There’s nothing like somebody somewhere spending a lot of money on something silly to get a summer-season collecting fad underway. We saw it with the “Bored Apes” non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of a few summers ago. For this year, a Labubu doll the size of a child that sold for ¥1.2 million (£123,000), with fees, at an auction in China last month will do nicely.
For the uninitiated (and frankly too busy), a Labubu is a “cute”, grinning little monster with sharp teeth and furry rabbit-like ears. In its more usual form, it is to be spotted by acolytes dangling from the handbags of pop stars Rihanna and Dua Lipa in the form of a key-ring “plushie” (soft toy). But good luck finding one in a shop. Their retail habitat has shrunk to online marketplaces, with prices well above the £17.50 advertised on the official website of their maker, Pop Mart (where they are sold out).
Hong Kong-based artist Kasing Lung created the Labubu character in 2015. But it is Lisa from Korean girl band Blackpink, who is credited with sparking this summer’s collectable craze with a post on Instagram. Since her post last year, a Chinese bank has been banned by authorities from offering them as bait to attract new customers. And in May, Hong Kong-listed Pop Mart stopped selling Labubus in British shops due to reports of fights breaking out among fans who were desperate to get their hands on the limited stock. And that was without knowing exactly what they would be buying, assuming they made it to the cash till.
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The “blind-box” business model – where you only find out what you have bought when you open the box – has been central to the successful sales of Labubu (and Pop Mart’s share price, which has soared 178% this year). Not only does it encourage repeat purchases in the hope of eventually buying the specific one you want, but it also feeds the online marketplaces, where prices rocket, and that in turn drives new demand for Labubus from collectors hoping to flip a few monsters themselves. Meanwhile, that gives Pop Mart every incentive to bring out new editions.
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Can the Labubu craze last?
The trouble is, not even a toothy grin can avoid a crackdown from the Chinese authorities. Last month, a report in the state-run People’s Daily newspaper cited legal experts calling for stricter regulation of blind boxes on the basis that they “risked inducing addictive behaviour among minors”, as the Financial Times reports.
For now, at least, amid the ongoing heat and madness of summer, the Labubu invasion continues unabated. It may fizzle out or morph into any number of spin-offs and sidelines. Time will tell. But if you were to offer me a Labubu or shares in Pop Mart, I know which I would rather have. Then, who would be grinning?
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