SNOOPY fever - which inspires stockbrokers, labourers, children and grandparents to queue for hours to buy a $6 plastic toy - is all about status, according to mental-health experts.
But under the strain of Hong Kong's recession, aggression could quickly flare in Snoopy queues, they warn.
Psychiatrist Dr Peter Tsoi Ting-kwok said emotions fuelled by the mass-manufactured beagle - part of a 28-piece collection available to daily buyers of $17.80 meals - was 'an amazing phenomenon'.
'With all this pessimism and financial difficulty, people show an astonishing interest in Snoopy toys,' Dr Tsoi said.
But it is not the toys per se that are the attraction, Dr Tsoi said. People were becoming increasingly eager to join queues for stamps, plastic toys, to see demonstration flats or claim other rewards.
'If you get one, it gives you a false sense of gain,' Dr Tsoi said. 'We have too much stress in Hong Kong and everyone thinks they have to be a winner in order not to be a loser.