How the Pop Mart dolls conquered the world

Whether you think they’re cute, ugly or just strange, you’ve heard of hairy babies who have become a global sensation – the labu.

A monster was born, Chinese toy manufacturer Pop March is now a viral purchase of creature. And they didn’t have famous defenders: Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and Blackpink’s Lisa. The ordinary people are so obsessed – from Shanghai to London, long queues to catch the baby headlines, sometimes even went to fights.

Avowed Fan Fiona Zhang says, “You get such a feeling of success when you get from such violent competition,” he says.

The world’s interest in the Labubu has almost doubled the profits of Pop March last year – and for some, even the energy soft power supported by the pandem and a tense relationship with the West.

So, how did we come here?

This is still a question that bothers many people – and even those who know the answer are not exactly sure that they can explain the madness.

The lab is both a fictional character and a brand. The word itself does not mean anything. The artist born in Hong Kong is the name of a character in the “Monsters” toy series created by the lung.

Vinyl faces are connected to the plush bodies and the signature comes with a look – a naughty grin that shows pointed ears, large eyes and exactly nine teeth. A curious but divided internet cannot decide whether they are cute or strange.

According to the official website of the retailer, the labu is “good -hearted and always wants to help, but often accidentally accomplish the opposite”.

Labubub dolls were included in the series “a big energy”, “be a seat”, “exciting macaron” and “Wild in Fall”.

From the universe of the labubu brand, there are other characters such as Zimomo, the leader of the tribe, his boyfriend Tycoco and his friend Mokoko.

According to the uneducated eye, some of these babies are difficult to distinguish. Those who were waiting knew, but the fame of the Labubu certainly rubbed, and other examples in the family were flying from the shelves.

Most of the sales of Pop March would have so -called blind boxes for several years when customers learned what they bought only when they opened the package, and connected with the kasing lung for labus rights.

Entrepreneur Wang Ning was about 2019 about ten years after Wang Ning opened Pop March as a various store in Beijing. When the blind boxes were successful, POP launched the first series in March 2016 and sold Molly Dolls, a child -like figurines created by Hong Kong artist Kenny Wong.

However, Pop was lab sales that fueled the growth of March, and in December 2020, he began to sell shares at the Hong Kong Securities Stock Exchange. These stocks increased by more than 500% last year.

Pop Mart himself became a major retailer. It runs more than 2,000 automators in the world or “Roboshops”. And now you can buy labubub dolls in more than 30 countries in physical or virtual stores from the United States and England to Australia and Singapore, but many have recently paused sales due to overwhelming demand. In the mainland, sales other than China contributed to approximately 40% of its total income in 2024.

With a mark on how popular Labubus has become, Chinese customs officials said they have captured more than 70,000 fake babies in the last days this week.

The demand did not rise over one night. It took a few years for the elfin monsters to enter the mainstream.

Before discovering the World Labu, his fame was limited to China. According to Ashley Dudarenok, the founder of China -oriented research company Chozan, they became a hit just as the country came out of its pande in the late 2022.

“Pandemik, many people in China felt that they wanted to escape emotionally … And the lab was a very attractive but chaotic character,” he says. “This anti-harmony became concrete.”

China, which is very large and competitive, produces many viral tendencies that do not globalize. But this did and his popularity quickly spread to the neighboring South East Asia.

Fiona, who lives in Canada, says that he first heard the Labubu from the Philippine friends in 2023. Then he began to buy them – he says he found them cute, but his increasing popularity is a great draw: “The more popular it is, the more popular it becomes.

“My husband doesn’t understand why someone in his 30s will be fixed so much, what color is like to have.”

It also helps to be affordable. Although the increasing demand increases prices in the second -hand market, Fiona said that most labubu is “acceptable” for most people with the original price ranging from $ 25 Canada ($ 18; $ 14) and $ 70 for $ 70.

“How much a bag accessory would cost these days, most people could meet it,” he says.

Labubu’s popularity increased in April 2024 when K-Pop Superstari Lisa, who was born in TAY, started publishing photos on Instagram with various labubub dolls. And then, other global celebrities turned babies into an international phenomenon this year.

The singer Rihanna was photographed in February with a cropped labubu toy in the Louis Vuitton bag. Influencer Kim Kardashian shared his 10 labubu baby collections with Instagram in April. And in May, former British football captain Sir David Beckham went to Instagram with a lab photo given to him by his daughter.

Now babies are everywhere, not only online, but also friends, colleagues or passers -by.

To say, we don’t know. Like most viral tendencies, it is difficult to explain the attractiveness of the lab – randomly with timing, taste and internet.

Beijing is absolutely satisfied with the result. State News Agency Xinhua said that the Labubu shows the attractiveness of Chinese creativity, quality and culture in a language that the world can understand and gives everyone the chance to see “cool China”.

Xinhua has other examples of “Chinese cultural IP is global”: Video Game Black Mit: Wukong and Hit Animation Film Nezha.

Some analysts are surprised that Chinese companies are very successful despite Western discomfort against Beijing’s ambitions from home manufacturers and AI developers to retailers.

“BYD, Deepseek, all these companies, including the labo of all these companies, said in a statement to the BBC News.

“They’re so good that nobody cares about coming from China. You can’t ignore them.”

Meanwhile, the labu continues to prepare social media followers with millions of people watching new owners celebration of prize purchases. One of the most popular videos released in December shows that curious US airport security personnel are shown around a traveler’s unopened laboly box to find out which baby is in.

This surprise element is a large part of the objection as desmond Tan, a collector for a long time, walked in a pop march store in Singapore, strongly shaking blind boxes before deciding which one to buy. This pop is a common view in March.

Desmond, “Chaser” characters, pop Mart’s lab, including special prints from various toy series. On average, Desmond says he finds a chase in one of every 10 boxes he bought. He claims to have a good strike rate compared to typical proportions: one in 100.

“Learning how to chase the box, how to feel the difference …” deeply satisfactory for him.

“If I can only take one or two attempts, I am very happy!”