In a country that seemingly worships Hello Kitty and kiasu consumerism, it’s not surprising that some of those who bought limited-edition plush toys of the character this morning have already started scalping them online.
Long queues were seen hours before the opening of the world’s first 24-hour Hello Kitty cafe at Changi Airport today way before it officially opened at 11.30am. Going at $49.90 each, exclusive plushies were sold at the cafe with the Hello Kitty doll itself sporting two bows for some reason. The first batch of 200 dolls were sold out by 1.20pm according to Channel NewsAsia — and 10 minutes later they were already sold online for up to three times the original price.
The gall of it all! No other avenue for anyone else wanting to get them right now — the second delivery of 300 dolls arrived at the cafe at 2.15pm, but even those were already reserved by customers on the waiting list.
Ditch the dolls, you don’t need ’em. As we’ve noted yesterday after dropping by the cafe in a sneak preview, the cafe’s actually not all that cutesy or pink or covered in bows. Their food offerings are pretty legit, despite all the Hello Kitty branding.
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