On June 11, local Chinese media reported, "The mint-colored Rabubu was sold at auction the previous day for 1.08 million yuan (approximately 204.27 million KRW), and the brown Rabubu was sold for 820,000 yuan (approximately 155.11 million KRW)."

"The mint-colored Rabubu is 131 cm tall, and the brown Rabubu is 160 cm. On that day, a total of 48 Rabubu artworks appeared, with a transaction amount of 3.73 million yuan (approximately 705.79 million KRW)."

Original owner Qingluo said, "I bought two items in 2020 for 100,000 yuan each (approximately 18.9 million won), but I never dreamed they would total 1.9 million yuan."

"I have spent millions of yuan on toys over the past few years... There are so many limited editions that I stopped collecting Labubu and put them up for auction."

Labubu fan Xiao Yang said, "To purchase offline, you have to get purchase certification online the day before, which is not easy... To get the products you want, you have no choice but to buy through resellers."

Chinese media outlet Dasang News reported, "We discovered that the price of Labubu has multiplied several times on secondhand trading platforms." The Shocking Macaron series, which was originally priced at 99 yuan (approximately 18,000 won), has risen to 200 yuan (around 37,000 won). Limited editions that were once 499 yuan (about 95,000 won) are now being resold for 7,000 yuan (about 1.32 million won), earning Labubu the nickname "toy Bitcoin."

Dasang News, quoting industry experts, stated, "The toy trends are changing too rapidly, raising questions about whether Labubu's popularity will be sustained." The report added, "As it has become increasingly difficult to obtain authentic products, imitation versions have begun to appear, leading to growing concerns among some observers."

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

The popularity of Labubu is spreading beyond China and going global. In Los Angeles (LA), United States, and Tokyo, Japan, people line up starting at 3 a.m., while in a new store in Bali, Indonesia, crowds have grown so large that physical altercations have occurred. At a store in London, England, sales were temporarily halted due to safety concerns after a scramble for the toys erupted.

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

The largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan, recently described Labubu as "the next Hello Kitty" in a report. In fact, according to Google Trends, Labubu's search popularity surpassed Hello Kitty in May 2025. The craze has intensified as celebrities such as Blackpink's Lisa and Rosé, and Rihanna, have been seen with Labubu on social networking services (SNS), which has further fueled its popularity.

The British broadcaster BBC also reported on Labubu's explosive popularity. The BBC commented, "Labubu triggered a global buying frenzy after Lisa of Blackpink posted about it on SNS," adding, "Rihanna, Dua Lipa, and David Beckham have also been spotted with Labubu."

Reuters Yonhap News

원본보기 아이콘

Reuters Yonhap News

원본보기 아이콘

Chinese toy company Pop Mart has achieved rapid growth through the blind-box sales strategy for its Labubu products. According to an analysis of the Pop Mart application (app), consumers have to purchase an average of 7.2 blind boxes to get the figure they want. As a result of these strategies, Pop Mart announced in its first-quarter earnings report last month that overseas sales surged by 480% compared to the first quarter of last year. Notably, sales in the United States increased by 900%, and in Europe by 600%.

Pop Mart founder Wang Ning's net worth has also reached 20.3 billion dollars (about 27.5 trillion won), making him the richest person in Henan Province, China. Born in 1987, Wang Ning graduated from Zhengzhou University and opened the first Pop Mart store in Beijing in 2010 at the age of 23. At that time, it was a general store selling a variety of items including toys, but since 2016, the company has started selling its own character art toys.

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘