Is everyone OK? I only ask because on Tuesday a four-foot-tall, mint-green, smirking gremlin-baby doll sold for around $170,000 at an auction in Beijing.
It was, of course, a Labubu – the latest trend that seems to be causing society to lose its collective mind. I have personally lost colleagues and friends to this bizarre and ludicrous trend.
For the uninitiated, Labubu dolls are (usually) small, toothy monster figurines that are mainly sold by Chinese toy company Pop Mart. Though originally launched in plush doll form in 2023, in the past year they have been at the center of a global frenzy, and now suddenly the evil-looking little creatures can be spotted swinging from the sides of designer handbags all over the world.
Stars like Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Blackpink’s Lisa and David Beckham helped fuel the craze.
As a result, Pop Mart’s revenue more than doubled in 2024 to $1.81 billion, with plush toy revenue soaring over 1,200 percent and accounting for nearly 22 percent of overall revenue – driven by Labubus.
At Tuesday’s auction, dedicated entirely to Labubu collectibles, all 48 lots were sold for a total of $520,000. Organizer Yongle Auction says it will now be holding similar auctions “regularly.”
Though retailing in the U.S. at a modest $20 to $30, the actual procurement of legitimate dolls is now hard to come by due to their immense popularity. As one Labubu owner put it: “to get a legit one… you have to chance it on Pop Mart’s website and scrap it out with probably millions of other people like myself when they drop.”
That or duke it out with other rabid customers in a physical store, which are still few and far between in the U.S.
Part of the allure is that the toys come in “blind boxes,” so you don’t know which one you’ve gotten until you open it. It’s a bit like buying a pack of baseball cards — except each one costs $20 to $30, you only get one, and if you’re chasing a specific one, you might have to steal it off a child.
Anecdotally, a friend recently overheard someone on the subway asking a fellow commuter if they could buy their rare Labubu off them, then and there, and I am reliably informed that a “black market” trading in fake Labubus operates in the shadowy corners of the internet. There have also been stories of in-store fights and even violent burglaries over these tiny creeps.
So, maybe let’s all just take a deep breath. Eh?
First of all – these are dolls.
Most kids start playing with dolls around the age of 2 or 3, then naturally outgrow them by the time they hit their pre-teen years. That is part of the developmental cycle. When a proper grown-up is still carrying one around, it comes dangerously close to “Disney adult” territory — and you do not want to be one of those.
Secondly, let’s be honest – they are hideous!
A standard Labubu looks like a sleep paralysis demon: large, furry rabbit ears, a baby face twisted into a fanged, unsettling smile, and the eyes of a shark. If you woke up in the middle of the night with one of those at the foot of your bed you’d call the police – or an exorcist. I don’t care if it has a cute little button nose.
For the record, I’m not just singling out Labubu here. The same can, and should, be said of other toy brands that become the subject of rabid adult obsessions such as Sonny Angels or Funko Pops (also ridiculous). I just think everyone, as usual, needs to calm down a little bit and remember that just because everyone else on the internet thinks they’re cool, doesn’t mean they are.
That being said, at the end of the day your money is your money, and if you have the capital to hit a resale platform, where Labubus can range from $350 to over $1,000, then that’s your prerogative.
But why not collect something else, like vinyl records, comic books or even stamps? Something that’s a bit less childish or, at the very least, something that can stay at home instead of poking out of someone’s purse to scare the s*** out of me.
Live. Laugh. Labubu? Go touch grass.
