About

Labubu Toys are collectible "monster" vinyl plush toys created by Hong Kong artist and designer Kasing Lung and distributed by Pop Mart, most commonly worn as bag charms and accessories with their key rings. Introduced in 2019, the toys achieved worldwide virality in 2024 and 2025, with K-pop idols, most famously BLACKPINK member Lisa, and other celebrities appearing in public with them. The toys are distributed via blind boxes, meaning that customers do not know which exact toy from the set they will be getting, with some including particularly rare versions. Alongside their virality in the mid-2020s, Labubu memes and other online content began appearing across social media.

History

Labubu is originally a fictional creature who first appeared in Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung's 2015 illustrated children's stories The Monsters, influenced by Nordic mythology. The character has a "monstrous," sharp-toothed grin and furrowed eyebrows juxtaposed with its overall cute appearance, such as big, round eyes and a large head (image shown below).

According to Pop Mart, "despite a mischievous look, she is kind-hearted and always wants to help, but often accidentally achieves the opposite."^[1] Besides Labubu herself, other characters from Kasing Lung's The Monsters universe include Zimomo, Tycoco, Spooky and Pato.

In 2015, the Chinese company How2Work started producing and selling original "Monsters" figurines based on the designs.^[2] The toys achieved wider recognition, primarily in China and other Asian countries, following the start of the collaboration with Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019, when Labubu were first introduced in their current vinyl toy format.^[3]

In October 2023, the first Labubu key-ring line, "Exciting Macaron," was released.

On April 16th, 2024, K-pop idol Lisa of BLACKPINK posted an Instagram^[4] story in which she had a Labubu keychain on her designer bag (shown below).

The post prompted a massive surge in the popularity of the toy in Asia and abroad, with media describing the rising popularity of the collectibles as "frenzy" and "craze."

For example, on November 5th, 2024, the Los Angeles Times^[5] reported on the global spread of the trend.

Lisa's Instagram post prompted widespread popularity of Labubu toys with celebrities both in Asia and in the West, with the toys often being used as a bag accessory. Artists such as Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Rosé were all seen carrying Labubu toys in 2025.^[6][7]

Controversies

In 2025, the toys received scrutiny online over Pop Mart's "blind boxes" sales model and the frenzy surrounding Labubus, resulting in proliferation of smuggling, scalping and counterfeit toys.^[12]

In late May 2024, Pop Mart paused selling Labubu toys in all 16 of its United Kingdom stores following reports of customers fighting over them.^[19]

Instances of customers fighting over the collectible toys were also reported in San Francisco^[20] and other cities.

Fandom

Multiple posts of celebrities wearing Labubu dolls, as well as unboxing videos, went viral on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and other social media globally in 2024 and 2025 (example^[8] shown below).

On YouTube, multiple YouTubers shared videos explaining and analyzing the phenomenon. For example, on November 29th, 2024, the YouTube^[9] channel Toy Chat made a video that received over 274,000 views in seven months (shown below).

Multiple comedy skits in which people being robbed chose to give up their bags to save their Labubus went viral on YouTube and TikTok. For example, on April 23rd, 2025, YouTube^[18] account Blippo posted one such video that garnered over 10 million views in two months (shown below).

On X, Labubu toys and the surrounding hype have been a subject of jokes and memes. For example, on May 12th, 2025, X^[10] user @MacDoesIt wrote, "I thought labubu was new internet slang for lobotomy. like delulu." The post (shown below) garnered over 14,000 reposts and 159,000 likes in one month.

On May 21st, 2025, X^[11] user @CoolDotCom__ made a post jokingly comparing actor Willem Dafoe to a Labubu doll. The post (shown below) received over 9,300 reposts and 125,000 likes in three weeks.

On May 28th, YouTuber^[13] Papa Meat (MeatCanyon) posted a video about the toys, titled "The Blind Box Addiction," receiving over 1.1 million views and 56,000 likes in 13 days (seen below).

On June 10th, 2025, YouTuber^[14] Critikal (penguinz0) uploaded a video discussing the rising popularity of Labubus, titled "Labubu Situation is Crazy." The video received over 1.5 million views and 54,000 likes in a day (shown below).

On Reddit, there are multiple communities surrounding the fandom of Labubus, including the subreddits /r/labubu,^[15] /r/labubudrops^[16] and /r/labuburestocks.^[17] The /r/labubu subreddit, created on September 10th, 2024, is the largest with over 87,000 members as of June 2025.

Search Interest

External References