Labubu mania: The dark side of cute

Labubu has taken the world by storm. The cheeky character from blind box giant Pop Mart went viral after K-pop star Lisa from Blackpink posted photos of a Labubu charm on her bag in April.

Inspired by Nordic folklore, Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung created the character in 2015 as part of a series called The Monsters. The story series features Labubu along with other characters like Zimomo, Tycoco, Spooky and Pato.

After celebrities were seen toting it, everyone else also wanted to have the fluffy doll hanging on their bags. The currently sold-out Labubu blind box retails for $24.90 on the Pop Mart website, but resellers are charging up to $65 for the plushie keychain.

Collectors are willing to pay the exorbitant price to get their hands on the doll. However, some in Singapore have chosen to go to more extreme – and illegal – lengths to get a Labubu of their own.

Sticky fingers

At around 1.30pm on Oct 16, a girl was allegedly caught on camera swiftly grabbing a first-generation Labubu Macaron doll off a shelf at a Plaza Singapura claw machine store, Clawpitiam.

A video from the store’s CCTV footage posted on Clawpitiam’s Facebook account shows a girl taking the doll off the shelf and walking out of the store without making payment. 

The owner said he posted the clip in hopes that she would return the doll to the shop. The now discontinued doll had a price tag of $20, but may have been worth about $50 on the resale market at the time it was taken. 

“She looks quite young and deserves a chance to turn over a new leaf. I hope she can return the product and we won’t pursue the matter further,” the owner told Lianhe Zaobao.

The Facebook post has since been deleted, and it is unclear if the alleged thief has returned the doll to the store.

Family bonding

On Oct 27, three Labubu dolls valued at a total of $100.70 were allegedly stolen from the claw machine store, Dr Clawtopus, at Sim Lim Square. The suspects appeared to be a man and two children.

CCTV footage shows a man fidgeting with one of the claw machines in the store as two kids, presumed to be his children, look on. After he manages to unlock the door to the machine, he appears to push three Labubu dolls into the prize chute.

Online site Mothership reported that the three dolls that went missing were a Halloween Labubu worth $37.90, a Pronounce Labubu worth $37.90, and a Have a Seat Labubu worth $24.90.

The store owner posted a screenshot from the CCTV footage of the group on the store’s Instagram page on the same day, appealing to them to return the three dolls.

The post has since been deleted, and a police report made.

A three-man heist

Five Labubu dolls worth a total of about $300 were allegedly stolen from a claw machine outside a pet shop at Block 930 Yishun Central 1 on Nov 18.

Mr Derrick He, the owner of Little Pets Kingdom and the claw machine, noticed that the wires above the machine were disconnected from a beam on the ceiling when he arrived at work at 9.30am. He realised later that five of the 11 Tasty Macarons Labubu dolls in the machine were missing.

Footage from a CCTV outside the store shows the three boys trying their luck at winning the dolls at around 6.30am that same day. After several failed attempts, two of them are seen grabbing the machine from opposite sides and trying to tilt it.

In another attempt at getting the dolls, the two boys are seen tilting the machine on one side, while the third boy lifts the machine slightly off the ground. By this time, about half an hour has gone by.

The trio appear to almost lay the machine on its side on the ground before standing it upright again. One of the boys can be seen sticking his hand into the chute the prizes drop out from.

Police investigations are ongoing.