Nature's Labubu: Why Younger Generations Love Discovering Conkers?

Identity: Horse chestnuts.

Age: Brought into the UK over four centuries back.

Look: Nature's Labubu.

No, I don’t think that’s right. Absolutely. Go and watch a TikTok video of someone unboxing a conker, and you’ll almost certainly hear them call it “nature's Labubu”.

Opening up horse chestnuts? What on Earth are you talking about? Oh wow, you are definitely not up to date, aren’t you? Young people are using social platforms to film themselves removing conkers from their spiky capsules.

What's the reason? Due to the feeling of amazement! When you unbox a conker, you never know what you’re going to get. Will it be big? Might it be flattened? How shiny will it be? It is like a mystery box every time!

Do Labubu dolls share those traits? No, they’re somewhat eerie dolls that have become collectible because they also come in mystery boxes.

Would someone inform gen Z that they are not using conkers correctly? Is that so? How do you play with horse chestnuts, then?

You put a shoelace through the middle of them, and try to destroy everyone else’s conkers. Is that true? That’s unusual.

Yes. Your odds improve if you soak the conker in vinegar overnight and then heat it in the oven. You're not joking?

Seriously. And should you gather an excess, you can toss them in the schoolyard and all the other kids will compete to grab them. A lovely item from nature like a conker, and you use it as a tool for battle? A weapon that comes with a long set of complex and confusing guidelines?

It’s traditional! The King recently awarded the global conker competition with a gift of 300 conkers! At least young people are just recording videos.

Why don’t you know this? Probably, because certain schools prohibited the game two decades ago, due to various health and safety fears.

The modern world never fails to amaze me. Maybe revealing horse chestnuts just isn’t your thing. In which case, perhaps you would be more interested in some other popular gen Z trends.

Is that so? Like what? Well, there’s this thing called knitting, and something else called pottery that I can describe for you.

We’ve had knitting and pottery for centuries! Let me guess, you heat tools in apple drink and then use them to poke each other?

Certainly not! OK, calm down. I assumed that all older generation's pastimes involved violence in some form, after that horse chestnut game.

This is overwhelming. Take a breath. If you need me, I’ll be unboxing seeds for clicks.

Appropriate comment: “TikTok can’t stop filming conker reveals.”

Don’t say: “This is nuts.”