Labubu hunting? Some Chicagoans are spending hundreds to snag the viral monster doll

Penny Shack’s obsession with the vinyl-faced Labubu monster dolls started after buying one from a friend.

“I wish I could blame my kids for this one, but I can’t,” Shack, 44, said.

After snagging her first Labubu earlier this year, the Lincoln Park resident said she’s spent thousands to track down rare versions of the toy.

“Now I feel like I can’t stop doing this. Help me,” she said.

The roughly 6-inch tall plush toy — with its mischievous, sharp-toothed grin — has become a global pop culture sensation and the hard-to-come-by toy is now more like a coveted collectible than a quirky charm you attach to a bag or clothes.

Their popularity has boomed in Chicago and created a high-stakes resale industry, along with a secondary market for businesses like a Chinatown shop selling clothing and accessories and a Mount Prospect-based entertainment company offering a Labubu mascot to appear at kids’ parties. It’s also given rise to scams involving counterfeit versions of the toy.

Tatiana Madison, 28, got her first Labubu through Facebook Marketplace, meeting the reseller outside a Target. Now, the Douglas resident has 13 dolls.

The licensed nail technician personalizes her Labubus — one doll’s eyes were painted over with green nail polish and its teeth have tiny gemstones to match her own tooth gem.

She even tapped her eyelash technician to help.

“My lash tech, she thinks the Labubus are cute,” Madison said. “So I got her into it, and I asked her if she could put some lashes on [my] Green Grape [Labubu] as well. She was down with my shenanigans.”

Nordic folklore roots

Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung first introduced Labubus in 2015 as characters in his illustrated book trilogy “The Monsters,” which was inspired by Nordic mythology.

Lung licensed the character to Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019, and the brand created a product line called The Monsters. It gained popularity among toy collectors and is sold in a blind box, packaging that hides the item until the purchaser opens the box. There’s also a chance to unbox a rare “secret” Labubu.

The dolls gained popularity in the U.S. last year after Blackpink singer Lisa shared her “secret obsession” with Pop Mart toys in a now-viral interview with Vanity Fair.

Labubus have since been seen at Paris Fashion Week and hanging off the purses of celebrities like Rihanna and Lady Gaga — even Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th) was spotted with one last month, though he said it was fake.

“From a consumer culture perspective, it’s giving adults permission to play,” said Jenna Drenten, professor of marketing at Loyola University Chicago. “Against the backdrop of everything else happening in the world right now, there’s not a lot of permission to play.”

Pop Mart says The Monsters line brought in $669.8 million in the first half of this year and accounts for 34.7% of total revenue. It also announced plans this week to launch a mini Labubu that can be attached to phones.

Collectible toys like Labubus have a long history, said Paul Booth, professor of media and pop culture at DePaul University.

“We’ve seen it in Beanie Babies. We’ve seen it in all kinds of blind boxes. We’ve seen it in all sorts of different action figures,” Booth said.

‘Like gambling’

Despite Laubu displays at Pop Mart stores, including in the Chicago area, it’s rare for customers to have the opportunity to purchase them. Some have found success with unexpected online restocks and scheduled drops through Pop Mart’s mobile app, but the products are often sold out within seconds.

“The surprise aspect of buying a Labubu, not knowing which one you’ll get, is like gambling. Combining scarcity with a lottery feeling — [it’s] a recipe for the perfect trend to take off,” Drenten said.

Labubus typically retail for $27.99. But many shoppers pay more when buying from other sources like online reseller StockX, Facebook Marketplace and eBay. The secret versions of the doll, which buyers have a 1 in 72 chance of getting, often resell for hundreds of dollars.

Shack said she has spent about $30 on each Labubu, but she’ll often buy over 20 boxes at a time. Buying in bulk has helped her snag two secret Labubus.

She first started “secret hunting” for Id, which has rainbow teeth and eyes, along with toenails painted black and is part of The Monsters’ Big Into Energy series. After getting lucky finding the doll, she “got greedy,” Shack said, and began searching for another Id to resell, which can go for more than $500.

After buying and reselling dozens of Labubus, Shack told the Sun-Times she was done.

“It was the thrill of opening boxes and being like, ‘Is this it?'” she said. “So it was fun for a while. But I’m done. I had my fun, and I’ll own it. I like the dopamine hit. I’m not ashamed to say that, but I don’t know if they’re worth it.”

A couple of days later, she shared an update. She spent $715 after a seller got in touch and asked her to take 22 boxes off his hands. She found a secret in that batch.

“So I’m clearly back selling them,” she said.

Labubu versus Lafufu

As the popularity of Labubus continue to rise, counterfeit versions, which are called Lafufus, have been popping up.

The knockoff versions range in quality from nearly identical remakes to obvious fakes without key features of the authentic doll. For example, a Lafufu is known to have either eight or 10 serrated teeth — not the nine seen on Labubus. An authentic doll also has a QR code on its tag that directs the buyer to Pop Mart’s website.

Imitation Labubus have become so rampant the Better Business Bureau has taken notice. The bureau’s Scam Tracker had 87 reports of Labubu scams as of Aug. 11.

“It seems like everyone is trying to get their hands on the latest trending toy, the Labubu,” the BBB said. “Scammers are taking notice and selling counterfeit merchandise or creating fake websites with no real products to sell.”

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning Monday that fake versions can be a deadly choking hazard for children.

Nina Vo and Ashlyn Shumaker were at the Chinatown gift shop Asian Image, where Labubu imitations were crammed in the store windows and on shelves.

“We came in just to see how ridiculous the Lafufus look,” Vo, 27, said.

Together, the friends own 15 Labubus.

Mirdon Tabbilos, 18, works at L&D Handmade. The Chinatown store sells Labubu clothing like hats, glasses and dresses. Some items feature luxury designer logos. The store also sells Lafufus and a large banner outside advertises the knockoff dolls.

“Even here in Chinatown, a lot of stores selling them will say, ‘Oh, it’s Labubu.’ And then they will up the price. But here we say they are Lafufus,” Tabbilos said.

Michele and Michael Beltran, both 35, were in town from Houston and stopped at L&D Handmade.

The couple have 25 dolls. The fascination started when Michele Beltran bought her first one in April, and it led to Michael Beltran buying more than 40 then reselling some of them.

“I tried to help her out and then it became an addiction for me,” Michael Beltran said.

A future like Beanie Babies?

Oak Lawn resident John Natividad, 40, said he owns 25 Labubus. He even created a Labubu vest that he wore to Chicago’s Pride Parade in June.

“I’m a gay man, and we always struggle for acceptance from society,” he said. “When it comes to the Labubus, I see how they’re different and unique, and they’re loved by so many.”

Labubu owners’ love of personalizing their dolls has spawned an upcoming festival. Blazed Bakery in Logan Square is hosting a Labubu Palooza on Saturday. Fans will have the opportunity to customize their Labubu with face tattoos, outfits, tooth gems, piercings, nail sets and chains.

A life-size version is even making the rounds at parties around Chicago. Mount Prospect-based entertainment company Characters Chicago recently unveiled its Labubu mascot, which made an appearance Aug. 17 at Woodfield Mall.

“We’ve already had a few inquiries, and it’s starting to make its way into parties. Since it’s a newer character for us, we expect the demand to keep growing as more families hear about it,” a company spokesperson said.

As for the Labubus future, Booth and Drenten said the dolls may go the way of Beanie Babies, stuffed toys that were hugely popular in the 1990s and marketed as a valuable investment.

“That never really manifested, partly because of how popular Beanie Babies got,” Booth said. “Things only increase in value when there’s a scarcity of them, and it’s scarcity plus desire.”

Booth said there will always be popular collectibles and trends like Labubus.

“My sense tells me that this is a phenomenon that will die out,” he said. “ I don’t think we’re going to be using Labubus as currency after the apocalypse.”