She was a headliner at last year's Glastonbury festival.

"When you're having a rough time, especially for me personally, it's a big serotonin boost to not only buy a collectable and keep it, but share the experience with other people as well," she adds.Others have compared Labubus to Beanie Babies, which were popular in the 1990s and 2000s, and say collecting Labubus evokes feelings of childhood nostalgia.

of getting a Labubu is a talking point, with many showing the long queues and hours of research required to find out where new collections are being stocked.It's prompted backlash on some social media channels, with users criticising collectors that have bought large numbers of items."Just because you don't understand someone's hobby, doesn't mean it's not valid in any way," James says.

While James hasn't spent hours and hours queuing to build his collection, he says he "has gone out of my way" to source authentic dolls online. As with any popular item, counterfeits have made their way onto the market."I spend a fair bit of money on my hobby, but it's my adult money," he jokes.

Chulie says she currently has 10 Labubus, but has sold some to other fans when she's ended up with the same toy twice.

"When I first got exposed to them, I wasn't sure why people were spending money on them, because in the US they start at around $21 [£16], which is minimum wage for a lot of people."It can be extremely dangerous," he said.

"The water can get very cold, water from the reservoir pours over the dams when it's been raining."Other residents asked how someone could get there with no obvious means of transport, and why his belongings would not be found on the shore.

Rosemary Stow, who runs craft gallery Quillies, said most tourists do not make it past the visitor centre in the nearby Elan Valley."You don't see a lot of cars up at Claerwen dam or in the car park below, it is such a lonely place," she said.