The Labubu craze has seen recent fights in POP MART stores; 235,984 mentions online; celebs like Dua Lipa, Rihanna and LISA sporting the bag-charm; and now a million yuan sale for a life-sized doll
Labubu-mania has reached a new peak as a human-sized Labubu was recently sold at auction for a huge sum of 1.08 million yuan, equivalent to just over £110,000.
Reported by a Chinese auction house, the 4ft4inches doll was bought at the Yongle International Auction in Beijing. At 131 cm, the life-size figuring was said to be the most expensive toy in the world by the auctioneer, reports the BBC.
The monster dolls-turned-bag-charms were made by Kasing Lung, an artist from Hong Kong, and have seen a massive incline in popularity and sales, loved by children, Gen Z and celebrities alike.
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Sold mainly in Pop Mart for just over £5, the recent auction – which took place this week – saw that price multiplied by thousands. The auction included 48 items for sale and hosted 200 potential buyers, in total raining an enormous 3.37 million yuan – that’s £349,000.
The worldwide craze has seen fights break out between customers and staff, ‘never-ending’ queues and now a removal of the toys from Pop Mart shelves as they try to manage the insatiable demand for all things Labubu.
Pop Mart informed fans on their official Instagram on May 19, saying: “Due to the increasing demand for our beloved Labubus, we’ve seen a significant rise in customer turnout on restock days – with long queues forming outside our stores and Roboshops. To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone, we will temporarily pause all in-store and roboshop sales of THE MONSTERS plush toys until further notice”.
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Celebrity sightings with the ‘love-or-hate’ bag charms include Rihanna, Dua Lipa and LISA. David Beckham has also tried the viral trend by posting a snap on Instagram showing a Labubu clipped to his bag.
Their popularity appears to come down to one thing: not knowing which one you’re going to get. The illusive mystery boxes are sold as “blind boxes” that excite buyers who wonder which one they are fated to get.
The Labubu reveal has massively given rise to Pop Mart’s success where the business’ more than doubled their revenue for 2024, 13 billion yuan, £1,335,100,000. The stores have now opened in five additional countries such as Italy and Spain as of last year and have resulted in social research that found an increase of 273 percent of daily mentions since May 30.
The research, done by Sprout Social also discovered that the viral dolls had accumulated a total of 235,984 mentions across social apps, proving they are here to stay.
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