How Labubus took the world by storm

(Image credit: Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

published 11 July 2025

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.

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.