Labubu Who?

Growing up, one of my favorite books was Where The Wild Things Are. This was despite
my mom telling me my initial response to the book was abject terror. Over the years, I grew to
love everything about the book, especially the little white costume the main character wears
throughout his adventures. Max, the self-proclaimed king of all wild things, runs around the
pages of the book in an iconic white wolf suit. He makes all kinds of friends and enemies,
including Carol, a goofy-looking beast wearing a t-shirt and no pants. Carol has horns and lots of
teeth arranged in a bit of a cheshire cat grin. The entire cast of characters brings back a nostalgic
feeling in me. So, imagine my surprise when I saw my first Labubu, my reaction was: Carol?
Labubus are approximately 6 inches tall, fuzzy, have pointy ears on the top of their heads,
heart-shaped noses, big colorful eyes that often match their fur, nine teeth (a characteristic that
differentiates them from fakes), and three toes on each little webbed foot. In short, they are
adorable or adorably ugly little creatures, depending on your viewpoint. For Where The Wild
Things Are fans, if you replace Carol’s horns with pointy bunny ears, the resemblance is rather
spot on. Contrary to some online conspiracy theories, there is nothing evil about the creatures.
They are meant to be playful, mischievous forest fairies, not demonic entities.
Labubus are not new to the scene, developed in 2015 by Kasing Lung, and based on
Nordic fairytales. They didn’t start their rise in popularity until 2019 when Lung began a
collaboration with Pop Mart. The company, based in China, is a known retailer of “blind boxes”
and other collectibles.

This brings me to another favorite past-time of mine: collecting blind boxes. A blind box
is a toy, usually a small vinyl figure, inside a sealed bag, inside a sealed box. There are generally
five figures with good odds of being in the box you selected and at least one figure that has lower
odds of being in the box. For example, with the “Big Into Energy” series of Labubus, you have a
1 in 6 chance of pulling one of the regular six color variations, but only a 1 in 144 chance of
pulling the “secret”. I should note, the secret is a very cool tie-dyed black and grey color. I have
been collecting for some time and sadly have never pulled a secret. Yet, this is the fun of blind
boxes. What will I get? Will it be a dupe (duplicate), a secret, or just something missing from my
collection?
Back to Pop Mart. The collaboration kicked off like many of their collabs. People were
intrigued by the odd, toothy monsters and started collecting without much fanfare. Then our tiny
friends received a huge boost in popularity, thanks to Lisa from the K-Pop group, Black Pink.
She started wearing them on her bag and person. Her fans, interested in emulating her, asked
what they were and where to buy them. That ended the ability to get them through regular means
like the Pop Mart online store. They sold out immediately and never looked back.
Today, Labubus are a hot commodity, nearly impossible to get on your own; enter the
resellers. Sites like eBay, Whatnot, Mercari and even Poshmark started listing the figures at
inflated prices. A few days ago, while I was on Whatnot, I watched a secret sell for $325. The
buyer considered it a “steal” at that price. Collectors have the option of multiple styles and sizes
of Labubus, with rare, large figures going for up to $1500. The regular Labubus come in three
series, in order of release: Macarons, Have A Seat (sitting down), and Big Into Energy. Most
collectors want all three series and the associated secret Labubus that go with each series.

As they grow in popularity, Labubu’s friends have gained a following as well. This
includes Mokoko, Zimomo, Tycoco, Pippo, Vos, Yaya, Spooky and Pato. With her pink fur,
Mokoko is highly sought after. Personally, I am a fan of Tycoco, the little skull that hangs out
with his girlfriend, Labubu.
Despite my big age, I am having a great time collecting these little ladies. I have a
checklist and I’m always looking for deals. Each of my Labubus has her own style as
demonstrated by the outfit I have her dressed in.