The popularity of Pop Mart’s Labubu plush dolls shows no signs of abating, with the collectible toy leading to scenes of frenzy in mainland China and South Korea in recent days.
According to multiple media reports, Chinese toy giant Pop Mart had to shut down its newly inaugurated store in Hangzhou’s Xixi Tian Street yesterday after only two hours of operation due to customer dissatisfaction over a group of scalpers.
The reports explained that a long line of customers had been waiting for hours to get their hands on the blind boxes containing the Labubu toys. When the store opened its doors, however, a group of scalpers rushed in to grab the merchandise, resulting in a chaotic scene, with customers expressing discontent.
Videos that were taken at yesterday’s opening showed a chaotic scene with dozens of customers waiting outside and one man calling for the staff to let the customers in as they had “lined up for four hours.”
One shopping centre worker cited by Chinese language media said that the complex normally opened at 10 am, but adjusted its starting hour to 9:00 am in light of the new Pop Mart’s opening and the large number of people who braved the rain to line up outside the store.
[See more: The new Labubu Wacky Mart series is about to hit the shelves in Macao]
Pop Mart stores outside of China have also been dealing with safety incidents stemming from the sale of the Labubu dolls. In a statement issued on Instagram late last week, Pop Mart Korea said that its stores would “temporarily suspend the offlines sales” of its Labubu line of toys “due to concerns raised over potential safety incidents at offline sales locations.”
A similar notice was issued by Pop Mart UK on 20 May, with the company announcing that it had suspended sale of all Labubu toys across all UK stores “until further notice” due to safety concerns. A follow-up statement published last week, however, stated that the dolls would be made available “at the end of this month.”
The Labubu craze has also sparked various crime cases, including one in Singapore in which a family of three stole the Labubu toys housed in a claw machine. Similarly, burglars in California broke into a makeup store in an attempt to steal the much sought after dolls.
The enthusiasm over the Labubu toys has meant that the toys are now fetching skyhigh resale prices, with the 3.0 series hitting a value as high as 2,000 yuan.
Created by Hong Kong artist, Kasing Lung, the Labubu dolls have attracted a strong following due to their peculiar design, collectability, and endorsement from celebrities.
