I’ve collected Starbucks cups for 12 years. I’ve never seen anything like the Bearista craze.

• Yolanda Cole, a 45-year-old, has collected Starbucks merchandise for the past 12 years.
• She recently woke up at 3:30 am to get a mystery Bearista cup from her local Starbucks.
• She said collecting the cups is just a small thing that brings her joy.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yolanda Cole. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve been a lover of Starbucks merchandise for years. Their studded cups were the first in my collection — I’ve got a bunch of those dating back as far as 12 years ago — but I never needed to get to the store early to buy one. I would just walk in at my normal time for coffee, and there would be one waiting.

But since Starbucks started doing their Bearista launches, times have changed.

I’ve been collecting Bearista cups

Last year, I’d heard about the cute bear cup that was being dropped for the first time. I got to my local Starbucks at 5:30 am, and they were already gone. It was a bummer.

Then, in the summer, I had the best surprise. I walked into the store, completely unaware that there had been another Bearista drop, and saw they were selling soccer bear cups to celebrate FIFA. I fell in love with it and actually thought it was cuter than the original.

Next up, I heard that a Strawberry Bearista cup was being released. I knew I’d have to get in line early so I wouldn’t miss it like I had the original, so I arrived at the store at 4:30 am. There was a huge line for that one.

But then, for the next drop — the Snoopy Bearista cup — the line was surprisingly pretty short. I really wanted the Snoopy cup because it just felt so nostalgic. For that one, I arrived at 4 a.m.

I woke up in the middle of the night to go to Starbucks

For the last couple of weeks, the Starbucks Facebook groups I’m in have been full of news that a mystery Bearista cup was going to be dropped next.

I knew this would be a super popular one, just because of the mystery element.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up at 3:30 a.m., drove for six minutes to my closest Starbucks, and waited in line with about 20 other people for the store to open at 5 a.m. I was fourth in line.

Everyone in line chit-chatted while waiting. I actually knew one of the people in line from the last drop, a little community of collectors developing.

While lots of the people waiting were genuine collectors like me, who just really wanted a cup for their own personal use, there were also people in line who were only there to buy and resell, which is unfortunate.

Looking at the people waiting behind me, I knew it was likely only the first 10 in line would get a cup, so I told those at the end of the line that, just in case they didn’t get one, they could quickly go to another Starbucks that was typically quieter.

I’m so happy with my new Bearista cup

Once the store opened, I got my cup. I’d planned to open it at home, but in the end, one of the other customers and I opened our mystery boxes at the same time.

Mine was adorable — a white bear that turns blue when you pour liquid into it. I was so happy.

For the rest of the day, I was just happy and telling everyone how happy I was. When I wrote about the morning on Threads, so many people commented, and we all enjoyed the back-and-forth about what we had managed to get.

I think that is why people love these little cups so much — happiness. We’re all just looking for that little bit of joy because life is hard and people are struggling. We’ve got to do the little things that make us smile. And for me, these little bear cups do just that.