Have you heard of Labubu?
Last month, two Chinese customs agents revealed, before the television chambers, their last seizure, not drugs or weapons, but packed packed bags.
The hiding place on display included dozens of Pop Mart – the cute and tooth -filled figures that caused buying frenzy around the world and, in some cases, fights between fans at the door of stores that sell them.
Even in China, where pop Mart is headquartered and where most of its toys are manufactured, people are fighting to get their hands on their toils. When CNN recently visited a Pop Mart store in a busy shopping center in downtown Beijing, the Labubu dolls were nowhere to the shelves, leaving only samples in glass cabinets.
The Labues are usually “exhausted in seconds” when they are released, told CNN Evelyn Lin, long-standing pop Mart.
“It’s almost impossible to get a toilet through the official channels,” he added.
Instead, fans are resorting to unusual sources – including purchase to smugglers.
A total of 462 Pop Mart toys have been confiscated by customs authorities throughout China since April, according to a CNN compilation of several official publications.
The details and images of a seizure were published by China’s customs administration on social networks, which stated that the toys were intended “for profit through resale” and were seized in accordance with the law.
The publication does not mention whether any of the Labubu smugglers has suffered other legal consequences.
Labubu is a creation of Hong Kong -born illustrator Ksing Lung and has been discreetly built a faithful audience since its debut in 2015.
But in recent months, the creature with a rabbit body and gun face – equally grotesque and lovely – has increased its popularity. Stars like Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Lisa of the K-Pop Blackpink group used Labus as lucky amulets, and the toys were even seen in Paris Fashion Week this year.
According to Chinese state news agency Cover News, a blind box of the latest LABUBU 3.0 series, whose original price was 584 yuan (about 71 euros), has been sold for between 1,000 (close to 122 euros) and 2,000 yuan (about 244 euros) in the second hand market.
Pop Mart’s annual results show that the company’s global gross profit increased more than 125% last year, while its revenues in mainland China reached more than $ 1.09 billion, more than 34% than in 2023.
But buying dealers leads to risks. Kate Yang, a Beijing resident and a labubu enthusiast, told CNN that her last two purchases to resellers were eventually false.
“Since they are not available on official platforms, if we are in a hurry to buy a gift for a friend, we could not buy the most popular in time,” said Kate Yang.
“You can only pay more to buy on resale platforms.”
Marc Stewart and CNN Martha Zhou contributed to their reports
