Trends come and go, and one that’s taken the world by storm has made its way to Virginia. Labubus are designed loosely after mythical, Nordic monsters the Chinese-born creator embraced after moving to the Netherlands. But the unique sales method used to distribute Labubus may be playing a part in their success.
You’ve probably seen them in public, or you’ve seen the memes online, or maybe you’ve heard their theme song coming from your kid’s phone…
Labubus are fuzzy, smiley, kind of scary looking monsters that you can hang from your bag or keys. Created by European artist Kasing Lung, they’ve become the hot new item this summer, and that demand has stretched into Richmond. The slow release of collections, sold exclusively through a unique online method, has made the dolls rare and led to local resale efforts that mimic the online store’s mysteries.
Paxton Chapman works at Scoreboard, a collectable shop in downtown Richmond. He said he got his first batch of Labubus about six months ago. A long-time participant in fad resale items like sneakers or trading cards, he said the dolls are nicer than one might think.
“They feel great. The texture of the fur is very nice, the vinyl is well made," Chapman told Radio IQ. "They’re a very cute little thing.”
Chapman has used both the official site, Pop Mart, to buy them, and he’s used resellers, too. But in order to buy them from the official site you have to play a kind of game – opening boxes, competing with others to open them first.
Adam Sexton got his few first Labubus back in the spring and the rush he got from that game inspired him to come back for more.
“Knowing I could get them, I don’t know, was the thrill of getting them and then reselling them," Sexton said. "So, I think I ended up buying almost 30, 32 of them?”
Asked if there was a gambling element to the process he admitted: “I do love casinos…”
But even resellers are taking part in the game-like sale method. Laura Paster has three Labubus. She got them from resellers. Ironically, she tried to buy a specific one at first but got a different, rarer one - and then the second time she bought two so-called “blind boxes” from a reseller.
“And it was like my heart was racing. Cause there was one I didn’t want, and I was like ‘if I get this one, I’m gonna throw a fit'.” Paster said.
You can hear the excitement in her voice in this unboxing video she shared.
“This is fun… ok… *big gasp* I GOT A SESAME BEAN! SHE’S SO CUTE”
But does the Labubu fad mean something larger? I heard plenty of theories - including a recession indicator as older dolls go for higher prices online. Here’s Sexton’s take:
“They're spending money on something they can horde," he said before I asked if that would amount to holding the dollar against the Labubu?
"Maybe, I don’t know," Sexton said. "The Secrets go for $200 to $400.”
For Paster, it’s been a source of jokes from her close circle of friends, but sharing in a viral trend builds connections too. Especially after she discovered a friend had printed Labubu t-shirts for a local pop up.
“She and I were just fangirling about how much we love Labubus and how much we love them and how both our boyfriends are not into them or whatever," Paster said. "And we were having so much fun, and I was like: Labubu creates community.”
Perhaps influenced by his own role in reselling, Chapman argued it was a chance to take control in these uncertain times.
“Spending money on something so quintessentially completely useless makes you feel like the world isn’t so effed up," Chapman said. "The economy isn’t in such a bad place because look I just spent $70 on this little toy.”
Lots of people messaged me when I put out a call for local Labubu stories - and notably a number of folks said they’d been scammed. But a message from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said no such scams have been reported… yet.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
