Written by: Blockchain Knight
Labubu is a fictional IP character created by Hong Kong artist Long Jiasheng in 2015, belonging to the "THE MONSTERS" series under Bubble Mart. Its design integrates dark elf elements from Nordic mythology with Eastern aesthetics, forming a unique "ugly-cute" style that subverts the traditional sweet toy paradigm.
Initially spreading as a niche picture book character, it quickly rose to a global phenomenon-level trendy IP after collaborating with Bubble Mart to launch blind boxes in 2019.
In April 2024, BLACKPINK member Lisa shared a Labubu doll on social media, calling it "my baby", triggering a buying frenzy in Southeast Asia, with prices in the Thai market rising 7 times.
Subsequently, celebrities like Rihanna and Beckham's daughter hung Labubu on Hermès bags, promoting it from a toy to a "luxury accessory", thus opening a new "hype path" and sparking global pursuit, with its market price being inflated several times.
On June 10th, the world's only first-generation mint-colored Labubu appeared at the Yongle 2025 Spring Auction, hammering at 1.08 million yuan, driving Bubble Mart's stock price to a historic high, with its stock rising nearly 10 times in a year, making its founder the richest person in Henan.
This scenario inevitably reminds the author of another globally popular product from a few years ago - Non-Fungible Token (NFT), similarly led by celebrity influence, similarly topping global auctions, and similarly hyped by the masses, only that one is a physical asset, the other a virtual asset.
A deeper analysis reveals that their spiritual cores seem to share similarities, such as both creating scarcity to trigger consumers' "fear of missing out (FOMO)"; for instance, both rely on social media proliferation, with Labubu users showcasing hidden editions on Xiaohongshu or TikTok, and NFT players setting their collections as social media avatars, both exhibiting strong social attributes.
So the question is, will they meet similar fates? From experiencing market hype to ultimately returning to calm, or even facing a mess after the speculative bubble, given that NFT avatars worth hundreds of thousands have now lost 90% of their value.
Before this, we can briefly look at the development of Bubble Mart's other classic IPs. MOLLY, as Bubble Mart's first hit IP (born in 2006), created scarcity through crossover collaborations with luxury and trendy brands, with some joint editions priced over ten thousand yuan, and black market prices 300% higher, but the heat cycle of new series shortened to 6-12 months, with some styles' prices halving from their peak.
Another IP called SKULLPANDA saw its resale price drop 40% within six months due to increased supply.
We currently lack data to compare price fluctuations of all IPs released by Bubble Mart, but some highly representative IPs generally return to calm after market hype, with significant price retracements, almost identical to Non-Fungible Tokens.
Currently in the secondary market, Labubu, originally priced at 599 yuan, has been hyped to nearly 15,000 yuan, inevitably reminiscent of the trendy toy Bearbrick from over a decade ago, where a Chanel collaboration edition sold for 220,000 yuan, but most models now only retain 30%-50% of their original price. So can Labubu escape such a fate?
Perhaps past history has already told us the answer, as even the most brilliant narrative will eventually shatter, and seemingly only BTC has broken this curse.
Moreover, Labubu's scarcity is only shaped through official descriptions, whereas Non-Fungible Tokens naturally possess absolute scarcity, technically unbreakable and unmanipulatable. From this perspective, Non-Fungible Token + Labubu seems more intriguing, but that's another story.
