I always have one in my bag
because I have such a you know, fear of flying.
It's if I'm really like freaking out. It's kind of
this weirdly anchoring force for me, which sounds ridiculous, but
they just bring me so much joy. It's hard not
to feel okay when I have one in my bag.
(23:50):
And also there's this weird psychological sense of like, ah,
can't be that bad, it can't be that scary if
I have like a little naked in a costume in
my pocket, that sounds really weird. If you don't know
what these are, like, just google them and it will
make sense. But yeah, it's just like, oh, how serious
can this situation really be? If I have this little
(24:12):
figuring thing, it's like this weird thing to pull you
out of a moment where you're getting too stressed. You know. Also,
adulthood just demands a lot of seriousness, and it demands
a lot of responsibility, and unfortunately, sometimes that comes with
the suppression of spontaneous play and laughter and being silly
and goofy and just stupid. And trinkets, by their very
(24:34):
nature are often non functional, like their primary purpose is
simply enjoyment and esthetic pleasure and to be fun. I
don't see the bad thing in that. I think that's
something that actually a lot of adults could do with.
I think it would really help us. I don't know,
take things a little bit less seriously. That's probably the
best way I can put it, you know, engaging with them.
(24:56):
I think it just really reintroduces a vital element of
of playful lightness into our adult lives. And here is
when we finally arrived to something that we've been kind
of circling for most of this episode, which is incredibly
important in this discussion, which is the power of nostalgia.
(25:16):
The power of nostalgia is hard at work in really
being the backbone of this industry collecting trinkets and small toys.
Like it's not a new concept. I think most of
us used to have something that we collected as a child.
For me, it was beanie babies. It was like literally everything.
(25:37):
Do you remember those pop figurings as well. Some people
used to collect those. Even if you collected stickers like that,
everyone had something, and brands realize what an emotional pool
it can be if they create something that reminds us
of something from the past, because this thing from the
past feels comforting. Let's like take beanie babies as an example,
(26:01):
because I feel like everyone knows what a beanie baby is.
Beanie babies had this like very unique bean field kind
of texture, and they had these quirky little names, and
they were incredibly cute and they were appealing. They were
also kind of creepy, and they were kind of like
a medium sized toy. I don't think it's crazy to
say that there is a kind of a lot of
(26:22):
similarities between jelly cats and Beanie Babies, and also between
things like La Booboos and Beanie Babies and any number
of soft blind box collectibles. Like it's very obvious to
me that these brands are just being like cool. If
we can activate a similar feeling to one that people
had in the past around collecting something cute and fluffy
(26:44):
that feels the same and kind of looks the same
in weird ways, we can make a heck ton of money.
In essence, I think that a lot of these toys
are like the beanie Babies of the digital age. They
are skillfully leveraging very similar psychological hooks like cuteness, scarcity,
even like investment potential. But it's been amplified by this
(27:06):
like the instant global reach and highly visual nature of
modern social media. It's just history repeating itself, but with
a much faster Internet connection. And there's also this like
perceived throwback to the good old days, Like these things
are very grounding and they feel very familiar. They have
(27:27):
a very whimsical nature. It's really evoking like a bygone error,
and these trinkets are carefully crafted to deliver that very warm,
fuzzy emotional connection to our past. They're trying to provide
psychological comfort, even if they're fresh off the production line,
And ultimately, nostalgia transforms purchasing from I guess, a purely
(27:50):
functional or rational decision into a deeply emotional one. We
reward ourselves with a nostalgic because it puts us in
a positive mood, or it helps us preserve a very simple,
nice feeling of connection to the past. All the stuff
that we read about in textbooks when it comes to
(28:11):
consumer decisions and the use of nostalgia and emotional hooks,
and even like decisions when it comes to the texture
and the feel and the size of an object, and
all these things, like the cuteness of an object, all
that stuff has been carefully crafted these days, Like there
are studies on what kind of faces people think are
(28:34):
more cute and what kind of textures or fabrics people
find more comforting. And it's like they've taken all this
information that we've known for a long time and all
this psychology around what drives people to buy, and they've
created like the perfect item, the perfect thing that we
all want. Let's shift gears and let's really like, I
(28:54):
think it's time to talk about the economy. I think
it's time to really like I've been circling around it,
it's time to talk about the money behind this and
whether or not something like the booboos are in fact
a recession indicator. So this basically started as like a
joke on TikTok, and it has now spawned articles in
(29:16):
the Australian Financial Review, in Vogue, in CNN, across countless
blogs that the rise of collectibles and of collecting is
a sign that the economy is about to freakin' tank.
If we really dive deeper into what's driving this recent
surge and drinket culture, we can kind of develop a
better understanding of why people and economists are like maybe
(29:38):
thinking this way. We know that the main proportion of
these engaged consumers in these trends primarily Gen Z and
younger millennials, and this is the same generation that is
facing very unique economic realities compared to their predecessors. I
saw this really fascinating video from an amaz creator and
(30:01):
a brand strategy consultant. I guess he is on TikTok,
sime as Eugene Heally, and he articulated this trend so perfectly.
He basically discusses how, unlike previous generations, many young adults
are finding themselves increasingly locked out of traditional markers of
adult success, most notably home ownership. This is not new
to us. I think everyone who is in their twenties
(30:23):
understands this. These days, only around twenty three percent of
people in their twenties are from twenty to twenty nine
own a home, compared to forty percent of boomers at
the same age that we are. Like, everyone knows, house
prizes outpacing wage growth, there's not enough houses. Mortgage rates
are ridiculous. Whilst you know, some people have found a
(30:46):
way to enter the market, often with family assistance or
by compromising on location or on significant parts of their life.
Most people seventy seven percent of people in their twenties
feel that home ownership is a very distant, if not
impossible dream. So when big traditional aspirations like owning a
(31:07):
home become unattainable, which I think is a sign that
our economy isn't working. If people literally can't afford shelter
and the security of a home, what do people channel
their desire for stability and personal expression and a sense
of accomplishment into often its more accessible forms of consumption clothes, travel, cars,
(31:30):
also trinkets. Basically, you know, this generation, we may be
locked out of the property market, but we feel very
locked into this accessible delight of collecting. The idea that small,
relatively inexpensive luxury items tend to surge during economic downturns
is actually known as the lipstick effect or lipstick economy theory,
(31:55):
and it was popularized by someone called Leonard Lauder. Does
that las name sound familiar? Lrder I E S Day
Lader one of the biggest beauty brands in the world.
They own so many like smaller makeup companies. This guy,
lened Later, the chairman of es Day Later, basically observed
(32:16):
a spike in lipstick sales after the nine eleven terrorist
attacks and also during the early two thousands recession, and
he basically said, when we are faced with economic uncertainty
and tightening budgets and less money to spend overall on
big things, we might go without larger, more significant purchases,
(32:37):
but we still crave a sense of indulgence and a
psychological pick me up. Lipstick. You know, that was the
example he was working off of is accessible, and it's
an affordable luxury, and it's small, so it becomes the
chosen form of indulgence when larger forms of indulgence are
just out of reach. Just like that high end lipstick.
(33:00):
Brinkets offer a little feeling of luxury and instant gratification
without requiring the significant financial commitment of a big ticket item.
And this perfectly aligns with what we know as little
tree culture, where consumers consciously opt for, you know, small,
little frequent indulgences as a way to boost their mood
(33:23):
rather than larger splurges that are out of reach. You know,
even in the midst of economic uncertainty and global uncertainty
and maybe even a recession, we still want a sense
of normalcy and we still want we still want a
sense of joy and happiness. And basically that is what
trinkets and la booboos and jellycats and sunny angels and
(33:47):
whatever else there is are a sign of. They are
a sign of these companies coming to fill a gap
in our economy. So with that bleak kind of picture
in mind, we are going to take another short break.
But when you return, we're going to talk about something
a little bit different, which is the role of dopamine,
the role of impulse buys, and whether we can call
(34:09):
this behavior addictive. Stay with us, Okay, we are back
and we are talking about trinkets. I think that whilst
you know, collecting trinkets is very fun and it's joyful
and it's kind of harmless most of the time, by
their very design and how they are being designed currently,
(34:31):
they're often perfectly primed for impulse purchases and over consumption,
so they have this relatively low price point right. They're
also very very cute, and these days they're presented in
blind boxes, so you don't really know what you're going
to get. It's kind of like gambling, which we're going
to talk about a little bit later. But all of
these things combine and create this immediate urge to buy
(34:53):
on the spot. The instant kind of dopamine hit associated
with buying these figures often overrides rational financeial future planning.
If not done cautiously, it can lead to a very
habitual and frequent overspending over something that you know, as
much as it's cute, we don't really need. I also
think that the sheer ease of online shopping these days,
(35:15):
and one click purchasing effectively even further removes the friction
that might otherwise allow for kind of like a second
thought and a second thought of like do I need this.
Social media also has a really critical role to play
in this kind of like competitive consumerism. Seeing perfectly curated
(35:36):
collections rare fines massive whole holes people who you admire
online Having this thing often creates intense pressure to acquire more,
to have the best collection, or simply to kind of
just like keep pace with other people. And this can
really tragically push people to spend well above their means,
(35:57):
and it's driven by social comparison more than genuine desire.
Because of this comparison and a fear of missing out
on the latest and greatest item that shows that you're
in a in the know, it's really not a surprise
that people get emotionally invested in whether they manage to
actually get the item. It's not just about having as
(36:18):
many as possible, it's about just having one or two
to show that you're part of the group. This can
lead to even more impulse spending, like something that you
didn't budget for, something that you didn't account for that
you have to constantly buy the new trending item to
feel like you fit in, and you might simply follow
this urge again because you don't want to miss out.
Behind the scenes as well, this is called scarcity marketing,
(36:41):
and it is working over time on nearly all of us.
Have you noticed that when something is trending, it's a
lot harder to get Think like the road lipsticks, think
the La Booboos, think any number of trending products. There,
there's a period where you cannot get your hands on
(37:03):
that thing. That is not by accident. It's not because
these companies didn't know how much people would want their product.
It's because when they first launch something, they make it
so that it is scarce so that people want it more,
which creates huge future demand and an ever present sense
(37:24):
of urgency to buy. Bye by when you got the
opportunity that may have otherwise not been there. Something you
guys may actually not know is that I actually have
an economics degree. Just going to throw that out there,
but I studied economics at UNI alongside studying psychology, and
this is a really basic principle that they teach you
(37:45):
in like microeconomics one oh one, which is basically that
when the demand is more than their supply, people will
pay more for something, and so when you deliberately reduce
or limit supply, it is a way to control prices
and to control the market and to control consumer behavior
(38:06):
in the most simplest way, think about the cost of
oranges on you know, at your local grocery store versus
on an island. So at your local grocery store they
have to charge somewhere near the market price for an
orange or for milk, because if they don't, you can
go to another grocery store and you'll find it for cheaper.
But when, for example, you're on an island and there's
(38:28):
less oranges and there's not as many places that you
can go to get an item, you will easily pay
more for that thing. You'll pay more because firstly, there's
not other places that you can get it, but also
because you see that item is more scarce and you
see it as more valuable. So basically, a lot of
companies these days are taking that lack of availability and
(38:54):
the exclusivity of their items and using that to drive
an even higher desire to own something that they that
they make. So basically they're deliberately creating things like limited
collections or super rare items, or deliberately only doing limited
drops so that when the time comes, they can not
(39:14):
only sell them for a much higher price than what
they're worth, but they also know they will always have
people in line waiting to buy them. It's also why when,
for example, a new collection drops, or when something suddenly
becomes available, people start hoarding. I saw this video the
other day of you know whatever, like a pop mart
(39:36):
vending machine and some guy at the very front buying out,
buying like twenty No one needs twenty. You don't need twenty,
Like that's ridiculous, It's like what But because you know
that you can resell them because the perceived value of
them is higher. They know that someone isn't just going
(39:57):
to buy one and be satisfied. They're going to buy
a lot of them because the demand is higher than
the supply. So this drive to buy more, right, it
seems very very powerful, especially with collectibles, like that's the
whole point. They are something you collect, you gain more
of them because of that. Could we call this habit addictive?
(40:20):
It's a complex question, but the short answer is yes.
Certain aspects, particularly with blind boxes and the relentless pursuit
of rare items can absolutely tap into established addictive psychological mechanisms.
You can become addicted to gaining access to this thing,
or buying more and more and more of more blind boxes,
(40:42):
more trinket items, having as many as you possibly can
get your hands on. At the heart of it lies
our brains, dopamine and reward systems. Dopamine. We know that
it's a very powerful neurotransmitter. It is released when we
experience something pleasurable, exciting, or rewarding, or something we have
been anticipating. This is what economists actually call the dopamine economy,
(41:05):
and in the context of trinkets, this dopamine rush occurs
at several key moments. It occurs before you get your
hands on something and you're questioning, am I going to
get one? Am I not? There's anticipation. It occurs when
you make the purchase and you have it. It occurs
when you open the box. It occurs when you find
maybe a rare item. It occurs when you complete a set.
(41:27):
It occurs when you go back for more. This surge
of dopamine powerfully reinforces the behavior, and your brain quickly
learns that this action of buying or unboxing equals pleasure,
leading to a strong, ingrained desire to continue to repeat
that action. This is the core of what we call
operant conditioning. Behaviors followed by a satisfying consequence are more
(41:51):
likely to be repeated. So this leads us to kind
of a second, second fascinating question. Not only a blind
boxers addictive, but are they simply just another form of gambling?
Is that why we get so hooked on them? There
are absolutely parallels between blind boxes and the pokey's or
slot gambling, or whatever kind of gambling you may be
(42:14):
thinking of, especially concerning the underlying mechanisms that drive engagement,
which is the idea of intermittent reinforcement. So let me
explain this. Basically, In classic gambling, you never know if
your next bet is gonna win, but the possibility of
a payout keeps you playing. In blind boxes, you don't
know which specific figure you're gonna get, but the possibility
(42:36):
of obtaining a rare one or a highly desired item
keeps you buying them. This fundamental principle creates a highly
persistent and compelling behavioral loop. The element of uncertainty and
the anticipation is central to both gambling and blind boxes.
Like the thrilling anticipation of opening a blind box is
(42:58):
much like the anticipate you have before pulling the leather
on a slot machine. It generates immediate excitement, anticipation, and
a rush of dopamine. The unknown outcome is precisely what
is making this experience so alluring. There's also the inherent
financial risk involved. Albeit you know it's definitely on a
smaller scale with blind boxes than traditional gambling, but you
(43:21):
never know you are spending money for an uncertain outcome.
I remember trying to explain this to my mum and
she was like, what do you mean you don't know
which one you get? She's like, that's ridiculous. Imagine going
to a movie and not knowing what movie you're you're
going to get tickets to, and just hoping it was
the one that you wanted to go to. She's like,
no other, no other industry works that way. The way
(43:43):
I described it to her was like, yes, you could
end up with something that you don't particularly want, but
you could also end up with something really good and
really desirable, and you could also end up with one
that isn't worth a lot of money, and you can
resell it and then you can buy more, and it's
this whole cycle. The frustration you know, of getting multiple
duds or of duplicate figures as well. That's also has
(44:06):
a gambling term. It's called chasing losses, continuously buying more
boxes or continuously gambling with the hope that you're finally
going to win. The thing is is that actually you
would think that these losses told like, you know, kind
of redirected someone and told them to stop. But the
more you sink into something, the more you sink into
the slot machines, the more you sink into the blind boxes,
(44:28):
the more you then definitely need a win because otherwise
you've lost all that money for nothing. So it's not
explicitly gambling, but there have been some arguments that things
like blind boxes do actually introduce young people in particular
to these gambling like mechanisms at a really early age.
(44:48):
So if you're a parent, or if you're a consumer,
like you might not know this and you're just like, oh,
it's a harmless toy. It's just like this cute little
fluffy thing. I'll give my kids some money, and then
I'll give them some more money. And then suddenly they
need more money. You might not realize that actually the
psychological conditioning that is happening behind the scenes is rooted
in again intermittent reinforcement, rooted in the same mechanisms that
(45:13):
create gambling addicts, and that could have the potential to
normalize or even prime individuals for future gambling behaviors where
the stakes are much higher. Research and developmental psychology highlights
how sensitive children and teenagers are to these kinds of
reinforcement schedules, and it means that they are more vulnerable
to such conditioning. There was a twenty twenty one study
(45:34):
conducted here in Australia in New South Wales, the state
I live in, that actually found that at least in
the short term, young girls and adolescent girls who bought
or sold online kind of loop boxes or blind boxes
actually demonstrated more positive attitudes towards gambling. They were more
likely to want to gamble in a more high stake
(45:55):
setting compared to those who didn't behave in these early
or didn't engage in these early kind of trade sell behaviors.
And it just shows how malleable young people are to
these things, and the extra layer of course we might
need when encouraging this kind of uncertain buying behavior, And
it's really important to have this conversation. It's really important
(46:17):
to say, you know, this industry is, at the end
of the day, not just based on making you happy.
Like people aren't creating buying boxes like PopMart and all
these companies aren't creating this because they just want you
to have fun. They're creating this, and they're doing this
deliberately because they know that they can make a crap
(46:37):
ton of money if they leverage these psychological insights. The
same way that social media has been designed to be addictive,
and social media platforms have literal neuroscientists on their team
to keep you hooked, these companies have neuroscientists on their
team to keep you buying. So it's just important to
add that into the conversation. It's also important as well
(47:00):
to understand that collecting and trinkets as a hobby, it's
not all the time always going to be dangerous. There
are many ways that it can play out that is
just really enjoyable and completely harmless. So I don't want
to like completely pathologize and scorn this hobby. There's this
(47:20):
hobby that I have, and I don't particularly think that
I'm addicted, and for me, it's always been a source
of joy. Millions upon millions of people worldwide collect various items.
They collect stamps, they collect coins, they collect action figures,
they collect art, designer toys, whatever it is, and a
lot of them, the majority of them, don't develop a
(47:41):
problematic addiction, and they don't spend more than their means.
So for most of us, this activity is just a
genuine source of pleasure. It's a creative outlet, it's a
means of social expression, personal expression. It's just a fulfilling,
harmless hobby. And I think that finishing on that context
is important because the pursuit of joy, which is what
(48:02):
this is really all about, is definitely a fundamental human need.
If a small, well considered purchase of a trinket genuinely
brings a smile to your face, genuinely makes you feel
joyful and happy and childlike and peaceful, there's immense value
in that. You know, we are not robots designed solely
for productivity and efficiency. Like our emotional wellbeing is critical
(48:25):
and it's an irreplaceable component of a truly of a
truly fulfilling life. So if this thing brings you joy,
sometimes it might not be worth examining it any deeper
than that. Sometimes it's okay to just engage in it
and not feel shame and not feel like you're being manipulated.
It is still just a real, simple, the simple like
(48:47):
pathway to happiness. And yes, some people would argue that
buying happiness or having to buy things to make you
happy is inherently wrong or bad, but it is also
just kind of the world we live in. Everything costs
money these days, as long as you are being healthy
about it, and that you're also seeking out happiness and
(49:07):
purpose and fulfillment beyond just financial transactions and the act
of buying something. I think you're I think you're okay.
I think that trinket collecting is not is not the
devil for you, and is not a huge, terrible evil
like I do it. I know that perhaps there are
(49:28):
systems at play that have gotten me into this, but
I also know that I've been doing this since I
was a kid, and I also know I've been doing
it with things that I just collected out in nature,
like rocks and flowers and you know, insects, back when
I was a kid. So I know this is kind
of part of who I am, and so yeah, I
don't necessarily feel terrible about it, and I don't think
(49:51):
you should either. Just be conscious of the industry, just
be conscious of the space that this exists in, and
I'm gonna say, like the most corny thing but makes
smart decisions and you'll be all right. I hope that
you really enjoyed this episode. I hope that you learn
a lot. I hope that it's caused you to think
and have interesting conversations with your friends. Maybe you can
(50:13):
send this to a friend who themselves has a real
fascination with trinket collecting, has a big sunny angel collection,
has been really leaning into the lu bubu trend. Hopefully
they enjoy it as much as you do. Leave a
comment down below if you collect something and want to
know what people collect, even if it was something that
you collected as a child, just to see how far
(50:34):
this habit and this behavior goes. I think it's so
endlessly fascinating. Also, make sure that you are following me
on Instagram at that psychology podcast and follow along here
as well. If you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, make
sure you're subscribed so that you know when new episodes
are being released, and leave us a five star review
if you feel cool to do so. But with that
(50:55):
in mind, thank you again for joining us. Be safe,
be kind, be gentle to yourself, enjoy a small try
get every now and again, and we will talk very
very soon. M
Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Psychology of Your Twenties,
the podcast where we talk through some of the big
life changes and transitions of our twenties and what they
mean for our psychology. Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show.
(00:27):
Welcome back to the podcast. New listeners, old listeners. Wherever
you are in the world, it is so great to
have you here. Back for another episode as we, of
course break down the psychology of our twenties today. I
am absolutely buzzing to dive into a topic that I
(00:47):
think has seemingly exploded out of nowhere, yet when you
really like take some time to look into it has
kind of always been part of humanity in one form
or another. We're talking about trinket culture, and you might
be raising your eyebrows thinking trinkets, like you're gonna do
a whole entire episode on tiny little decorative objects.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
And I get it. Not everyone will like them, not
everyone collects them, that's totally fine, but they are undeniably
a really big deal at the moment, a big part
of the current culture. I'm sure you've seen these unboxing
videos or adorable figurines and la booboos. Maybe you've even
got a little special shelf at home, meticulously dedicated to
(01:33):
a collection of utterly non functional items that just simply
make you smile. You know, love them or hate them.
It is highly likely that you have been exposed to
some kind of trinket doing the rounds online or in
real life. It is a widespread, almost cult like obsession
that we're seeing these days, the psychology of which is
(01:55):
so fascinating and only just beginning to be talked about.
And I have to admit I myself am a trinket collector.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that
not only do I have a stupid amount of Sunny Angels,
like four hundred in county at this point, but I
also have like a huge collection of mugs and toys
(02:16):
and decorative things that I've picked up from the time
I was a child, like displayed all throughout my house.
You know, when I was a kid, I collected Beanie babies.
Then it was kinderregg toys. Now it's key chains and
sunny angels, whatever it is. And so, as a member
of the trinket collector society, I am really fascinated by
(02:37):
what it is about these things that attract us to them,
is there a certain kind of personality that is more
drawn to it than another where And what does our
kind of collective infatuation with the boo boos and miffy
and sunny angels and jelly cats really say about us
as a society and even even about the kind of
(02:57):
economic times that we're living in. So that is precisely
what we are going to unravel today, the psychology of
trinket culture. This topic is so much more than a
passing fad. As we get further into it, you're gonna
be shocked at how much this, you know, kind of
obscure topic really has to say about our minds as humans,
(03:21):
about our economy, about our identity, about how we relate
to other people. Like who knew you could go so
deep when talking about key chains and fluffy animals and
tiny baby dolls. But turns out it is a lot
deeper than you may initially imagine. So, my lovely listeners,
(03:42):
strap in for a kind of wacky, kind of different conversation,
but one that is like chock full with science. Surprisingly,
let's talk about the psychology of trinket culture. Stay with us.
So let's start with the biggest question to begin with,
(04:04):
where the heck has this all come from? How did
something as seemingly niche as collecting small figures go from
a hobby for just a select few, something people even
thought of as kind of weird, to literally being everywhere,
to being part of a celebrity culture to being part
of the literal economy. Maybe unsurprisingly, a huge part of
(04:27):
it recently, and probably the main driver lies squarely with
our digital landscape, especially platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest. These
platforms are perfect for short lived esthetic trends like ballet core,
tomato girl, summer cottage core. We've seen them come up
(04:48):
and down for years. Ever since, like TikTok and Instagram
really hit their like high point trends have been a
part of that, and things like trinket whole video or
unboxing experiences or trinket shelf tours that are racking up
millions of views. It is, in some ways just another trend,
(05:10):
and this kind of content is also really engaging. It
creates a lot of desirability, there's a lot of buzz
around it. There's a much deeper part to our culture
that it's become quite obsessive with this level of consumption
and also like displays of just like excess, like someone
having all of these things and being able to watch
(05:32):
them and like live this, like cool life through their
eyes is really really appealing. You see it, you want it,
and before you know it, you know you're not just
a passive observer like you are part of the movement,
you are part of the business model. Take Popmark for instance.
PopMart has been everywhere. They are the powerhouse behind the
(05:54):
Booboo figures, I guess, the little booboo toys. The reason
they became so successful is because they marketed themselves so well,
especially through social media, and especially through their packaging, especially
through their entire business model of blind boxes, not knowing
what you're gonna get. Popmark shops are like consistently selling
(06:17):
out in London, in America, in Australia, literally anywhere you
can name a city in a country, you will find
a labuoboo. And this isn't just a toy for children.
It's a legitimate, like cultural touchstone. There's even Labubu keychains.
You know, at London Fashion Week, some of these things
sell for like thousands of dollars. It's like a craze
has taken over and something that was meant to be
(06:38):
cute has turned into kind of like a status symbol
in a way. You know, individually, these items are kind
of seemingly like semi affordable niceties. They're like a special treat.
If you buy one, you know, a sunny Angel figurine,
for example in Australia, that's gonna cost you like maybe
seventeen to twenty dollars. That's you know, a lot of money,
(07:00):
but also not a lot of money, Like that's how
much you would spend on a nice light on lunch,
you know what I mean. But here's the kick up.
They're a small purchase, but they accumulate fast, especially when
you're on a quest to complete a full set, or
you know there's this latest drop that you just have
to have, or there's a rare item that you want
(07:21):
to keep buying boxes in order to get behind the
cuteness of this all is a business model that is
capitalizing on our desire to accumulate more and more and more.
Each new release taps into the psychology of scarcity and completionism.
There's limited editions, then there's mystery boxes and the thrill
(07:44):
of getting the one you secretly wanted all along really
plays into your impulse to keep collecting. So it's not
just about owning a figurine, and it's not just about
owning the toy. That's something that I think people sometimes
don't understand. It's about the feeling of anticipation. It's about
even being able to get your hands on one in
the first place. It's the rush of the unboxing and
(08:04):
the sense of belonging to a community that kind of
gets it. And so the cycle continues. A tiny figurine
becomes like this tiny obsession, and the dollar value on
that business model is insane, Like it is a highly
lucrative industry. Let's focus back in on PopMart again. Their
(08:26):
company valuation has completely skyrocketed. In twenty twenty four, their
like valuation, how much they were worth, how much money
they made, was sixty point four five billion dollars B billion,
not M billion, like billion. I let's just think about
(08:47):
that for a moment, Like that is actually more than
and I looked this up, more than the combined valuations
of mattel So literally the creator of Barbie hot wheels.
It's more than the combined that combined with the creators
of NERF gun my little pony transformers, Hello kitty. You
could add up how much each of those businesses was worth,
(09:08):
and all added up would it would not even scratch
the surface of how much PopMart is worth. That says
everything about how seriously this little niche thing is being
taken so other than the fact, as we previously mentioned,
why do we fall so hard for trinkets beyond just
wanting more things? Beyond just consumerism? Firstly, I think in
(09:31):
a world of traditional luxury goods, you know, designer handbags,
high end cars, exotic vacations, a lot of those things
remain largely out of reach for us. But trinkets have
emerged as these like surprisingly potent and incredibly affordable status symbols.
They offer a very clever way for us to signal
our identity and our taste and our kind of in
(09:53):
the no status without having to totally break the bank.
Which is why I think for people in their late
teens and in their twenties, there's such a pull. Their
primary power kind of lies and their accessibility. Unlike really
expensive luxury items, most trinkets are relatively inexpensive, so it
makes them accessible to a demographic who definitely wants to
(10:16):
show that they have their lives together or that they
have their finances together, but can't necessarily go after the
traditional indicators of wealth. When you see, you know, global
stylik ons like Rihanna and do a leaper, or Kylie Jenner,
or even like David Beckham like sporting a la booboo,
it just kind of amplifies this perception that this is
(10:38):
something that someone who is in the know has, This
is something that someone who's cool or who has wealth
or status has. And it's the same reason why companies
put celebrities as the face of perfumes, cars, drinks, fashion brands,
because they know we are more likely to buy something
if we see someone we admire doing it first, because
(10:58):
we think I can be more like them. You know,
I might not be rich or famous, but I can
dress or smell like a rich and famous person. I
can have the collectible on my bag that a rich
and famous person has. You know, humans, we are at
our core deeply social creatures. We have this inherent drive
to connect and to belong and these trinkets are incredibly
(11:22):
powerful at fostering a sense of in group belonging and
really solidifying our social identity and what we want to
communicate to the world. They tap directly into our fundamental
need for connection and acceptance. And if you think that
that sounds crazy, let me explain a little bit of
the psychology behind this. When you start collecting specific types
(11:44):
of trinkets, not only does it seemingly align you with
other people who see value in that item, maybe like
a celebrity, it also almost automatically leads to the formation
of communities both online and in real life. There are
entire Facebook groups for people who collect, you know, rare
littlest pet shops, the same way that there are entire
(12:05):
Facebook groups for people who collect stamps or car parts,
and in those groups you will find people with the
same interests, the same knowledge set, the same obsession as you.
And that's kind of really fun to lean into. So,
according to social identity theory, we really derive a lot
of our self esteem from group membership, and you don't
(12:25):
have to actively participate in a group like a Facebook
group to still feel like you belong somewhere. Collecting and
displaying trinkets, it reinforces a connection that you have with
a certain type of person, whether it's a sunny angel,
whether it's whatever. It is by actively like participating in
trinket culture, you're basically saying, I'm part of this group.
(12:48):
I'm part of this group who spends money on this thing,
who uses this as a status symbol, but also maybe
part of a group of people who have a lot
of whimsy and who really value like childlike w and
who are really creative, you know whatever. It is. What
this really fosters is what we call collective effervescence. So
(13:10):
a shared kind of sense of energy and enthusiasm that
is generated by communal participation. Isn't that such a beautiful
term as well? Collective effervescence, And it's also something that
you can feel. Yes, you're gonna go out and buy
the trink it yourself, but then you might see someone
else with the trinket on their bag and you immediately
feel like a pool towards them, or you might be
(13:32):
in line waiting for like a rare I don't know,
la boobo drop and you're like, oh, I feel like
I'm aligned with these people, and you can talk to
them about it, and it's something that you can share
with your friends and you can connect with people online
about that feeling is the same feeling that people in
a stadium feel when they're rooting for the same team,
or it's the same buzz that you get at a
(13:54):
concert for your favorite artist or at a trade show.
Have found a way to capture this effervestance in so
many forms, and trinket culture is just another form of that,
even if people think it's childish. The same human desire
that causes us to want to be part of any
group or want to be in the know also causes
(14:16):
us to sometimes become a collector. Beyond social identity, we
also have our self identity, and trinkets are kind of
like a nonverbal form of self expression. You know, if
you have a certain anime figuring on your desk, like,
that's not just decoration. It tells a story about your interests.
It says something about who you are and what you
(14:37):
love and how you see the world. You know, a
particular trinket might represent that you are playful, or that
you love a specific subculture, or that there's a specific
lifestyle that you feel drawn to achieve. The items we
own do become part of what psychologists call our extended self,
so basically how we think about ourselves as not just
(15:00):
like the voice in our head, but the physical things
around us. So yes, our extended self is part isn't
part made up by our relationships. It's made up in
part by our environment. It's made up in part by
what we read, what we listen to, and also what
we own and what we choose to decorate our lives with.
This is one of the biggest straws of this all,
(15:21):
Like it really is this capacity to indicate to others
who you are as a person. But while trinkets are
often self expression, I would say that's what I think
they are. I think they're self expression, they also reveal
how identity can really be commodified and how authenticity can
be commodified. So we're going to talk about the intersection
(15:41):
of trinkets, psychology, and also the big CEA capitalism. After
this shortbreak, stay with us. So I am going to
say something bold here. As a long time trinket collector myself,
I think the good old days of collecting trinkets that
(16:03):
were important to you and only you kind of gone,
you know, I've just got to say it. Previously, our
homes were filled with things that we had collected over
the years, from travel, from birthdays, from adventures, and this
entire collection, Like, yes, maybe someone else had one or
two things similar to you, but it was very unique.
(16:26):
It was a postcard from here, it was a special
stone from this speech, a collection of mugs from all over.
Each person had a different set of things. Nowadays, instead
of like carefully curating objects that reflect who you are,
were often sold kind of prepackaged esthetic starter kits. And
it raises the question with trinkets these days, are we
(16:49):
really expressing ourselves or are we just buying into a
marketable persona. And you know, a bigger question is if
everyone has something how genuine and authentic and how much
of a form of self expression can it really be
if everyone is expressing the same thing. Critics of consumer
culture might argue that authenticity in this day and age
(17:13):
itself has become a marketable commodity. Brands are very quick
to leverage the idea that a certain person would own
this product and another kind of person would buy this
kind of thing, So they really sell you the idea
that if you are this particular individual, you should buy
this candle, or you should wear this jacket, or this
(17:34):
trinket is somehow for you and it will allow you
to be more like yourself. It will allow you to
be more not just like yourself, but like the other
kind of people who own this kind of thing. In
doing so, our identities really get tied up in what
we own, what we wear, what we display, and it
(17:55):
turns consumption into a form of personal branding. What's even
more complain I think, is how consumer culture kind of
disguises these decisions as empowerment. You know, the language of
choice and freedom is everywhere when it comes to buying things,
things like treat yourself, you deserve it, express who you are.
(18:18):
It masks a system that kind of thrives on needing
to buy our identity rather than express it through our character.
We are subtly encouraged to seek emotional fulfillment in material things,
only to kind of find out eventually that that satisfaction
is very fleeting, and we need to fill that whole
(18:40):
with something else the next day, the next day, the
next week. So and you drop a fresh aesthetic, it
will quickly replace the last thing, keeping us in this
constant loop of yearning and also crucially, of spending. It's
not that consumption is inherently bad, but when it's framed
as a way to I guess have meaning in life
(19:00):
or as a way to express your identity. It becomes
a very hollow solution to a much deeper need for
connection and purpose and belonging. And I know I'm sounding
rather pessimistic. I do also believe that there's something majorly
joyful and special to this habit other than just like
(19:21):
what some people would call naive consumer behavior. And one
way that I think it is really I don't know
beneficial is the right world word, but like really joyful
and I don't know, unthreatening, is that collecting these little
objects can be a real beautiful way to connect with
parts of you that you've kind of hidden, specifically, you know,
(19:43):
expressions about inner child. It's a way to feel young
and childlike again in our very stressful adult lives. Consciously
reconnecting with the parts of you that feel innocent and
soft and playful, you know, that can be incredibly like.
It can be an incredibly power for active self care
and even of emotional regulation, letting yourself feel safe and
(20:07):
cared for by being the one who creates that kind
of whimsical environment. And trinkets, you know, really play into
that whimsical aesthetic. They might actually be very potent bridges
to this connection between who you are now and some
of the sensations and feelings that you had as a kid.
Trinkets have an amazing ability to evoke childhood memories. You know,
(20:30):
getting a jelly cat, getting whatever it is, it might
transport you back to the sheer excitement of getting a
new toy as a kid, or the thrill of collecting
something that you really coveted or being spoiled. It might
also feel like you were able to give yourself something
you never received when you were younger. And we're not
just talking about a physical toy, but love comfort. Again,
(20:54):
someone's spoiling you. So this fulfillment or I guess reexperiencing
a positive childhood emotion and also positive childhood emotions that
come from something so simple and non threatening is like
a fluffy toy. It's deeply comforting and really affirming when
everything else in life is very serious and very dangerous
(21:15):
and very disheartening. You know, this is a tangible connection
and a link to a time that is often perceived
there's a lot simpler, a lot safer, and filled with
a lot of like, you know, just unbridled joy. We
can also kind of understand this connection through the lens
of what psychologists call transitional objects. So this was a
(21:39):
term coined in the nineteen fifties by the British psychoanalyst
Donald Winnicott. We talk about him a lot on the
podcast actually and basically he I don't think he discovered this,
but he he basically talks a lot about transitional objects,
something like a security blanket or a teddy bear that
served as a really crucial role in early childhood development
(22:00):
as a way to help a child cope with separation
from their primary caregiver. If you cast your mind like
way back to like your first day of kindergarten or
your first day of school, you might remember that, you know,
you probably brought a toy to class. That's something that
a lot of early year teachers will recommend that, like
when children are first leaving their parents and spending a
(22:23):
lot of time alone without them and their comfort, to
bring an object or a toy that reminds them of
the comfort they experience, you know from a caregiver. It's
like this tangible thing that represents someone's presence or a
particular emotion when the person who normally creates that emotion
is absent. This is going to sound ridiculous, but there
(22:45):
has evidence to support that adults still kind of want
these comfort objects, and they still want these transitional toys. Basically,
you know, certain trinkets can serve a similar psychological function
or purpose. They become miniature security blankets or comfort items
that help us really navigate the anxieties and complexities of
(23:09):
adult life. I know this sounds bizarre, but they can
actually offer a real sense of consistency and safety and
familiarity when the rest of the world feels overwhelming. I
for one, It's gonna sound strange, but anytime I get
on a plane, I always bring one of my little
(23:30):
cherub figurines one of my Sonny angels with me. Like,
whenever I travel, I always have one in my bag
because I have such a you know, fear of flying.
It's if I'm really like freaking out. It's kind of
this weirdly anchoring force for me, which sounds ridiculous, but
they just bring me so much joy. It's hard not
to feel okay when I have one in my bag.
(23:50):
And also there's this weird psychological sense of like, ah,
can't be that bad, it can't be that scary if
I have like a little naked in a costume in
my pocket, that sounds really weird. If you don't know
what these are, like, just google them and it will
make sense. But yeah, it's just like, oh, how serious
can this situation really be? If I have this little
(24:12):
figuring thing, it's like this weird thing to pull you
out of a moment where you're getting too stressed. You know. Also,
adulthood just demands a lot of seriousness, and it demands
a lot of responsibility, and unfortunately, sometimes that comes with
the suppression of spontaneous play and laughter and being silly
and goofy and just stupid. And trinkets, by their very
(24:34):
nature are often non functional, like their primary purpose is
simply enjoyment and esthetic pleasure and to be fun. I
don't see the bad thing in that. I think that's
something that actually a lot of adults could do with.
I think it would really help us. I don't know,
take things a little bit less seriously. That's probably the
best way I can put it, you know, engaging with them.
(24:56):
I think it just really reintroduces a vital element of
of playful lightness into our adult lives. And here is
when we finally arrived to something that we've been kind
of circling for most of this episode, which is incredibly
important in this discussion, which is the power of nostalgia.
(25:16):
The power of nostalgia is hard at work in really
being the backbone of this industry collecting trinkets and small toys.
Like it's not a new concept. I think most of
us used to have something that we collected as a child.
For me, it was beanie babies. It was like literally everything.
(25:37):
Do you remember those pop figurings as well. Some people
used to collect those. Even if you collected stickers like that,
everyone had something, and brands realize what an emotional pool
it can be if they create something that reminds us
of something from the past, because this thing from the
past feels comforting. Let's like take beanie babies as an example,
(26:01):
because I feel like everyone knows what a beanie baby is.
Beanie babies had this like very unique bean field kind
of texture, and they had these quirky little names, and
they were incredibly cute and they were appealing. They were
also kind of creepy, and they were kind of like
a medium sized toy. I don't think it's crazy to
say that there is a kind of a lot of
(26:22):
similarities between jelly cats and Beanie Babies, and also between
things like La Booboos and Beanie Babies and any number
of soft blind box collectibles. Like it's very obvious to
me that these brands are just being like cool. If
we can activate a similar feeling to one that people
had in the past around collecting something cute and fluffy
(26:44):
that feels the same and kind of looks the same
in weird ways, we can make a heck ton of money.
In essence, I think that a lot of these toys
are like the beanie Babies of the digital age. They
are skillfully leveraging very similar psychological hooks like cuteness, scarcity,
even like investment potential. But it's been amplified by this
(27:06):
like the instant global reach and highly visual nature of
modern social media. It's just history repeating itself, but with
a much faster Internet connection. And there's also this like
perceived throwback to the good old days, Like these things
are very grounding and they feel very familiar. They have
(27:27):
a very whimsical nature. It's really evoking like a bygone error,
and these trinkets are carefully crafted to deliver that very warm,
fuzzy emotional connection to our past. They're trying to provide
psychological comfort, even if they're fresh off the production line,
And ultimately, nostalgia transforms purchasing from I guess, a purely
(27:50):
functional or rational decision into a deeply emotional one. We
reward ourselves with a nostalgic because it puts us in
a positive mood, or it helps us preserve a very simple,
nice feeling of connection to the past. All the stuff
that we read about in textbooks when it comes to
(28:11):
consumer decisions and the use of nostalgia and emotional hooks,
and even like decisions when it comes to the texture
and the feel and the size of an object, and
all these things, like the cuteness of an object, all
that stuff has been carefully crafted these days, Like there
are studies on what kind of faces people think are
(28:34):
more cute and what kind of textures or fabrics people
find more comforting. And it's like they've taken all this
information that we've known for a long time and all
this psychology around what drives people to buy, and they've
created like the perfect item, the perfect thing that we
all want. Let's shift gears and let's really like, I
(28:54):
think it's time to talk about the economy. I think
it's time to really like I've been circling around it,
it's time to talk about the money behind this and
whether or not something like the booboos are in fact
a recession indicator. So this basically started as like a
joke on TikTok, and it has now spawned articles in
(29:16):
the Australian Financial Review, in Vogue, in CNN, across countless
blogs that the rise of collectibles and of collecting is
a sign that the economy is about to freakin' tank.
If we really dive deeper into what's driving this recent
surge and drinket culture, we can kind of develop a
better understanding of why people and economists are like maybe
(29:38):
thinking this way. We know that the main proportion of
these engaged consumers in these trends primarily Gen Z and
younger millennials, and this is the same generation that is
facing very unique economic realities compared to their predecessors. I
saw this really fascinating video from an amaz creator and
(30:01):
a brand strategy consultant. I guess he is on TikTok,
sime as Eugene Heally, and he articulated this trend so perfectly.
He basically discusses how, unlike previous generations, many young adults
are finding themselves increasingly locked out of traditional markers of
adult success, most notably home ownership. This is not new
to us. I think everyone who is in their twenties
(30:23):
understands this. These days, only around twenty three percent of
people in their twenties are from twenty to twenty nine
own a home, compared to forty percent of boomers at
the same age that we are. Like, everyone knows, house
prizes outpacing wage growth, there's not enough houses. Mortgage rates
are ridiculous. Whilst you know, some people have found a
(30:46):
way to enter the market, often with family assistance or
by compromising on location or on significant parts of their life.
Most people seventy seven percent of people in their twenties
feel that home ownership is a very distant, if not
impossible dream. So when big traditional aspirations like owning a
(31:07):
home become unattainable, which I think is a sign that
our economy isn't working. If people literally can't afford shelter
and the security of a home, what do people channel
their desire for stability and personal expression and a sense
of accomplishment into often its more accessible forms of consumption clothes, travel, cars,
(31:30):
also trinkets. Basically, you know, this generation, we may be
locked out of the property market, but we feel very
locked into this accessible delight of collecting. The idea that small,
relatively inexpensive luxury items tend to surge during economic downturns
is actually known as the lipstick effect or lipstick economy theory,
(31:55):
and it was popularized by someone called Leonard Lauder. Does
that las name sound familiar? Lrder I E S Day
Lader one of the biggest beauty brands in the world.
They own so many like smaller makeup companies. This guy,
lened Later, the chairman of es Day Later, basically observed
(32:16):
a spike in lipstick sales after the nine eleven terrorist
attacks and also during the early two thousands recession, and
he basically said, when we are faced with economic uncertainty
and tightening budgets and less money to spend overall on
big things, we might go without larger, more significant purchases,
(32:37):
but we still crave a sense of indulgence and a
psychological pick me up. Lipstick. You know, that was the
example he was working off of is accessible, and it's
an affordable luxury, and it's small, so it becomes the
chosen form of indulgence when larger forms of indulgence are
just out of reach. Just like that high end lipstick.
(33:00):
Brinkets offer a little feeling of luxury and instant gratification
without requiring the significant financial commitment of a big ticket item.
And this perfectly aligns with what we know as little
tree culture, where consumers consciously opt for, you know, small,
little frequent indulgences as a way to boost their mood
(33:23):
rather than larger splurges that are out of reach. You know,
even in the midst of economic uncertainty and global uncertainty
and maybe even a recession, we still want a sense
of normalcy and we still want we still want a
sense of joy and happiness. And basically that is what
trinkets and la booboos and jellycats and sunny angels and
(33:47):
whatever else there is are a sign of. They are
a sign of these companies coming to fill a gap
in our economy. So with that bleak kind of picture
in mind, we are going to take another short break.
But when you return, we're going to talk about something
a little bit different, which is the role of dopamine,
the role of impulse buys, and whether we can call
(34:09):
this behavior addictive. Stay with us, Okay, we are back
and we are talking about trinkets. I think that whilst
you know, collecting trinkets is very fun and it's joyful
and it's kind of harmless most of the time, by
their very design and how they are being designed currently,
(34:31):
they're often perfectly primed for impulse purchases and over consumption,
so they have this relatively low price point right. They're
also very very cute, and these days they're presented in
blind boxes, so you don't really know what you're going
to get. It's kind of like gambling, which we're going
to talk about a little bit later. But all of
these things combine and create this immediate urge to buy
(34:53):
on the spot. The instant kind of dopamine hit associated
with buying these figures often overrides rational financeial future planning.
If not done cautiously, it can lead to a very
habitual and frequent overspending over something that you know, as
much as it's cute, we don't really need. I also
think that the sheer ease of online shopping these days,
(35:15):
and one click purchasing effectively even further removes the friction
that might otherwise allow for kind of like a second
thought and a second thought of like do I need this.
Social media also has a really critical role to play
in this kind of like competitive consumerism. Seeing perfectly curated
(35:36):
collections rare fines massive whole holes people who you admire
online Having this thing often creates intense pressure to acquire more,
to have the best collection, or simply to kind of
just like keep pace with other people. And this can
really tragically push people to spend well above their means,
(35:57):
and it's driven by social comparison more than genuine desire.
Because of this comparison and a fear of missing out
on the latest and greatest item that shows that you're
in a in the know, it's really not a surprise
that people get emotionally invested in whether they manage to
actually get the item. It's not just about having as
(36:18):
many as possible, it's about just having one or two
to show that you're part of the group. This can
lead to even more impulse spending, like something that you
didn't budget for, something that you didn't account for that
you have to constantly buy the new trending item to
feel like you fit in, and you might simply follow
this urge again because you don't want to miss out.
Behind the scenes as well, this is called scarcity marketing,
(36:41):
and it is working over time on nearly all of us.
Have you noticed that when something is trending, it's a
lot harder to get Think like the road lipsticks, think
the La Booboos, think any number of trending products. There,
there's a period where you cannot get your hands on
(37:03):
that thing. That is not by accident. It's not because
these companies didn't know how much people would want their product.
It's because when they first launch something, they make it
so that it is scarce so that people want it more,
which creates huge future demand and an ever present sense
(37:24):
of urgency to buy. Bye by when you got the
opportunity that may have otherwise not been there. Something you
guys may actually not know is that I actually have
an economics degree. Just going to throw that out there,
but I studied economics at UNI alongside studying psychology, and
this is a really basic principle that they teach you
(37:45):
in like microeconomics one oh one, which is basically that
when the demand is more than their supply, people will
pay more for something, and so when you deliberately reduce
or limit supply, it is a way to control prices
and to control the market and to control consumer behavior
(38:06):
in the most simplest way, think about the cost of
oranges on you know, at your local grocery store versus
on an island. So at your local grocery store they
have to charge somewhere near the market price for an
orange or for milk, because if they don't, you can
go to another grocery store and you'll find it for cheaper.
But when, for example, you're on an island and there's
(38:28):
less oranges and there's not as many places that you
can go to get an item, you will easily pay
more for that thing. You'll pay more because firstly, there's
not other places that you can get it, but also
because you see that item is more scarce and you
see it as more valuable. So basically, a lot of
companies these days are taking that lack of availability and
(38:54):
the exclusivity of their items and using that to drive
an even higher desire to own something that they that
they make. So basically they're deliberately creating things like limited
collections or super rare items, or deliberately only doing limited
drops so that when the time comes, they can not
(39:14):
only sell them for a much higher price than what
they're worth, but they also know they will always have
people in line waiting to buy them. It's also why when,
for example, a new collection drops, or when something suddenly
becomes available, people start hoarding. I saw this video the
other day of you know whatever, like a pop mart
(39:36):
vending machine and some guy at the very front buying out,
buying like twenty No one needs twenty. You don't need twenty,
Like that's ridiculous, It's like what But because you know
that you can resell them because the perceived value of
them is higher. They know that someone isn't just going
(39:57):
to buy one and be satisfied. They're going to buy
a lot of them because the demand is higher than
the supply. So this drive to buy more, right, it
seems very very powerful, especially with collectibles, like that's the
whole point. They are something you collect, you gain more
of them because of that. Could we call this habit addictive?
(40:20):
It's a complex question, but the short answer is yes.
Certain aspects, particularly with blind boxes and the relentless pursuit
of rare items can absolutely tap into established addictive psychological mechanisms.
You can become addicted to gaining access to this thing,
or buying more and more and more of more blind boxes,
(40:42):
more trinket items, having as many as you possibly can
get your hands on. At the heart of it lies
our brains, dopamine and reward systems. Dopamine. We know that
it's a very powerful neurotransmitter. It is released when we
experience something pleasurable, exciting, or rewarding, or something we have
been anticipating. This is what economists actually call the dopamine economy,
(41:05):
and in the context of trinkets, this dopamine rush occurs
at several key moments. It occurs before you get your
hands on something and you're questioning, am I going to
get one? Am I not? There's anticipation. It occurs when
you make the purchase and you have it. It occurs
when you open the box. It occurs when you find
maybe a rare item. It occurs when you complete a set.
(41:27):
It occurs when you go back for more. This surge
of dopamine powerfully reinforces the behavior, and your brain quickly
learns that this action of buying or unboxing equals pleasure,
leading to a strong, ingrained desire to continue to repeat
that action. This is the core of what we call
operant conditioning. Behaviors followed by a satisfying consequence are more
(41:51):
likely to be repeated. So this leads us to kind
of a second, second fascinating question. Not only a blind
boxers addictive, but are they simply just another form of gambling?
Is that why we get so hooked on them? There
are absolutely parallels between blind boxes and the pokey's or
slot gambling, or whatever kind of gambling you may be
(42:14):
thinking of, especially concerning the underlying mechanisms that drive engagement,
which is the idea of intermittent reinforcement. So let me
explain this. Basically, In classic gambling, you never know if
your next bet is gonna win, but the possibility of
a payout keeps you playing. In blind boxes, you don't
know which specific figure you're gonna get, but the possibility
(42:36):
of obtaining a rare one or a highly desired item
keeps you buying them. This fundamental principle creates a highly
persistent and compelling behavioral loop. The element of uncertainty and
the anticipation is central to both gambling and blind boxes.
Like the thrilling anticipation of opening a blind box is
(42:58):
much like the anticipate you have before pulling the leather
on a slot machine. It generates immediate excitement, anticipation, and
a rush of dopamine. The unknown outcome is precisely what
is making this experience so alluring. There's also the inherent
financial risk involved. Albeit you know it's definitely on a
smaller scale with blind boxes than traditional gambling, but you
(43:21):
never know you are spending money for an uncertain outcome.
I remember trying to explain this to my mum and
she was like, what do you mean you don't know
which one you get? She's like, that's ridiculous. Imagine going
to a movie and not knowing what movie you're you're
going to get tickets to, and just hoping it was
the one that you wanted to go to. She's like,
no other, no other industry works that way. The way
(43:43):
I described it to her was like, yes, you could
end up with something that you don't particularly want, but
you could also end up with something really good and
really desirable, and you could also end up with one
that isn't worth a lot of money, and you can
resell it and then you can buy more, and it's
this whole cycle. The frustration you know, of getting multiple
duds or of duplicate figures as well. That's also has
(44:06):
a gambling term. It's called chasing losses, continuously buying more
boxes or continuously gambling with the hope that you're finally
going to win. The thing is is that actually you
would think that these losses told like, you know, kind
of redirected someone and told them to stop. But the
more you sink into something, the more you sink into
the slot machines, the more you sink into the blind boxes,
(44:28):
the more you then definitely need a win because otherwise
you've lost all that money for nothing. So it's not
explicitly gambling, but there have been some arguments that things
like blind boxes do actually introduce young people in particular
to these gambling like mechanisms at a really early age.
(44:48):
So if you're a parent, or if you're a consumer,
like you might not know this and you're just like, oh,
it's a harmless toy. It's just like this cute little
fluffy thing. I'll give my kids some money, and then
I'll give them some more money. And then suddenly they
need more money. You might not realize that actually the
psychological conditioning that is happening behind the scenes is rooted
in again intermittent reinforcement, rooted in the same mechanisms that
(45:13):
create gambling addicts, and that could have the potential to
normalize or even prime individuals for future gambling behaviors where
the stakes are much higher. Research and developmental psychology highlights
how sensitive children and teenagers are to these kinds of
reinforcement schedules, and it means that they are more vulnerable
to such conditioning. There was a twenty twenty one study
(45:34):
conducted here in Australia in New South Wales, the state
I live in, that actually found that at least in
the short term, young girls and adolescent girls who bought
or sold online kind of loop boxes or blind boxes
actually demonstrated more positive attitudes towards gambling. They were more
likely to want to gamble in a more high stake
(45:55):
setting compared to those who didn't behave in these early
or didn't engage in these early kind of trade sell behaviors.
And it just shows how malleable young people are to
these things, and the extra layer of course we might
need when encouraging this kind of uncertain buying behavior, And
it's really important to have this conversation. It's really important
(46:17):
to say, you know, this industry is, at the end
of the day, not just based on making you happy.
Like people aren't creating buying boxes like PopMart and all
these companies aren't creating this because they just want you
to have fun. They're creating this, and they're doing this
deliberately because they know that they can make a crap
(46:37):
ton of money if they leverage these psychological insights. The
same way that social media has been designed to be addictive,
and social media platforms have literal neuroscientists on their team
to keep you hooked, these companies have neuroscientists on their
team to keep you buying. So it's just important to
add that into the conversation. It's also important as well
(47:00):
to understand that collecting and trinkets as a hobby, it's
not all the time always going to be dangerous. There
are many ways that it can play out that is
just really enjoyable and completely harmless. So I don't want
to like completely pathologize and scorn this hobby. There's this
(47:20):
hobby that I have, and I don't particularly think that
I'm addicted, and for me, it's always been a source
of joy. Millions upon millions of people worldwide collect various items.
They collect stamps, they collect coins, they collect action figures,
they collect art, designer toys, whatever it is, and a
lot of them, the majority of them, don't develop a
(47:41):
problematic addiction, and they don't spend more than their means.
So for most of us, this activity is just a
genuine source of pleasure. It's a creative outlet, it's a
means of social expression, personal expression. It's just a fulfilling,
harmless hobby. And I think that finishing on that context
is important because the pursuit of joy, which is what
(48:02):
this is really all about, is definitely a fundamental human need.
If a small, well considered purchase of a trinket genuinely
brings a smile to your face, genuinely makes you feel
joyful and happy and childlike and peaceful, there's immense value
in that. You know, we are not robots designed solely
for productivity and efficiency. Like our emotional wellbeing is critical
(48:25):
and it's an irreplaceable component of a truly of a
truly fulfilling life. So if this thing brings you joy,
sometimes it might not be worth examining it any deeper
than that. Sometimes it's okay to just engage in it
and not feel shame and not feel like you're being manipulated.
It is still just a real, simple, the simple like
(48:47):
pathway to happiness. And yes, some people would argue that
buying happiness or having to buy things to make you
happy is inherently wrong or bad, but it is also
just kind of the world we live in. Everything costs
money these days, as long as you are being healthy
about it, and that you're also seeking out happiness and
(49:07):
purpose and fulfillment beyond just financial transactions and the act
of buying something. I think you're I think you're okay.
I think that trinket collecting is not is not the
devil for you, and is not a huge, terrible evil
like I do it. I know that perhaps there are
(49:28):
systems at play that have gotten me into this, but
I also know that I've been doing this since I
was a kid, and I also know I've been doing
it with things that I just collected out in nature,
like rocks and flowers and you know, insects, back when
I was a kid. So I know this is kind
of part of who I am, and so yeah, I
don't necessarily feel terrible about it, and I don't think
(49:51):
you should either. Just be conscious of the industry, just
be conscious of the space that this exists in, and
I'm gonna say, like the most corny thing but makes
smart decisions and you'll be all right. I hope that
you really enjoyed this episode. I hope that you learn
a lot. I hope that it's caused you to think
and have interesting conversations with your friends. Maybe you can
(50:13):
send this to a friend who themselves has a real
fascination with trinket collecting, has a big sunny angel collection,
has been really leaning into the lu bubu trend. Hopefully
they enjoy it as much as you do. Leave a
comment down below if you collect something and want to
know what people collect, even if it was something that
you collected as a child, just to see how far
(50:34):
this habit and this behavior goes. I think it's so
endlessly fascinating. Also, make sure that you are following me
on Instagram at that psychology podcast and follow along here
as well. If you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, make
sure you're subscribed so that you know when new episodes
are being released, and leave us a five star review
if you feel cool to do so. But with that
(50:55):
in mind, thank you again for joining us. Be safe,
be kind, be gentle to yourself, enjoy a small try
get every now and again, and we will talk very
very soon. M
Host
Jemma Sbeghen
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