What’s A Labubu? And Why Are They So Popular?

This article by Grace Jackson was originally published on Inc.com.

One sold at auction for $170,000 last month. A video of a woman claiming to have one made of 24k gold reached 15 million views on TikTok in two weeks. Lisa from the band Blackpink has one, David Beckham paraded one on Instagram, and Simone Biles, Dua Lipa, and Rihanna all have one. But this isn’t a pair of shoes, a luxury bag or watch. It’s a Labubu.

A toy made of plush, plastic and vinyl that retails for $15, Labubus are everywhere and nowhere—securing one, in some cases, has become as difficult as obtaining certain luxury bags, even inspiring a booming counterfeit market and sky-high second-hand prices.

Labubus were spawned from the mind of Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong-born illustrator who spent his childhood in the Netherlands and grew to love the monsters of old European folklore. These monsters inspired his picture book series, The Monsters Trilogy, which features, among other monsters, Labubu, a mischievous elfin creature with sharp teeth.

Lung started a line of toys based on his monsters and sold Labubu’s IP to the Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019. Labubus then began to take off globally after the musician Lisa, from the K-pop group Blackpink, was seen using one as a bag charm in 2024.

Although Labubu is making waves right now, among trinket collectors it’s seen as entry level—and it’s not the only cheap and collectible figurine in recent memory to cause an insatiable frenzy. Last year, the go-to trinket was the Sonny Angel. A riff on the iconic Kewpie doll, Sonny is a 3-inch plastic figurine with tiny angel wings, an adorable babyface, and no pants. Sonny-Angel-mania was even parodied in an SNL skit starring Dua Lipa, in which her character’s real, human boyfriend battles with her Sonny Angel for her affections. 

Behind these toys is a simple marketing strategy that catapults low-cost toys into juggernauts of social capital: the blind box. 

What’s A Blind Box?

While Labubu and Sonny Angel come from different companies, countries, and histories, both toys are often sold via blind boxes. This means that, like baseball cards, you don’t know which Labubu you bought until you open the box. 

A fixture of trinket collecting culture, blind boxes can be found anywhere from Asian specialty stores, toy stores, and Urban Outfitters, to your local corner store, and even TikTok shops, where blind box series are often advertised by influencers as cute trinkets to collect. 

Many blind box trinket characters are original IP from toy companies based in China, Korea, or Japan. Others are based on nostalgic childhood figures, such as the Danish Moomins, the Dutch Miffy, and the American Peanuts characters. Almost all of them are manufactured in China.

Who Invented The Blind Box?

Although several iterations of the blind box strategy have been utilized for decades, the most recent blind box trinket format—in which a small, often plastic trinket is marketed as part of a series and sold without the consumer knowing what is inside—was popularized by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy retailer based in Beijing.

Pop Mart adopted the blind box strategy in 2016. They collaborate with or purchase popular IP to create exclusive blind box toys in their distinctive style. Licensing deals with Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros, have helped their blind boxes become familiar to western audiences. Additionally, Pop Mart has its own lineup of intellectual property, their most popular figurines being Molly and Labubu.

China Daily reports that in 2024 PopMart saw a 55-60 percent increase in revenue growth in China, with an almost 500 percent increase overseas. Pop boasts partnerships with American retailers Urban outfitters and Kinokuniya USA, and also sells their figurines through TikTok shop. Its stock took a hit in recent weeks however, after a state-owned media property warned against blind boxes.

Why Blind Boxes Work

Many blind box and trinket collectors have a favorite character that they cherish. Your favorite trinket line and character can exist on your phone case, as a bag charm, or printed on stationary, home goods, accessories, or even as furniture. The trinket you choose is a representation of you, adding even more justification to a mysterious blind box purchase. 

Blind boxes also create an experience of purchasing something rare, unpredictable, and exciting while stimulating a culture of collecting. Some blind box series include special or rare editions. It’s similar to the “drop” strategy that’s created cult followings around limited edition Stanley cups and Bogg Bags.

Ultimately, the brilliance of the blind box strategy is that it relies on gambling impulses. Even the most casual Sonny Angel fan might be disappointed to open a blind box and see a figurine with a strawberry head instead of grape, and find themselves heading back into the shop thinking, “Just one more.”