What’s hot at the Space of BTS pop-up
K-pop fans arrive early at concert venues for several reasons: meeting up with friends in the fan zones, trading fan-made items, and, most importantly, lining up to use their VIP access and snag official merchandise before anyone else, thanks to booths that open exclusively for their ticket tier.
It’s always disappointing when you finally get to the front of the line and the merch that you’ve been eyeing is already sold out. But it’s the reality for K-pop fans—items do sell out really quickly at these events.
“BTS Pop-Up: Space of BTS” tries to cater to the concert-goers’ wants and demands with its line-up of items for this cycle. The pop-up opened on Friday and will run until June 22. A lot of the items are inspired by or feature J-Hope because his upcoming world tour “Hope on the Street” (Hots) is just two weeks away.
One of the biggest draws of the pop-up is the main photo wall that features the art from J-Hope‘s world tour. There’s a platform where fans can stand, and on the side, there’s a barricade.
Tour merch
Agno Almario, CEO of Apop Collections, is excited about the barricade because he says it’s something fans recognize immediately. This is something that they really thought about when designing the space. Hots tour merch can be found on the same platform. Most of them are sold out on Weverse.
The most coveted item in the collection is the Hots Cowichan Cardigan, priced at P13,500. According to Almario, it’s the most limited piece in the store, with several countries competing to stock it. While he declined to reveal the exact number of pieces available at the pop-up, he estimated that there were only about 15 on hand.
He expects that the Chipmunk Plush Keyring (P1,500) will also be a popular item. Other sold-out items on Weverse that you can find at the pop-up include the Hope on Tour slogan muffler at P2,000 each, layered ring set (P3,000), crossbody bag (P4,500), shopper bag (P1,000), bandana (P1,500), and image picket (P800).
Philippine exclusives
The Philippine-only collaboration continues at this pop-up with additional items. R2R introduces the Boston Bag with the logo of BTS stitched on the side, while the Pusô microbags get an update with gold chains and a BTS zipper pull.
Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, R2R president, said that they were able to sell out all their stocks in the first run.
Sunnies also introduced limited-edition Robo Flasks in purple and white, just for BTS Army. Each purchase comes with a free photo card holder keychain and sticker pack.
Almario said that fans requested a black version of the Space of BTS t-shirt during the first run. They listened, and now they have it, along with the white and purple.
Friends J and Bunny lined up as early as 4:30 a.m. to be the first people in the queue. They said they are the type to fly for a concert and so they already have a lot of the BTS merch. But they really came early to have first dibs at the DIY keychain charm station. They arrived with a game plan: They had already listed the charms they would get to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the choices.
Agno said the charms for this cycle have been improved with scratch-proof materials. The designs are the doodles of BTS members.
Each purchase of the lightstick, named the Army Bomb, a popular merch item for concert-goers, will also come with a keychain. There’s also the Hots ballcap that will sit nicely on top of the lightstick if you want to dress it up.
But even though the focus is Hots, it’s still a BTS Space. There are artist-made products and merch from Jimin and Jungkook’s show “Are You Sure?!?”
