This $30 Labubu doll became an international status symbol—it brought in $423 million for its company last year

CNBC

a day ago

It was a sunny Thursday evening in New York's Washington Square Park. People gathered there for one reason, and one reason only: a Labubu fashion show.
On June 12, Labubu lovers strutted down the sidewalks with the tiny toy monsters clipped to their purses, backpacks, beltloops — even their dogs' harnesses. The model with the best flair won a new toy and, naturally, a purse to hang it on.
The evening provided a glimpse into a seemingly sudden worldwide obsession with the blind-box stuffed animal toy, which retails for about $30 and is sold by Chinese collectible company Pop Mart. A Labubu is "a small monster with high, pointed ears, serrated teeth" and a "mischievous" smile, according to Pop Mart's website.
Pop Mart sells hundreds of different versions of Labubu — varying in color and level of rarity — and fans don't know which one they've purchased until unboxing it, much like a sealed pack of baseball cards. More than 1 million TikTok videos mention the eerie little monsters, and they often sell out in minutes.Fans range from adult fashionistas and toy collectors to parents buying the oddly creepy dolls for their toddlers. They may line up at Pop Mart stores and vending machines for hours, even traveling overseas to get their hands on one. Some Labubus go for hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on resale marketplaces like StockX or eBay.
Pop Mart brought in about 13.04 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in 2024 global revenue, according to the company's most recent annual results announcement. That included the equivalent of approximately $460 million in profits, the announcement said.
Roughly $423 million of the company's global revenue came from Labubu dolls alone, says Emily Brough, Pop Mart's head of intellectual property licensing for the Americas. That's a 729% increase from 2023, she adds.
"We've seen an incredible growth in revenue and interest across all of our IP," says Brough. "Labubu certainly hit astronomical numbers last year."
Here's how Labubu went from a simple collectible toy to a viral, money-making sensation.
Pop Mart was founded in 2010 as a small variety shop in Beijing, China. Its founder, Wang Ning — now 38 — had a knack for retail as an advertising student in college, where he'd sell accessories to his classmates, according to Bloomberg.
The business grew steadily, opening another retail store at a mall in 2011 and an online store in 2016. Pop Mart regularly partnered with artists to design and create different toys and figurines, and in 2019, it struck such a deal with artist Kasing Lung, who illustrated a picture book series called "The Monsters."
Labubu is a character from "The Monsters," and Pop Mart's first wave of Labubu dolls "broke the [business'] sales record in the art toy category," according to the company's website. A year later, Pop Mart started trading publicly in Hong Kong at a $6.9 billion valuation, putting the company within range of international toymakers like Mattel and Hasbro.
In 2023, Pop Mart started selling versions of Labubus with keyrings attached to them. Then, in April 2024, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, member of the K-Pop band Blackpink, was spotted with a Labubu on her purse as a bag charm.
She unknowingly started a frenzy, as people flocked to get their own monster toy accessory — quickly turning Pop Mart's dolls into a fashion accessory and symbol of social status. Celebrities like Lizzo and billionaire Rihanna put Labubus on their own purses, further popularizing the toy.
People customize their dolls, giving them hats, "designer" outfits, sunglasses and their own purses. Some people even put real tattoos on their Labubus' faces. Pop Mart's market cap is now $43.28 billion, as of Monday afternoon — far outpacing Mattel's $6.44 billion and Hasbro's $10.63 billion.
The vast majority of Pop Mart's revenue comes from Asia — $1.6 billion in 2024, including $1.1 billion from mainland China alone. Still, Labubus now have hundreds of thousands of fans across the world, including 145,000 "Monsters" in Reddit's Labubu community, for example.
Pop Mart's 500-plus stores worldwide include more than 90 retail locations in the United States, including vending machines, according to its website. The company's success has pushed Ning's estimated net worth to $21.6 billion, says Forbes.
Some Labubu fans say their affection for the plush monsters goes well beyond celebrity influence: They love the unique-looking toys, the personalities Lung created for them and the thrill of trying to get a specific Labubu for their collections.
Pop Mart's limited supply has reportedly led to customers fighting over Labubus. Rising resale prices have created a market for knockoff Labubus, known as "Lafufus," on platforms like Amazon and AliExpress.
Fashion and pop culture trends don't tend to last forever, meaning Labubu dolls could fade in popularity over time. For now, Pop Mart plans to keep expanding internationally — taking advantage of the craze while it exists — and growing its roster of artists to create and sell more characters, says Brough.
"Pop Mart has been around for 15 years and we are really building a brand for longevity," she says. "As we continue to diversify our artists' portfolio and diversify the ways that people can really interact with our characters, we will continue our mission to light up passion and bring joy for years to come."
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