Much ado about Labubus

Much ado about Labubus…

You've probably spotted them around - cute but slightly creepy plush dolls with cheeky grins and pointy teeth. They're called Labubu dolls, and they've gone from quirky collectibles to must-have accessories thanks to fashion influencers and celebrities jumping on the bandwagon. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we'll explain:

• what on earth a Labubu is

• and how these little monsters became such big business...

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Listen to Andrew Williams and Claire Kimball cover this topic in this Squiz Shortcut podcast episode, or check it out on YouTube - and hit subscribe while you’re at it.

Listen time: 14 minutes

Squiz the Shortcut

Let’s say I haven’t seen one in the wild… What is a Labubu?
They’re toys that look like little monster-type critters with big eyes and a mischievous pointy-toothed grin. They come as plush dolls and bag charms in all sorts of styles, and they’ve been described as everything from cute to a bit creepy. But the main reason we’re taking a closer look at them is that they’re hugely popular - and not just with kids…

How popular?
Global phenomenon popular… Celebrities from musicians and sports stars, even high fashion identities like Marc Jacobs, have been snapped carrying them around… That’s put them in big demand, and they’ve really taken off in the culture - and in value…

How much are they worth?
People are handing over hundreds - sometimes thousands - of dollars for the collectable ones… We’ll get into how that’s come about a bit later on, but for now, we’re going to go back to the beginning because it turns out there’s a back story to how Labubus came to be made…

Let’s hear it…
They come from a children’s storybook character dreamed up by an artist called Kasing Lung. He published a trilogy of picture books in 2015 called The Monsters, and one of the characters in the story was Labubu, an ‘impish’ elf with long ears and a row of sharp teeth. And Labubu might have what Vogue has described as a ‘gender-fluid appearance’ as a toy, but she’s a girl character, and she’s described by Lung as ‘playful, naughty and slightly mischievous’... 

How did Labubu go from a story book character to a toy?
The books were popular across Asia - Labubu gets up to all sorts of pranks in them - and Jung was approached by the Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019 to create a line of figurines. They did well, but it was when the company developed a limited series of plush Labubus on keychains for handbags that they broke sales records in that category. That was in 2023, and they’ve undergone massive growth since then.

How much have they grown?
Pop Mart recorded nearly $1 billion in profit for the first half of this year - that’s a rise of nearly 400% on last year. In June, Forbes named the company’s founder and CEO Wang Ning the 10th-richest person in China, worth $35 billion….

So, Labubus are big business?
Are they ever… Pop Mart has opened over 50 stores worldwide, so most of that revenue is now coming from outside of China. Yet, despite the rapid expansion, there are a lot of reports around about how hard it is to get your hands on a real Labubu…

Because of the high demand?
Yep… Each time the company releases a limited edition line of Labubus, huge queues form outside the stores, and there have even been reports of fights breaking out over the boxes… In the UK, Pop Mart had to withdraw the dolls from sale for a couple of weeks because people were fighting over them. This is between adults, mind you… 

Yikes… What’s the appeal for grown-ups?
Adults want them for their handbags or to use in unboxing videos on social media (that’s when people film themselves opening the packaging for the first time to see what they get…). And this brings us neatly to the sales model. The dolls are priced at around $30, so they’re reasonably affordable, but they’re packaged in blind boxes, so you can’t see what you’re getting…

So, after all that, you’re buying a surprise?
Yep… And you’d want to like it if you waited in line from 3am. So, that mystery element adds to the anticipation and fun of it all, but for Pop Mart it also means if people don’t get the one they want, they’ll go back and buy another one in the hope that they’ll get lucky with a ‘secret’ design. One collector described the experience of buying a Labubu in-store as “like competing in The Hunger Games. You queue for hours, you fight through the crowd, and you might still walk away empty-handed.”

What’s behind the blind boxing strategy?
It’s not a new concept, by any stretch, but retail analysts reckon blind boxing is popular because it taps into a childhood nostalgia we hold from things like trading cards/Pokemon cards, where there was a level of excitement and a chance you could get something a bit different and special - and they’re likely to be more valuable on the resale market… 

What are they worth second-hand?
Authentic Labubus are selling on websites like eBay for up to $450… And if that sounds expensive, an online buyer shelled out $230,000 for a life-sized green one auctioned off in June by Pop Mart in a world-first event in Beijing. To run it, they engaged the Chinese high-end auction house, Yongle, which normally specialises in jewellery and fine art, and it attracted over 1,000 bidders.

Who is buying them?
Millions of people. They’ve got cross-gender, cross-generational appeal - and it doesn’t hurt that they’ve been seen hanging from the bags of a few choice celebrities… BLACKPINK singer and star of The White Lotus, Lisa, was the first big celeb to be snapped with a Labubu on her handbag. Then Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa joined in, and the dolls were given serious fashion cred when designer Marc Jacobs was seen with one in July…

What sort did he have?
He was spotted with a rare tempura Labubu attached to his black Birkin bag in New York, so if he ever sells either of them second hand, he’s in for a windfall… As an aside, a few of us in the Squiz team were taken with tennis player Naomi Osaka’s collection of limited editions. She showed them off at the US Open recently - they each carry a little sequins-covered tennis racquet and she’s named them Billie Jean Bling and Arthur Flashe (after tennis legends Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe).

What effect is the international hype around a cutesy Chinese-made doll having on perceptions of China?
China is known for being an authoritarian state that doesn’t allow its citizens much freedom of speech or expression; Labubus - by their character’s nature - is playful and a bit naughty - analysts say they’re helping on a subliminal level to soften China’s image…

So it’s a sort of soft power play?
Yep, we see this type of thing driving perceptions of other cultures too - think about Studio Ghibli, anime and Pokemon for Japan, and the K-wave exports of K-pop music, movies, beauty and food being pushed by Korea… But we should point out that not everyone thinks Labubus are adorable… 

What do the critics say?
That the trend is contributing to ‘disposable consumerism’ which encourages people to spend more in the quest to find a ‘secret’ one. Also, that they can’t be recycled and will eventually end up in a landfill... But so far, the dolls are being recycled through a lucrative resale market that we mentioned - and if anything, the demand for them is growing… As with a lot of popular trends, that’s opened up a huge market for fakes. 

What are the fakes called?
Lafufus… They cost about half the price of real ones, but consumer groups have warned that small parts used in their production could result in a choking hazard for young children, and the materials used to make them are highly flammable. NSW Fair Trading says the copies can be very convincing and it’s easy to mistake them for the real thing… 

Is there a way to tell Labubus from Lafufus?
Yep - we’ve got you… Real ones have a holographic Pop Mart sticker, a UV-detectable stamp on the right foot, and exactly 9 teeth… 

Good to know…
All the better to take a bite out of your bank account/heart…

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Onto our Recommendations

Watching: This short YouTube video produced by Pop Mart about artist Kasing Lung’s journey creating Labubu. He’s talking about it during a signing event at the Louvre in Paris, no less. It’s got subtitles, but it’s a sweet look at what he loves about the character…

Reading: This Vogue article featuring some very fashionable people speaking about their Labubu collections and why they’ve got them… 

Perusing: Naomi Osaka’s Labubus Billie Jean Bling and Arthur Flashe…

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