Beijing auction house sells Labubu figurine at whopping ₹1.28 crore
Labubu are toothy monster figurines that are mainly sold by China's toy company Pop Mart and have been at the centre of a global frenzy for the past year.
A Beijing auction house reportedly sold a human-sized Labubu figure for 1.08 million Yuan ($150,275.51) which values to more than ₹1.2 crore on Tuesday. This value has set a new record for the "blind box" toy as it makes its way from a commodity of craze to a collectible souvenir.
Labubu, a collectible plush toy and figurine based on a character from the The Monsters series by Hong Kong-based designer Kasing Lung and marketed by Pop Mart, has become hugely popular across the world.
What is Labubu?
Labubu are toothy monster figurines that are mainly sold by China's toy company Pop Mart and have been at the centre of a global frenzy for the past year.
In 2019, Lung agreed to let Labubu be sold by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company that markets collectable figurines often sold in "blind boxes".
The costliest bid
At the Beijing auction, the highest grossing item, a mint green, 131 cm (4.3 feet) tall Labubu figure, received several bids before it was sold for 1.08 million Yuan ( ₹1.28 crore). It is the only one available in the world, the auctioneer told Reuters.
A set of three Labubu figurines, about 40 cm tall and made of PVC material, were sold for 510,000 Yuan ( ₹60.76 lakh). The set belonged to a series called “Three Wise Labubu”. It was limited to a run of 120 sets in 2017 and another one sold for HKD 203,200 ₹22.15 lakh) at Sotheby's recent Hong Kong auction.
About the auction event
The event was held by Yongle International Auction in Beijing. Founded in 2005, the 20-year-old auction traditionally specialises in modern art as well as jewellery. It recently marked its first ever event dedicated to Labubu.
The auction offered 48 Labubu lots for sale and saw almost 200 bidders, while over a thousand put down offers via Yongle's mobile app, the auction house said. The starting price for all the items started at zero and it eventually raised a total of 3.73 million Yuan(over ₹4 Cr).
What are blind boxes?
Retailed by Popmart, blind boxes are a type of mystery box that contain collectible figurines, usually part of a series.
A buyer of a blind box toy does not know exactly what design they will receive until they open the packaging. The starting price for Labubu blind box toys sold in Pop Mart's stores is around 50 Yuan( ₹595).
What fueled the ‘Labubu craze’?
The character's popularity was triggered after Lisa of the Korean pop music group Blackpink was spotted with a Labubu figurine and praised the doll in interviews and online posts followed by several other celebrities. In May, British football star David Beckham shared a photo on Instagram of his Labubu doll attached to a bag.
Indian celebrities like Twinkle Khanna, Ananya Panday, Sharvari Wagh, and global stars like Rihanna and Dua Lipa have also been spotted with their Labubu dolls, further adding to the craze.
One Yongle auction bidder, a restaurant owner who registered her surname as Du, walked away empty handed as she wanted to spend a maximum of just 20,000 Yuan while the figurine sold for a thumping value of 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.
