Most people know about the Labubus created by Kasing Lung. The dolls started out in a lineup by Pop Mart, known for their blind boxes, plushes, and figurines, called the “Monster” series. The Labubus Pop Mart sensation, the most craved cute creature of 2025, sparked a new trend of stuffed animal keychains. People started to place Labubus on their handbags and belts as a stylistic accessory.
Previously, Labubus were considered a luxury because they were expensive relative to typical blind boxes. Blind boxes are a collectors product as there is a mystery toy that the consumer needs to collect them all. There were also cheap knockoff Labubus, or scalpers: people who buy products from the actual store selling the product at a third-party site for a very high price. This sparked a huge consumer trend during the summer of 2025 as everyone wanted to get their hands on Labubus. However, by the end of October, Labubu was no longer the biggest trend on social media, and many people were not interested in buying them.
Pop Mart’s stocks were going down with the profits because no one was buying Labubus. Junior Dorothy Upson commented about what she thought could have led to the downfall of Labubus. “It was a trend. You see it a lot with certain trendy items of brand or type of style, it just kind of rises and falls with this really huge uprise and then people’s dopamine wears off. People lose interest.” Many consumers bought products because of influencers they saw on social media pushing Labubus. Then, influencers quickly moved on from Labubus to other products resulting in a lack of social media advertisements to sustain consumer interest.
Freshman Meave Dey-Toth owned a Labubu named Nabee. Dey-Toth regrets this purchase and thinks about “all of the good things that I could spend on a Labubu” including donations to charities and non-profit organizations helping those who are less fortunate.
Freshman Madeline Reed has a contrasting opinion and feels sad that the trend is dying down. She thought Labubus were cute, and “if you had a Labubu, everybody knew you had money to buy it.” Reed believes this is the reason that everyone began buying these stuffed animals.
Pop Mart might have the potential to be trendy again, perhaps with a new variation of keychain stuffed animals or some cute figurines. However, students had mixed views about whether Pop Mart will reach renewed popularity in the future. Upson said that popularity in the future would be on par with Labubus and probably a result of “the rise of Sunny Angels, and other blind boxes.” Dey-Toth thinks Pop Mart will keep decreasing in trendiness and she also “hopes they won’t have another trend like Labubus.” In any case, there remains a chance that another Labubus-like craze will surface.
