When I first heard about the new Starbucks novelty cup collectible drop planned for Nov. 6, I immediately planned my trip to the nearest store location in hopes of scoring a new tumbler. Little did I know that Starbucks stores across the United States would be completely barren of their shelves, immediately selling out a few minutes following opening time.
The new collection consists of collaborations with popular brands such as Hello Kitty with a ceramic mug ($32.95), stainless steel cold cup ($32.95), water bottle ($29.95), plastic cold cup ($24.95) and a stainless steel tumbler ($32.95) along with the Roller Rabbit collection that is comprised of a stainless steel cold cup, plastic cold cup and stainless steel tumbler for the same prices. Exclusives were also featured in the drop such as the sought-after Glass Starbucks Bearista Bear Cold Cup ($29.95) and other various holiday tumblers and mugs ranging from $19.95 to $39.95.
When I walked in and scanned for the collection at my store, there was quite literally no trace of the cups despite this huge hype built by Starbucks for the drop. The only cup present was my huge glass of disappointment. What I thought was a somewhat early arrival to Starbucks at 7 a.m. felt measly when the barista told me that people were camped outside stores for hours and that the collection sold out 15 minutes after opening, at 4:30 a.m.
Although my first attempt on the search for these cups was unsuccessful, I was not the only one with an unsatisfactory experience. With no limit on the amount of cups customers could buy, social media is now calling the event the “Starbucks bear cup gate.” Other locations had fights, line-cutting, people reselling them online for hundreds of dollars and employees clearing shelves out stock: all for the cups. I didn’t realize that trying to get a new cup would be so brutal. How has a holiday metal tumbler equated to the same old hype of Stanley Cups or even collectables like Labubus?
The Hello Kitty and holiday collection was meant to be available for purchase together with the return of the holiday drink menu, but some stores released their Roller Rabbit cups early despite instructions to be put out on Dec. 2 which I found very unclear. Starbucks is currently working to meet the demands by sending out a few supplemental shipments to stores, but locations are only getting about two more. Everyone seems to have lost their sanity and respect for employees in the process because these cups are so scarce and feel almost impossible to come by, which is frustrating but not at all their faults.
After calling around multiple stores, I was able to get the Hello Kitty collections ceramic water bottle and the plastic cold cup, which I gifted to my cousin. As an avid fan of the Sanrio line, one of the main reasons I loved the cups is that Hello Kitty wears the iconic green Starbucks apron which made the design so adorable. Besides the design, there is nothing that makes these cups any different than the typical cups they sell before the holiday season so the prices felt pretty steep for just slapping a brand onto the items.
A relative of mine was also lucky enough to find the holiday Roller Rabbit stainless steel tumbler cup for me, despite it not being technically released yet. The tumbler has the brand’s signature monkeys dressed in winter fashion, donning beanies and scarves while holding its very own cup of Starbucks coffee. The monkeys are surrounded by water color versions of my favorite items from Starbucks such as the strawberry and chocolate cakepops, the Strawberry Acai refresher and matcha latte which made this cup especially special to me. Compared to other collaborations in this limited release, this tumbler in particular felt like the company truly took their time designing it as the details really stand out in making the cup aesthetically pleasing.
Limited edition collectables are meant to be fun, although I learned from this experience people can lose themselves with the thrill. The new Starbucks holiday collection is definitely unique compared to previous collaborations, although I do wish I didn’t have to trade an arm and a leg in order to obtain it. I would rate the cups an 8/10 simply because of the trouble it took to get them, but hopefully you’ll be more lucky to find the cups in the huge Starbucks wild.
