It goes without saying that Hasbro is a pop culture powerhouse, and Littlest Pet Shop is no exception. The 2-inch figures have amassed a dedicated fan base since they were released in the ’90s, and there’s no sign of this hype train ever stopping. In fact, the value of many Littlest Pet Shop figures continues to grow, and – in an interesting development via growing technology and social media from 2010 and beyond – there is an explosion of Littlest Pet Shop fan communities on Instagram and YouTube.
Fans of Littlest Pet Shop, or “LPS,” as they call them, are nothing short of creative. The Instagram community is abundant with “toy photography,” where fans will pose their LPS and create intriguing scenarios with witty captions. (And just for fun, I’ve included photos from my own LPS Instagram below.) Searching ‘Littlest Pet Shop’ on Instagram will display 225,000 results, and searching the more popular “LPS” will garner a whopping 560,000 images. Not to mention the size of the YouTube community, where videographers will film their LPS in a creative stop-motion style.
The top LPS YouTuber’s videos amass hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of views within a few days. And Instagram photographers can earn thousands of likes in a matter of hours.
Image: LittlestPetBoutique Instagram
So what’s the appeal? Let me emphasize this: Littlest Pet Shop is highly collectible. For one thing, Hasbro only releases so many of one particular pet. With well over 3,000 LPS available now and many more to come, Hasbro is catering to a new age of collectors. These figures are part of a limited run, which means if you’re a collector and if you can find them in your local store – bearing in mind that Hasbro only releases certain LPS in certain parts of the country, and some are limited just to the U.K. – it stands to reason that these are a rush-to-buy.
And here’s another cool fact: Many kids and adults dress their pets. Etsy-goers and eBay lurkers can find hand-made LPS clothes going for about $3.50 a piece. One artist has sold over 1,400 pieces, which is $5,000 in just the clothes for these toys.
A profit can surely be made from these small figures… yet it can be argued, from a collector’s standpoint, that owning them is the true treasure. I speak as someone whose desk is littered with Littlest Pet Shop animals, and I’ve only just recently jumped aboard the hype train. These figures are collectible, valuable, and addictive. If there’s ever a time to collect, this is it – and now you can order Littlest Pet Shop waves that are HOT and in-stock at Entertainment Earth.
Hype train… all aboard…
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