From a distance, the fluffy figures on Ottilie Vaughan’s bag look like children’s toys.
Get a little closer and you’ll spot the sharp-toothed grins and intense expressions that mark them as something altogether different: a little “monster” named Labubu.
Designed by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung and sold by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, Labubu is the latest viral obsession Gen Zs and Millennials can’t get enough of.
The most popular toys are the keychain size, which typically retail for $32 at Pop Mart but can go for more than $100 on some resale sites because they’re so hard to get.
Massive lines form outside Pop Mart stores before they even open when new Labubu stock is due in, the online store is almost always sold out of the toys, and customers must adhere to a strict purchase limit to limit resale.
And Australians who manage to get their hands on one of the “creepy” toys won’t even know which one they’ve purchased until they open it, as Labubus are sold in a blind box format.
Each one comes sealed in a box that could contain one of several “normal” versions of the toy or a very rare “special” version, which are coveted among collectors.
The blind box toy market is growing and its global value was estimated to be more than $21 billion in 2024, according to Cognitive Market Research.
The Australian market alone made up more than $260 million of that figure, suggesting that Aussies are more than willing to spend their hard-earned cash on the collectibles.
Videos of shoppers “unboxing” the toys can amass hundreds of thousands of views on social media, where 23-year-old Vaughan first discovered Labubus late last year.
She first spotted the toys on the handbags of fashion influencers, K-pop stars, and celebrities, then videos of the little monsters started popping up on her TikTok For You Page.
There are currently more than 1.2 million posts with the hashtag #labubu on the app and after watching just a fraction of them, Vaughan decided she “needed” a Labubu too.
She just had to find one.
“I went looking for them all around Sydney city [but] I had no luck,” she told 9news.com.au.
“I wasn’t keen on buying second-hand, it’s not as fun and also can be so expensive.”
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There’s also no guarantee that resold or second-hand Labubus are legitimate and fake toys – Lafufus, as they’re sometimes called by fans – are common.
Local collectors reported that imitation Labubus were being sold at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year, where local influencer Annie Nguyen recorded footage of what she claimed was a stall selling fake collectibles.
Two toys purchased at the stall for $35 each and sighted by 9news.com.au appeared to be imitation Labubus and featured details that didn’t match the authentic product.
Vaughan’s hunt for an elusive Labubu finally came to an end more than 6600km away in Malaysia, where she bought two for about $40 each from a store in Kuala Lumpur while on holiday.
“I couldn’t resist,” she said.
“They’re hard to get, so even if you don’t have a lot of money, if you can find one it feels necessary to buy.”
And she’s not the only Australian who feels that way.
Pop Mart, which is known for selling Labubu and other collectable blind box toys, has exploded across the country in the almost four years since it first arrived in Australia.
Its Australian website and online store went live in October 2021, followed by a robo-shop (a retail location stocked with vending machines) in November and a pop-up store in December.
The first physical store opened in August 2022 and less than three years later, Pop Mart boasts 11 retail stores and 19 robo shops across the country.
Selling everything from $20 Labubu phone charms to $1500 collectible statues of the monster, Pop Mart has done well by cashing in on the collectible craze Down Under.
And Vaughan doesn’t see it dying down any time soon either, adding that she’s not surprised young Australians are spending their cash on the viral toys even in a cost-of-living crisis.
“Everyone has given up on saving lots of money so we just buy trinkets for fun,” she said.
With three Labubus currently adorning her favourite bag, the 23-year-old isn’t actively searching for the toys anymore but hasn’t ruled out buying more.
“If I saw one in a vending machine, I would probably buy it.”
