Labubu: The popular ugly plush friend conquers the world

Labubu: The popular ugly plush friend conquers the world

in Bangkok, Thailand, people from all over Asia gathered in shopping centers and online shops on Friday to get the latest edition of Labubu, a collector's toy that triggered the worldwide.

a shop window of the Nordic folklore

The tooth -consumed and cuddly figures inspired by Nordic folklore are typically offered in palm -sized "blind boxes" and attracted crowds in cities from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur when the new collection was offered for sale. They were also quickly sold out online.

The creative head behind Labubu

Labubu, an invention of the illustrator Kasing Lung, born in Hong Kong and grew up in the Netherlands, as well as other creatures from his series "The Monsters" have won a loyal fan base since its foundation in 2015. However, the popularity of Labubu has increased last year, which was particularly favored by celebrities like Lisa by the K-Pop Group Blackpink. "Labubu is my baby," she said in a recent video of teen vogue.

The innovations of the

The latest collection entitled "Big Into Energy" comprises six vinyl plush supporters (and a "secret" figure) that represent "emotions" such as love, hope and happiness-each in new color variations. The new label costs between $ 13 and $ 16 in various Asian countries. Shortly after their release on Friday, some supporters were resold on the US revenue platform Stockx for up to $ 90.

The hunt for labubu

In the Centralworld shopping center in Bangkok, dozens of fans were queuing before the shop of Pop Mart-Labty of Licensed Distributor-opened at all, even though they had registered time windows in advance.

The student Kamolwan Pohfah, 21, said she was leaving early to reach the shop because she could hardly wait to get the latest collection. "I've been following Labubu for almost two years now," she said Cnn.

"It was somehow ugly at first glance. But I always saw it on social media. And my friends are crazy about it, so I follow them," she added.

The passion of the collectors

The tourist Emily Jong, 27, who was currently visiting Australia, tried her luck in the shopping center, shortly before she was supposed to fly home, but went away empty -handed: "We tried to make ourselves, but we didn't know that we had to register," she said.

Hathairus Mekborisut, 53, bought a box set with six followers. She decided to keep a name "happiness" to herself and to resell the rest. She has wanted a purple trailer for a long time, as she said.

Another reseller who only wanted to be named with her nickname Mai led a small group to buy as many as possible. She said she could achieve the double retail price if she sells it to customers in other countries.

The history of the creation of Labubu

Despite her recent global celebrity, Labubu (she is a girl) has been developing for a decade. For the first time, she appeared as a secondary figure, which was often hidden in the background of a fairytale world, in his three-part series of picture books "The Monsters", according to Pop Mart, the Chinese company that sells the labubu merchandise.

With rabbits -like ears, big round eyes and a mischievous grin, Labubu is "kind -hearted and always wants to help, but often unintentionally reaches the opposite," as the company describes on its website.

The fan culture and market changes

lung, 52, used to told the Hongkonger newspaper Ming Pao that the figure was inspired by his childhood, which was characterized by Nordic fairy tales about elves, trolls and fairies. After moving to the Netherlands as a child, he learned Dutch through simple picture books.

fans often complement their outfits by attaching labubu plush toys to their clothes or bags (they were spotted at Paris Fashion Week last month). The figures are also brought to meetings organized by fans or posted at online marketplaces where they are traded and resold.

The success of Pop Mart

POP Mart, a Chinese toy manufacturer who has traditionally dominated Japan in the collector's market, has made a name for it to sell a label in the "Blind Box" format-which remains a secret until opening and its charm is increased. The "The Monsters" series is its best-selling franchise and achieved sales of 3 billion yuan ($ 410 million) last year.

The influence of social media

Videos of young fans who impatiently unpack their characters and break out in joy or sometimes disappointment, flood social media like Tikkok. Celebrities like Rihanna and Rosé von Blackpink have only reinforced the hype.

On Wednesday, Blackpinks Lisa showed her new pink and yellow batik-Labubu figure in an Instagram story. She revealed herself as a fan, as a photo of the star that hugged a large laboratory in a camping costume, became viral. Their support is widely attributed to have fueled the fame of the toy, especially in Southeast Asia, where Pop Mart has the largest and the fastest growing market abroad. Last year, the annual income of the Chinese toy manufacturer in the region grew by 619 % to over 2.4 billion yuan ($ 309 million).

challenges in the US market

A fan base is also growing in the United States, although American buyers have to pay more for their purchases, since the trade war between China and the USA has loaded most of the Chinese imports with a 145 % tariff. (China reacted with a 125 % tariff.) A blind box of the latest series, which was also sold in the USA on Friday, costs $ 27.99 compared to $ 21.99 for the previous series.

The hunt for the secret label

Among the new label that is published is a rare figure called "Secret", in which buyers only have a 1 to 72 chance of unpacking them. "It's pretty fun. If you get the secret characters, you also get the feeling of happiness," said the 27-year-old collector Lawrence Yu, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, and has previously spent 1,200 Australian dollars ($ 763) for over two dozen label that ranges from blind boxes to plush toys.

he remembered that before publication in a local shopping center, in which a new Pop Mart Laden had opened last October, he arrived at 2:30 a.m. and waited 10 hours.

"I hope that the new series will soon be available in Melbourne," he said in a video call, whereby the new series will not be available in physical business in Australia before the end of this month.