Costumes Sell Out Despite High Prices at Official Store
Some Parents Resort to Making Costumes Themselves
Due to the worldwide popularity of the Netflix animated film 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' (K-Pop Demon Hunters), parents are struggling to find Halloween costumes.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on October 31, parents are breaking a sweat trying to get K-Pop Demon Hunters costumes ahead of Halloween. Many children want to dress up as Huntlix or Lion Voice for Halloween, but parents are having difficulty finding these costumes or accessories.
The costumes sold at the official Netflix store were limited editions, so they sold out quickly, and their prices were two to three times higher than those of other Halloween outfits. The signature yellow jacket worn by the main character Lumi was sold for $89.95 (about 126,000 won), but the total cost soared even higher if you wanted to add the shorts, boots, and purple hair accessory. In addition, Chinese knockoffs were of poor quality or took too long to ship. Eventually, some parents resorted to making the costumes themselves.
At a department store in California, K-Pop Demon Hunters costumes were recently sold, but they sold out immediately after being displayed, leaving the shelves empty. An employee said, "Customers lined up and everything was gone right away," adding, "In the end, we had to tell parents to try looking on Amazon."
One parent, whose nine-year-old daughter wanted to dress up as K-Pop Demon Hunters Joy, said, "The costume is stressing me out. The outfit I ordered online from China arrived, but it turned out to be toddler-sized," and added, "I had to search all the stores to finally find the right size." A mother living in London said, "I am spending most of my maternity leave making a K-Pop Demon Hunters costume," and added, "I've been struggling for days making buttons out of clay and attaching shoulder pads, but the glue keeps coming off and it makes me want to cry."
On the other hand, some people have benefited from the K-Pop Demon Hunters craze. A couple in Los Angeles started hand-making and selling K-Pop Demon Hunters light sticks last summer, and they said they sold out as soon as they launched. The couple said, "We were shocked at how fast the orders came in," and added, "We spent all day just packing." According to the WSJ, a prop design company in Maryland produced and sold a 3D-printed version of the 'curved sword' used by Huntlix's 'Mira' in the film, and despite the price of $750 (about 1.08 million won) per item, orders flooded in to the point where they had to stop sales.
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