Labubu Figurine Sold for ₹1.28 Crore at Beijing Auction House

A Beijing auction house has reportedly sold a human-sized Labubu figure for 1.08 million Yuan ($150,275.51) which equals more than ₹1.2 crore on Tuesday, the value which set a new record for the "blind box" toy is in transition from a commodity of frenzy to bona fide collectible.

Labubu is a collectible plush toy and figurine based on a character from The Monsters series by Hong Kong designer Kasing Lung, and it is marketed by Pop Mart.

What is Labubu?

Labubu are toothy monster figurines which are primarily sold by China toy company Pop Mart have been in the midst of a global frenzy in one year time period.

In 2019, Lung agreed for Labubu to be sold by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company which markets collectable figurines that are most often sold in "blind boxes".

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The costliest bid

At the Beijing auction, the highest grossing item, a mint green, 131 cm (4.3-foot tall Labubu figure received multiple bids before it sold for 1.08 million Yuan (₹1.28 crore, or $150,275.51). It is the only one in the world, according to the auctioneer who spoke to Reuters.

A set of three Labubu figurines, approximately 40 cm tall, made of PVC material, sold for 510,000 Yuan (₹60.76 lakh or $7,265.30).

The set was from a series called "Three Wise Labubu". The item was limited to 120 sets made in 2017 and another sold for HKD 203,200 (₹22.15 lakh) at Sotheby's recent Hong Kong bidding event.

About the auction event

The event was hosted by Yongle International Auction which is based in Beijing. The auctioneers were formally incorporated in 2005 and being almost 20 years old, the auction primarily specializes in modern art and jewellery, along with being their first event that was solely devoted to Labubu.

The auction had 48 Labubu lots for bidding and almost 200 bidders were registered while over a thousand made offers via the Yongle mobile app according to the auction house. Each of the offered items had a bidding start price of zero and raised total of 3.73 million Yuan (over ₹4 Cr).

What are blind boxes?

Produced by Popmart, blind boxes are a mystery box type of product which contains collectible figurines and collectible products as part of a larger series.

A purchaser of a blind box toy does not know exactly which design of the product they are going to receive until it is opened. The retailing prices of Labubu blind box toys at Pop Mart's stores start at approximately 50 Yuan (₹595).

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What fueled the ‘Labubu craze’?

It was Lisa of Korean pop music group Blackpink who is largely credited with triggering the craze for Labubu in the first place. After being photographed with her own Labubu figurine, she gushed about the doll in interviews and on online posts, inspiring other celebrities to follow suit. In May, British football star David Beckham posted to Instagram a photo of his Labubu doll attached to a bag.

Since then, Indian celebrities like Twinkle Khanna, Ananya Panday, Sharvari Wagh and international stars like Rihanna and Dua Lipa have also displayed their Labubu figurines, so whatever potential unease there might have been has dissipated.

One Yongle auction bidder, a restaurant owner who abbreviated her surname as Du, went home empty handed, after wanting limit herself to a maximum of just 20,000 Yuan when the figurine sold for a whopping 1.08 million Yuan.

"My child likes it so every time when Labubu released new products we will buy one or two items. It is hard to explain its popularity but it must have moved this generation," she told Reuters.

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