Ah, the latest *thing* – how has the Labubu all of a sudden dominated our zeitgeist? We’ve had a deep dive into the Labubu – why adults are losing their minds over buying them, how NZ has gone mad for them and the deeper reasons why we’re looking back to our childhood for future comfort.
No millennial or Gen X wants to admit it when the world outruns us. It didn’t seem that long ago when we were the ones that decided what was ‘cool’ – the stupid Spice Girl white platform sneakers my mum refused to buy me, blow-up furniture from HBK, Cabbage Patch Dolls.
All ‘of their time’, sure, but all had a use – shoes to wear, a place to sit, a genuine child’s toy.
I get a cultural moment, team – you know I’ve fallen at the Stanley Cup hurdle, I own Skims, I’m in possession of a Ring doorbell. But I have never felt my age more than last week when, while at a fancy media event, the female collective went into a TIZZ about some of the spot prizes on offer – Labubus.
My pal Sarah and I looked at each other in confusion as legit *shrieks* rang out when she won a Labubu. All of a sudden a gaggle of gals surrounded us, eyes wide in anticipation as they yelled at her to unbox her Labubu (?!) to discover what one she had won.
What the fuck was going on? We’d just seen the Labubu phenomenon up close and personal and guys, it was wild.
I’ve written a lot about Gen Z crazes that seem whack, as is my right as a tired millennial gal that, admittedly, loves to dance on the jagged and emotionally frayed line between ‘wow!’ and ‘wtf’. I’m open to new things guys, I swear.
But I don’t understand how women my age are fighting each other on TradeMe for these little mutant toys that look like they’ve been raised in a haunted forest by a broken Furby and a vengeful Gremlin.
What is a Labubu?
For all of you who haven’t come across a Labubu, they’re are vinyl figures by Pop Mart, a Chinese brand that makes ‘designer toys’ which is apparently code for ‘inexplicably expensive plastic things that make grown adults lose their grip on reality’. Somehow, said demonic Furby x Gremlin lovechild is THE hot accessory for millennial women, as well as kids, who love a zeitgeist moment (or, as I think, destroy the look of their gorgeous designer handbags by clipping these things onto the front.)
The Labubu has managed to accumulate a cult-like status on social media and in the real world – there’s countless Facebook fans groups where people swap their Labubus (you don’t know which one you’re getting until you open the box), there are oodles of posts and unboxing videos and they cause HUGE lines when they are released, and sell out in seconds. Considered a fashion trend more than a toy, they’re adorned to bags and belt loops of usually fashionable people.
They’re actually, apparently, inspired by Nordic fairy tales (?!). Their founder Kasing Lung was born in Hong Kong but moved to the Netherlands at age seven, where he became obsessed with children’s tales that especially featured elves. He wrote a book in 2015 featuring characters called Labubus, and the rest is… well, whatever the hell this is.
Are they supposed to be cute or ugly? No one knows. But… they’re kind of cuddly, but also creepy? Sure. (Cuddly and creepy could describe a LOT of the guys that used to rub up against me on the dance floor of bars, actually).
A lot of their appeal is that they straddle the line between toys and fashion (?!) and look, I’ll raise my hand here and say I could very much be in the wrong with this thinking because they have been spotted on the straps of celebs such as Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Sir David Beckham so, sure.
A rare Labubu was also just sold at auction in Beijing for $282,000 so again, I could be on my own here.
How much is a Labubu in NZ? And where can you buy a Labubu in NZ?
But weirdly, no one seems to know why these things have popped off in pop culture initially. The scarcity of them helps sure – they’re currently sold out at Pop Mart, the only place you can buy them without going to a resale site – and you buy them blind, so you don’t know which one you’re getting. There’s a one in 72 chance of getting a rare one and if that happens, you’re in the MONEY because even a basic bitch Labubu can be sold for two or three times its original value (they retail for about $59.99 – well, that’s the starting price).
Their resale value puts a Birkin to shame, with only five of the 96 Labubu-related products currently available on the Pop Mart site. Scarcity fuels value – supply and demand – with an entire Labubu currency market popping up as a result.
And, the hunt for the rare Labubu means viral social media posts of unboxings and fans showing off their scores has only poured fuel on the fire. Desire for these is so high, people are comparing desperate fans fighting each other on release days in what has been dubbed ‘the Labubu Hunger Games’ which, to me, reminds me of the seminal 90s classic Christmas movie Jingle All the Way (if you know, you know).
The world has collectively gone insane for Labubu – Pop Mart’s revenue has gone up from $40m in 2017 to $2.9 BILLION in 2024.
But… WHY have we, the adults, fallen in love with the Labubu?
I get kids absolutely frothing a Labubu. We all had our own version of a frenzied trend we just had to have – remember Care Bears, Tamagotchis, Crazy Bones, Pokémon Cards, Slap Bracelets (God I hated those). But somehow Labubus have transcended from the kids to adults. Why?
Well, the simplest answer is that the world is in a bit of a scary time, and the pressure of being an adult in 2025 is a lot. Worrying about the state of the world, cost of living and everything else that comes with being as old as we are means that hell, sometimes we just want to pop back to when life was a bit easier, and our biggest concern wasn’t climate change or the mortgage or the state of various world powers – it was whether or not you could get your hands on *the* Bratz doll you wanted so badly.
The world is hard and unyielding. Why not have something soft and malleable?
Toys for adults is actually a booming business – worth more than $2b in the UK alone. McDonald’s brought back the adult Happy Meal, complete with toy, in New Zealand last year, and plushies like Squishmallows are making their way onto the beds of grown-ass women across the world.
Dr Rebecca Ray told Body and Soul that the popularity of soft toys, in particular, amongst adults is most definitely on the rise.
“We’re more aware of global trauma than ever before and we can’t easily escape that awareness because of the internet, so there’s an increased need for comfort and nostalgia… they offer a sense of security and familiarity by tapping into those childhood feelings of finding safety in soothing objects,” she tells. “Plush toys act to have a calming influence on our nervous system, the same way that other ‘adult’ self-soothing items do, like weighted blankets and noise-cancelling headphones. They can help reduce anxiety and increase feelings of connectedness.”
Adults need emotional support too – and somehow, a Labubu can fill that gap with the nostalgia, excitement and sense of community that comes along with it.
So, after a long rant about these bloody things, am I feeling warmer and… more cuddly towards the Labubu? Sure. I still think they’re ridiculous but hell, if they make you feel like the world is a slightly softer and warmer place, then absolutely fill your boots, my queens.
Maybe just don’t dangle them on a gorgeous Celine bag!?