Labubu Take over!
Emerging in 2017, Labubu have increased in popularity, with last year’s revenue exceeding $415.2 million. This is a 726.6% increase from 2023 (Pop Mart’s annual report, 2024). This has continued into 2025, the UK branches of Pop Mart announcing the pausing of sales for these toys on 19th May, due to the increase in demand. There have been huge queues outside the stores for a while now, people waiting for as long as eight hours (Birmingham Live)! I find this topic so interesting and am eager to talk about it in today’s blog. I hope you enjoy!
This isn’t the first time that we have seen a toy gain immense popularity and sell out all over the UK. Take the 1996 Christmas movie, ‘Jingle All The Way’, for example. This film is based on real-life toy shortages, particularly those of Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980s. It depicts parents racing to toy stores during the festive season, to ensure that their child isn’t the ‘only one’ without, in this case, a Turbo Man. Although fictional, this film mirrors the reality of Christmas time and the new shiny toy that hits the shelves. In the 1950s, Barbie was released and was the top of the list that year; in the 1990s, it was the Furby (which was also popular when re-released in 2012), and this pattern has continued to the more electronic toys like the Xbox and PlayStation in the 2000s. It is the perfect opportunity for brands and businesses to make huge sales, when most children have written a Christmas list and want to have the same toy as their friends. Toy consumption on this scale isn’t a new phenomenon, but it does feel different.
I think that one of the reasons that the Labubu trend feels perhaps more of a bigger deal for consumerism is that it isn’t popular only for a few months of the year at Christmas. I know that children still use Xboxes and Barbies now, but I don’t think people are queuing for 8 hours to buy them, sometimes getting to the 10th position in the queue to be told they are sold out (Marina Hyde, TRIE podcast)… The labubu has been popular for a while, sales increasing no matter what time of year it is. I was thinking about other examples of popular toys and was transported back to my childhood. My best friend and I were obsessed with Beanie Boos and Beanie Babies! We had quite a few between us and brought them to each other's houses to play all together. Looking back, this is one of the highlights of my childhood! They seemed to be the collector’s item of our generation. McDonald's had them in their Happy Meals for a time, and that was particularly exciting. So, is a Labubu the modern equivalent of the 2000s Beanie Boos? I still don’t think so…
Why is it that the Labubu trend feels different? I have been racking my brains trying to understand the hype. To me, they are quite creepy, and I don’t think I would want one hanging off my bag! So why, when I am scrolling on social media past videos and videos of Labubu unboxings, do I feel a brief pang of jealousy? This is my first point to discuss. How social media has blown up the use of FOMO as a tool for marketing. The algorithm works wonders for brands and businesses in this sense. When you watch one video of an unboxing, the next day, 6 more will appear in its place, and that will grow and grow the more you consume and interact with the content. But how do you get people to watch who aren’t interested? The use of a blind bag, not knowing what will be inside, increases curiosity. Rather than scrolling on because you see the Labubu straight away, you sit and watch the person revealing what it is, thus engaging in the video and bringing more to your ‘for you page or ‘reels.’ I saw this too with Sonny Angels. The most exciting part was waiting to see which one they got and whether it was the one that they wanted. Seeing the excitement and the buildup creates FOMO. People want to have this experience for themselves. A 2023 McKinsey report on consumer trends supports this. They found that 63% of successful product launches leverage community engagement strategies, with those emphasising community building showing 28% higher customer retention rates than those focusing solely on product features. As well as this, Richard Oseman describes it as a form of gambling in that you are taking the risk of a blind box in the hope of receiving a ‘good’ or ‘rare’ labubu that everyone else wants. This could be for two reasons. 1, to feel special that you have something so sought after and 2, with the idea of trading on social media with other collectors for money or even better Labubus. This adds to the FOMO aspect of this type of purchase, which is emphasised when the buyer doesn’t know what they will get. The uncertainty and excitement drive social media post views upwards, along with the sales. Marina Hyde agrees with this and compares it to the feelings gamblers get with putting their money on chance, like on spinning the wheel, for example. It becomes addictive, which we can see with labubus. Creators are showing off their 11 Labubus and what they get up to in the day (Olivia Attwood Instagram), or buying 6 at a time instead of just the one. The FOMO and blindbox method of marketing is working very well for Pop Mart, so much so that they are pausing sales due to high demand!
Going back to the Beanie Babies, what are some other differences between them and a Labubu? Beanie Babies were much cuter in my opinion! The Labubu is a unique kind of character. It is slightly creepy with its eyes and funny smile, but also slightly cute with its fluffiness and colours. It offers quirkiness and something a bit unconventional. It is unlikely that someone like Dua Lipa would walk around with a Beanie Baby attached to her Birkin handbag, but a Labubu is suitable for all ages because of its unique appearance. Of course, celebrities having a Labubu (or 5!) and sharing their love for them on social media increases the chance that their followers will buy the product. Celebrities are often ‘worshipped’ by their fans, and therefore, when a celebrity talks about how cool a Labubu is, the fan will immediately try and buy one. This commodification of the celebrity (Rojek, 2001), giving economic value to them, is another key reason as to why the trend of Labubus is not slowing down.
Finally, let’s talk about the cost of a Labubu and why this impacts the growth of their popularity. Unlike a Beanie Baby, which goes for less than £10 on average, a Labubu can cost from £13.50 to £50 (BBC). However, due to their popularity, resale platforms are selling them for as much as £350 or more. Referring back to the blind box aspect, this also increases the cost as people are opting to buy a box of 6 in the hope of getting the full collection. These are selling for around £200 on StockX. The brand has also collaborated and made more expensive limited editions. This plays on the FOMO aspect. People feel special and lucky if they get hold of something that is in limited supply. They are using many successful marketing strategies to bump up the price, explaining the significant increase in revenue from 2013-2014.
I loved doing bits of research for this blog, although my social media is now full of Labubus!! I hope you enjoyed reading.
