Labubu, a palm-sized plush toy with sharp teeth and a cult following, has become a toy too popular to sell. After chaotic scenes of queueing, crowd surges and reported fights, distributor Pop Mart has suspended all in-store sales of the collectible across the United Kingdom. “Due to the increasing demand for our beloved Labubus, we’ve seen a significant rise in customer turnout on restock days — with long queues forming outside our stores and Roboshops (self-service stores),” the Chinese-based toy company wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday. “To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone, we will temporarily pause all in-store and roboshop sales of THE MONSTERS plush toys until further notice.” Online sales, however, will continue as usual, it added.
Labubu dolls first hit the market in 2019, but in 2025 they’re sustaining a viral moment. News.com.au reports that recent “drops” of the toy in Australia have seen queues form for blocks around its distributor, Pop Mart, with 3am-risers racing to meet the arrival of restocked merchandise. A Pop Mart spokesperson insists such a mania in pursuit of the highly-collectible plushies and miniatures has gripped Australia “like never before”. If this isn’t aggressive sales hyperbole, it’s an admission of touching innocence from someone too young to know about the Cabbage Patch Kid riots of 1983, the Tamagotchi State Repression of 1996 or the brawl economics of the Beanie Baby bubble in the late 1990s. Child, sit by me and let me tell you the tale of when I, as a nine-year-old, somehow blackmailed my mother into chaperoning me to the Northgate shopping centre, Hornsby, before dawn, so we could be first in line to acquire a soft-bodied, vinyl-faced Cabbage Patch Kid with a unique birth certificate.
Pop Mart, which makes the gremlin-like bag charms, announced it would be pulling all of its Labubu plushies from its 16 UK stores until June to 'prevent any potential safety issues'. The announcement followed reports of customers fighting over them as well as die-hard fans camping for hours overnight camped overnight to desperately get their hands on the latest figurines. Pop Mart - a Chinese toy store for adults - told the BBC this was 'not the kind of customer experience it aimed to offer'. 'Labubu will return to physical stores in June, and we are currently working on a new release mechanism that is better structured and more equitable for everyone involved,' it added. The toys' popularity began in 2024 after K-Pop star Lisa from girl group Blackpink shared a photo on social media of her with one, with other celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa following suit. Fans of the fangalicious fashion accessory have reacted in fury to the company's decision to pull the toys, blaming them for causing 'hype' by only releasing a few dolls at a time. Others have also complained of re-sellers making it increasingly difficult to purchase the dolls, which can be purchased for as little as £13.50, by selling them on second hand sites for up to £600.
