Trading standards warning over fake Labubu dolls in Ayrshire
Trading standards have issued a warning over counterfeit Pop Mart Labubu dolls being sold in Ayrshire.
Originally designed by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, the Labubu dolls have exploded in popularity and have been spotted with celebrities like Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Cher.
A flood of counterfeits have hit the market and Ayrshire residents are being warned to be cautious if purchase the product.
A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Trading Standards said: "We are aware of concerns of safety and counterfeiting of the popular Labubu Dolls.
"Please take care if you are purchasing Labubu Dolls.
"Check the goods and their packaging carefully. There should be age warnings and safety symbols such as a CE or UKCA mark.
"Check for spelling mistakes or poor quality labelling; this usually indicates they are counterfeit and therefore very likely to be unsafe!
"Buy from reputable sellers, so you can return the dolls if required.
"Check the price. Be suspicious if it is a lot cheaper than you would expect. Everyone loves a bargain but not at the expense of the safety of the recipient."
Part of Pop Mart's The Monsters series, Labubu and its was originally released in 2015 as a series of picture books by Kasing Lung.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Rage at Kneecap but not Chris Brown is Scotland's national shame
I can't actually fathom the cognitive dissonance involved in paying hard-earned money to bolster the ego of a violent serial abuser or unironically tagging 'breezy bowl' on your Instagram story without even a hint of shame just because he released a few good songs more than a decade ago. Our society is seriously unwell. Brown is not the victim of a smear campaign. He's not 'misunderstood'. He's not a reformed man making a comeback, nor is he a 'bad boy' for the therapy-avoidant to pine after; he is a violent thug with a long, well-documented and disturbing history of violence – primarily against women. We all saw the pictures of Rihanna back in 2009, beaten so badly she was almost unrecognisable. He punched her, bit her, strangled her and left her on the side of the road. The only thing that spared 19-year-old Brown from prison at the time was the plea deal he agreed to. That in itself should have been the end of him, he should never have worked in the music industry for another day in his life – but it wasn't. He did that to Rihanna – one of the most famous, powerful women in the entire world – and his career survived. It was only the beginning of a campaign of abuse that now spans the last 16 years. He smashed a window at Good Morning America when asked about the Rihanna incident. He physically attacked rapper Frank Ocean over a parking space. He was kicked out of rehab – a facility he was in by way of court order for anger management purposes – for throwing a rock through his own mum's car window. In 2016, he was arrested for pulling a gun on a woman after just months earlier being accused of beating a separate woman and taking her phone. In 2017, his ex-partner, Karrueche Tran, filed a restraining order detailing how he had physically beat her, threatened to kill her and went on to stalk her for years after they had parted ways. He has been sued multiple times for assault. A campaign of abuse spanning fans, employees, personal relationships – this isn't a smear campaign, it's a pattern. READ MORE: Arrests after brawl erupts at Chris Brown's Glasgow gig In 2018, he was sued for a violent sexual assault and settled the case privately. More recently, a 2022 lawsuit accused him of drugging and raping a woman on a yacht in Miami and in 2023 he was sued once again for allegedly hitting a man with a tequila bottle until he became unconscious – he was only just granted conditional bail for this incident in the last couple of weeks. This isn't reform, this is a pattern and it is one of a violent abuser who uses his power and resources to evade the consequences. And it's the fault, at least in small part, to the people who queued up to listen to him sing Forever because they couldn't resist the nostalgia. I grew up in the Chris Brown era. At one time I would have called myself a fan – I loved his early music. But since when did a few good songs supersede our fundamental morals? Or is it just that they're so flimsy we can pause them when the allure of nostalgia comes knocking and re-employ them afterwards? If it's the latter, then those morals never existed in the first place. Chris Brown is currently touring in the UK, while out on conditional bail (Image: PA) The fact that the majority of the crowd was women makes this even harder to swallow. Our subordination to misogyny and our refusal to deny it power is damaging to no one but our own gender. In fact, it depends on our subordination to thrive – and thriving it is. Brown's career should have ended in 2009. Failing that, it should have ended almost every year since with each passing allegation. Instead, he's selling out our national stadium, and that of other countries, to a baying audience of adoring fans as though the people he hurt don't matter. And what of the message this sends to survivors? If your abuser is famous enough, rich enough, talented enough, then your pain doesn't matter? If abuse can be excused for the rich and famous, it can be excused for the everyday person too. This isn't just about Brown. It's about a wider culture that rewards powerful men for being predators, and teaches young men that violating women and exuding rage will serve you well in life. Every time you stream one of Brown's songs, or buy tickets for his embarrassment of a tour or even share it on your social media, you're telling survivors, particularly those in your own life, that their abuse is forgettable and forgivable. It's not. READ MORE: David Pratt: In a dangerous era journalism needs to show some backbone again Brown won't notice you were at Hampden. He doesn't know your name, and he doesn't care that you like his music. But the women in your life who have survived abuse or lived in fear of a man like him do. They will see your inability to label it a dealbreaker, and what they will take from it is that you don't think abuse of this kind is important enough to merit real consequences. You won't even sacrifice a night of noughties music to stand up to it. That at the end of the day, their pain is a footnote to your entertainment. I'm also not saying that people can't change. I believe in rehabilitation. I believe in redemption. But Brown has never truly shown an interest in either. Not once has he owned up to the full extent of what he's perpetrated. Instead, he's doubled down, victim-blamed and continued to emulate violence and chaos time and time again. This is who he is, whether he's talented or not doesn't matter. 'Breezy Bowl' was a national embarrassment. Scotland prides itself internationally on being progressive and feminist, yet we rolled out the red carpet for a man of his nature and with his history. And not even a month after our First Minister said that Kneecap shouldn't perform at TRNSMT. So, we draw the line at anti-genocide campaigns but not at campaigns of violent, misogynistic abuse? We need to give our heads a wobble. I don't think it's possible to separate the art from the artist. The artist is the art, whether we like it or not. It might not always be a comfortable realisation, but realistically, not being able to dance to a song you liked 15 years ago is hardly a sacrifice in the face of what Brown's victims have endured. If we want to be the kind of country we say we are, we need to do far better than this.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Pregnant Rihanna covers up her baby bump in a baggy black jumper as she steps out in casual ensemble in Paris
Pregnant Rihanna covered up her baby bump in a baggy black jumper as she stepped out in Paris on Wednesday night. The singer, 37, touched down in the French capital last Friday to support her beau A$AP Rocky, 36, at the Dior show during Paris Fashion Week. And this week she made a casually chic entrance to the Dior boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, rocking oversized shades, a black hoodie, and pinstripe pyjama pants. With her signature yellow tote in hand, the fashion mogul effortlessly turned a casual look into a style win. The outing comes after A$AP appeared to accidentally reveal the gender of their third child while attending the world premiere of her film Smurfs held at Mont des Arts in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday. When ET 's Kevin Frazier asked the 36-year-old rapper 'Is that the girl you've been waiting for' he immediately replied: 'It is, man, it is.' Feeling cornered, A$AP (born Rakim Athelaston Mayers) then held up a plush Smurfette doll and redirected: 'Right here, you know what I'm saying? Right here.' Over on ET's official Instagram account, fans went wild with user @aysenuurkc exclaiming: 'It's [a] girl!' 'He definitely gave it away,' Instagram user @khadija_sufi laughed. 'How cutely he promoted the movie and showed his love for her!' Instagram user @fashionistaera21 gushed. 'That's a real man supporting his girl.' Instagram user @hot_cheetos_0001 commented: 'Put a ring on it. Do it the right way.' 'He needs to marry her,' Instagram user @chibiapril0412 agreed. When Frazier asked the expecting 36-year-old the same exact question, she smiled coyly and replied: 'Let's see if it's a could be a Papa Smurf. Who knows?' Riri (born Robyn Fenty) did confirm that the couple would give their next child a name that begins with R: 'That's the one thing me and Rocky don't fight over.' When asked how many more children they planned on having, the two-time Grammy nominee joked: 'We [are] going to be like the Wayans' family, you know? Yeah, I mean, love is beautiful and it's just [about] spreading it.' The nine-time Grammy winner and A$AP Rocky already welcomed two sons - RZA Athelston Mayers, 3; and Riot Rose Mayers, 22 months - during their five-year relationship and she hasn't been shy in the past over her dream of having a daughter. But the power couple - who share matching 1988 tattoos to mark their birth year - originally met in 2011 when she first enlisted him to rap on her song Cockiness (Love It). A$AP Rocky was facing up to eight years in prison until February 18 when a jury found him not guilty of two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm stemming from a 2021 shooting of his longtime friend A$AP Relli (born Terell Ephron). The AWGE founder's late Bajan father reportedly went to prison when he was only 12, and he spent his teen years moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister.
The National
16 hours ago
- The National
Warning issued over 'dangerous' fake Labubu dolls seized in Aberdeen
The elf-like creatures from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart are the latest craze in collectibles and have gone viral on social media. The toy's popularity soared last year after K-Pop star Lisa from girl group Blackpink shared a photo of herself with one, with other celebrities like Rihanna and Dua Lipa also posing with them. However, officials in Aberdeen are warning consumers and businesses to be alert, following the seizure of 'counterfeit and potentially dangerous' versions of the toys found in shops in the city. READ MORE: Essential repairs begin on historic 600-year-old castle on Scottish island Toys seized from four premises in the Granite City were found to have loose parts, posing a choking hazard to young children. They also did not have the required safety labelling. East Ayrshire Trading Standards also issued a warning on Tuesday, saying it was 'aware of concerns of safety and counterfeiting'. (Image: Norman Adams) Trading standards manager Graeme Paton said: 'Following the discovery of counterfeit toys, we want to alert consumers and particularly parents to be extra vigilant. 'These counterfeit toys can seem like a bargain compared with trying to source the genuine toy, especially when they are a much-sought-after item, but they are potentially dangerous.' He added: 'Counterfeit toys can potentially pose significant dangers to young children such as chemical exposure and choking hazards. 'These products routinely lack proper safety testing and we encourage anyone concerned about the safety of toys they've purchased to get in touch with us via Consumer Advice Scotland.' Parents are being urged to check the toys' packaging carefully for CE or UKCA mark and the name and address of the supplier in the UK or EU to show that the product complies with safety regulations. (Image: Norman Adams) Most will have warnings and instructions to ensure their safe use. What are Labubu dolls? Labubu was created by designer Kasing Lung, and is also the name of the main character in 'The Monsters' toy series. The elf-like creatures have plastic faces that are attached to plush bodies. The doll's signature look of pointy ears, big eyes, and a mischievous grin with nine teeth has divided people on social media, with some claiming they are cute while others say they are simply a little odd.
