Labubu Hunting? Some Chicagoans Are Spanding Hundreds to Snag The Viral Monster Dolls – ryan

Penny Shack’s Obsession With the Vinyl-Faced Labubu Monster Dolls Started AFTER AFTER 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 LABUBUBU 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 Toys-With their Mischievous, Sharp-Toothed Grins-Have Global Pop Culture Sensations, and the Hard-to-Come-By toys are more like COLILETIBLES THAN KUIRKY YOU ATTACH TO ATTACH.

Their populariy has boomed in chicago and created a high-stakes resale industry, along with a secondary market for Businesses like a chinatown shop selling and Accessories and a Mount-Based Ensertainment Company A labubu mascot at kids’ parties. IT’S ALSO GIVE RISE TO SCAMS Involving Counterfeit versions of the Toys.

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 Personalization Her Labubus – One Doll’s Eyes Were Painted Over With Green Nail Polish, and Its Teeth Have Tiny gemstones to match her own gem.

She’s tapped her tachnician to Help.

“My Lash Tech, She Think the Labubus Are Cute,” Madison Said. “So i got her into it, and i asked her if shea 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 were inspired by Nordic Mythology.

Lung licensed the Characters to Chinese Toy Company Pop Mart 2019, and the Brand Created a Product Line Called The Monsters. Gained populariy among toy collectors and are sold in a blind box, Packaging that hids the Item Until the Purchaser opens the box. There’s the Also a Chance to Unbox a Rare “Secret” Labubu.

The Dolls Gained Populary in the US Last Year after Blackpink Singer Lisa Shared Her “Secret Obsession” with Pop Mart Toys in a Now-Viral Interview with Vanity Fair.

Labubus have synce been at Paris Fashion Week and Hanging off the purses of Celebrities like Rihanna and Lady Gaga – 35th ward ald. Anthony Quezada 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 Said 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 announched plans this past week to launch a mini labubu that can be attailed 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 in all sorts of different action,” Booth said.

‘Like gambling’

Despite Laubu Displays at Pop Mart Stoles, Including in the Chicago Area, Its Rare for Customers to Have the Opportunity to Purchase. Some have found success with unequected online restores and scheduled drops through Pop Mart’s Mobile App, but the Products offen SELL OUT WITH SECONDS.

“The Surprise Aspect of Buying a Labubu, not knowing which one you’ll get, is like gambling. Combining scarcity with a lottery feed – (it) a recipe for the trend to take off,” Drenten Said.

Labubus typically retail for $ 27.99. But Mary Shoppers pay more 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 offten 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 Beg Searching for Another ID to Resell, which Can Go For More than $ 500.

AFTER BUYING AND ARSElling Doses of Labubus, Shack Told the Chicago Sun-Times She’s Done.

“It was the thrill of opening boxes and being like, ‘is this?’” She Said. “So it was fun for a while. But i’m done. I had my fun, and i’ll out it. I like the dopamine hit.

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 OFFS HANDS. She found a Secret in that Batch.

“So i’m Clearly back selling I say,” she said.

Labubu versus lafufu

As the populariy of labubus continues to rise, counterfeit versions, Called Lafufus, have been popping up.

The Knockoff versions range in Quality from Nearly Identical Remakes to Obivious Faks with Key Features of the Authentic Doll. For example, a lafufu is know to have eiter 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 LABUBUBUS HAVE BECOME SO RAMPANT THE BETTER BUSINESS BURRAU HAS TAKE NOTICE. The Bureau’s Scam Tracker Had 87 Reports of Labubu Scams As of Aug. 11.

“It seames like it is trying to get their hands on the latest trending toy, the labubu,” The bbb Said. “Scammers Are Taching Notice and Seling Counterfeit Merchandise or Creating Fake Websites with No Real Products to sell.”

The US CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFFEY COMMISSION ISSUED A WARNING MONDAY THAT FAKE VERSIONS CAN 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 story 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 Tabilos, 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.

“Out of here in chinatown, a lot of Storys Seling I say Will Say, ‘Oh, Its Labubu.’ And thatn they will up the price.

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 with Michele Beltran bought Her First One in April, and It LED to Michael Beltran Buying More than 40, then reselling some of me.

“TRIED TO HELP HER OUT, AND THEN IT BECAME AN ADDICTION FOR ME,” Michael Beltran Said.

A FUT LIKE BEANIE BABIES?

Oak Lawn Resident John Natividad, 40, Said He Ouns 25 Labubus. He’s Created a Labubu Vest that wore to chicago’s pride parade in june.

“I’m a gay man, and we always struggle for Acceptance from Society,” he Said. “Wen it Comes to the Labubus, i see They’re Different and Unique, and they’re love 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 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 MAKING THE ROUNDS AT 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 ITE’S A NEWER CHARACTER FOR US, WE Expect to Keep Growing As More Families About it,” A Company Spokesperson Said.

As for the Labubus’ Future, Booth and Drenten Said the May Go The Way of Beanie Babies, Stuffed toys that we are 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 there is there a scarcity of saying, and it’s scarcity plus desire.”

Booth Said there will always be popular Collectibles and trends like labs.

“My sense tells with that is is a phenomenon that will will die out,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to be used labubus as currency after the apocalyps.”