How Labubu seller Pop Mart seized a cultural moment to make billions

Pop Mart has been building on the success of the Labubu doll with new character lines and collaborations with established intellectual property. However, trends change and it remains to be seen if the company can keep up.

Last August, Mr Terry Khoo headed to Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre before the crack of dawn, just for the Pop Toy Show, a convention for pop-culture toys and collectibles. He was determined to get his hands on the Merlion Labubu, a Singapore-exclusive edition of the popular Labubu doll.

The annual convention has been organised in Singapore since 2023 and in China since 2020 by Pop Mart, the company behind popular collectible toys, most notably the ubiquitous Labubu – a furry toy known for its iconic rabbit-like ears and mischievous, sharp-toothed grin.

Mr Khoo, a 29-year-old project manager, said: “I thought it was early but when I reached at 5am, I was already way at the back (of the queue). I was speaking to some people and some of them were there from as early as 3am.”

He estimated that there were already 200 to 400 people ahead of him by the time he arrived, and the queue had snaked out of the convention centre and spilled onto the road.

Still, he waited in line for six hours, only to find that the launch of the limited edition toy was abruptly cancelled after a scuffle erupted between convention-goers over the collectible.

Although he has yet to acquire the Merlion Labubu, he now owns around 30 Pop Mart figurines, which he stores in two display cabinets – one at home and the other in his office.

Mr Khoo and other Labubu buyers have contributed to the runaway success of the Beijing-based Pop Mart, a company founded in 2010 that only recently became a household name when the Labubu craze erupted in early 2024.

Ms Ripple Sim, for instance, has spent thousands of dollars to date on her Pop Mart collection. She has more than 100 items that include several popular characters such as Labubu, Twinkle Twinkle, Skullpanda and Dimoo.

The event stylist, 41, began collecting Pop Mart merchandise in August last year, saying she started because of the rising Labubu hype at the time, which played into her fear of missing out.

Ms Sim also films herself unboxing Pop Mart blind boxes live and posts these videos on her social media accounts.

“I love unboxing blind boxes as well as watching people unbox, so I decided I might as well live(stream) it, so anyone who’s keen or free to watch can just join in the fun,” she said.

To date, the most expensive Labubu toy she owns is a larger-sized “Zimomo Angel in Clouds”, which she bought for more than S$300.

Her most precious one is a “Chestnut Cocoa” – a rare Secret V1 Labubu doll that has a one-in-72 chance of being found in a blind box – which she unboxed live on camera to the delight of viewers tuning into her livestream.

“It’s a core memory to have pulled a Secret on TikTok livestream, (especially) during the peak of the Labubu hype,” Ms Sim said.

Blind-box toys are sold in sealed, opaque packaging that conceals the exact figurine within, making the box’s content a mystery to buyers until opened.

A third Pop Mart fan, a civil servant in her mid-30s who declined to give her name, began collecting Pop Mart figurines about a year ago. She has since amassed a collection of more than 300 items, which cost her about S$5,000 in total.

Her first blind-box figure was from the series called “Pucky the Feast”, but her collection is now made up of various Pop Mart character lines, including Labubu, Skullpanda, Crybaby, Hirono, Dimoo and Molly. As long as she likes the design, it can join her collection.

“The thrill of blind boxes is in the unboxing process and not knowing what to expect.”

She recalled feeling “quite disappointed” after failing to pull her desired toy from that first Pucky the Feast blind box, but added that this uncertainty was part of the fun.

Beyond the excitement of this pursuit, she has also found a sense of community among fellow Pop Mart collectors. She described the hobby as having evolved into more of a social pastime.

“Over time, it became less about the toys and more about its social aspects,” she said.

“With friends and colleagues, it became a discussion topic. And within the Pop Mart community, there are also regulars who teach you tips on how to find your desired blind box figurine. You make new friends and learn from one another.”

Such unwavering demand from fans have made Labubu a global phenomenon.

In August this year, Pop Mart reported an almost 400 per cent surge in net profit for the first half of the financial year, with revenue leaping 204.4 per cent year-on-year to 13.88 billion yuan (US$1.95 billion).

Yet, as successful as Pop Mart has become, it also remains polarising, as opinions on the toys it sells can be sharply divisive.

Many observers who are not swept up by the Labubu fever find themselves baffled: What exactly is driving this obsession with toys that are not even conventionally cute, to the point where collectors are willing to jostle or even turn violent over them?

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/big-read/pop-mart-labubu-worldwide-craze-5354541