(Yicai) July 11 -- Shanghai Disneyland Resort has stopped selling new merchandise for its Duffy and Friends toyline at its in-park stores after scalpers bought up many of the items and marked up the prices.

Shanghai Disneyland announced yesterday that it would stop offline sales of the Duffy and Friends Summer Ocean Party collection from today. The remaining stock will be sold through its flagship store on Alibaba Group's Tmall, it added.

The collection, which includes keychains, plush toys, handbags, and clothes, launched on July 8. A keychain costs CNY179 (USD25), while the complete set of seven, featuring all of the Duffy and Friends characters, is CNY1,253 (USD175).

The new products have been extremely popular despite the high prices, with the online stock selling out immediately upon release. Scalpers that had swooped in then began selling the complete keychain collection for more than CNY1,700 (USD237).

“The production cost of these goods is not high, but their emotional value to consumers creates room for premium pricing, giving scalpers opportunities to mark up prices," said Shen Jun, a senior retail industry analyst.

China’s young consumers are fueling a major collectibles boom driven by what analysts call “emotional consumption,” or purchases rooted in joy, nostalgia, identity, and comfort rather than practicality. Pop Mart International Group’s Labubu plush toy series has even become a global collecting hit, with the elf-like dolls a major target of scalpers in China and elsewhere.

Pop Mart stores in China, South Korea, and the United Kingdom have on occasion had to close to ensure customer safety following scuffles.

Disney's move to halt in-park sales "is to maintain order in the resort, especially amid high temperatures, reducing customer discomfort or disputes caused by long queues," a veteran of the trendy toy industry told Yicai.

Despite suspending offline sales, it will be hard for Disney to fully eliminate scalping, the source pointed out, adding that enthusiastic fans with no other buying options will still turn to scalpers.

The inflated prices demanded by scalpers also harms the brand, which needs to manage the supply chain better to avoid future shortages, Shen noted.

Last month, Beijing-based Pop Mart cranked up the supply of its Labubu dolls to break the price hold of scalpers.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev