Labubu Mania Cools as Pop Mart Sales Slide and Collectors Move On

Ensito, a mega-fan from North Carolina, left his tech job in 2024 to make Labubu videos full-time. He travelled as far as Italy and Spain to hunt down new releases, and he has spent more than $50,000 (£37,000) building a collection of over 400 of the dolls, a figure he tells the BBC he is "embarrassed to say". He even had a dentist make a row of jagged Labubu-style teeth to wear at events. Lately, though, his posts have stalled. Videos that used to reach 10,000 views quickly now struggle to get there, and he has turned his attention to Hello Kitty and squishies.

His experience tracks a broader slide at Pop Mart, the Beijing-based company behind Labubu. It recently reported that global sales in the three months to the end of September fell by as much as 50% from a year earlier. The drop was steepest outside mainland China, with US revenue down by at least 70%. At its height, the craze made Pop Mart worth more than the US toy giants Hasbro and Mattel combined. Analysts now believe the brand is struggling to hold excitement beyond a single viral moment.

Pop Mart did not invent blind boxes, the sealed mystery packages that hold one of several possible figures, but Labubu helped spread them worldwide. Marketing professional Katelynn Carlson, who found the dolls through social media and now owns 36, says the format feels nostalgic, like opening presents as a child. One of her first dolls was a rare one, which made it more exciting. Labubu launched in 2019 and became Pop Mart's biggest line. Blind boxes often cost $15 (£11) or more, and people who missed the characters they wanted paid far more on the resale market. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Blackpink's Lisa were seen with them, queues formed, and Pop Mart temporarily pulled the toys from its UK shops after reports of customers fighting over them. One fan paid more than $150,000 for a human-sized Labubu.

Scarcity was central to the appeal. Samer El Hajjar, a marketing lecturer at the National University of Singapore, says fans bought box after box to land the version they wanted. Ashley Dudarenok of the China research firm ChoZan says that sense of exclusivity faded as Pop Mart ramped up production to meet demand. Ensito sees it the same way: he now walks into a Pop Mart and finds a whole series of Labubus on the shelf. Pop Mart has 500 shops in more than 30 countries and 2,000 vending machines, and is still worth nearly $24bn. Its shares, though, are down more than 50% from last year's peak, and El Hajjar says investors worry the success was a viral moment rather than growth built on lasting loyalty. Pop Mart declined to comment on its share price and did not respond to questions about falling sales.

Rivals are gaining. Sonny Angels, tiny unclothed cherub-like dolls, and glow-in-the-dark Smiski figurines have been selling quickly, and My Little Pony and KPop Demon Hunters now come in blind boxes too. Miniso, founded in Guangzhou, sells blind-boxed Disney and Marvel characters in more than 8,000 shops globally. Executive Vincent Huang said earlier this year that consumers are not especially concerned where a brand comes from and care more about design, value and enjoyment. Sanrio, the Hello Kitty company, posted record earnings in the year to March, and analyst Boustani suggests its enduring characters give it a clear advantage.

Pop Mart is investing to broaden the brand, with a theme park in Beijing and an announced Labubu film, steps some experts compare to Disney or Lego. Dudarenok notes, however, that Disney sells a story before it sells a toy, while Pop Mart is working in reverse. In her words, next year's real test is whether it can make people love a character without a celebrity holding it.

Collectors are adjusting. Melbourne content creator Lawrence Yu, with about 50 dolls, says his Labubu clips once drew up to a million views, but he rarely makes them now and plans to be more selective. Canada's Clara Barbero calls Labubus a "dead trend" yet is curating her collection and buying only what she expects to like for years. Hedy Khaled of Liverpool, who owns 70 Pop Mart figurines, distinguishes trend-chasers from "real fans" and says falling sales do not mean the appeal is gone. Carlson still gets excited about new releases, including a cat-themed Labubu series that is now a favourite. Whether Pop Mart can turn that devotion into lasting sales is what to watch next year.