Aussies have queued up for hours to get their hands on the latest collectable craze. Labubus are taking the world by storm, and experts say investors are the ones who are “reaping the reward”.
Labubus are plush toy monsters designed by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, sold by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart. Many of the Labubu toys come in a blind box, which means collectors don’t know which of the toothy plushies they will get until they open it, and there’s a chance they could get a “secret” one.
It’s something that has helped drive the toy’s popularity and price, particularly among Gen Zs, with some of the rare toys that retail for $32 reselling online for as much as $500. eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert told Yahoo Finance that Pop Mart had enjoyed the benefits of the high demand, with its stock up 425 per cent in the past year on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
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“Pop Mart’s shares experienced a notable rally last year, with demand for their collectible toys rising thanks in part to social media and endorsement from celebrities like Blackpink’s Lisa,” Gilbert said.
“Such factors sparked a surge in overseas demand, especially for Labubus. The company’s stock price jumped by over 340 per cent in 2024 and made Pop Mart one of Hong Kong’s best-performing stocks in recent times.”
As of May, Pop Mart had a market cap of around HKD$256 billion ($51 billion AUD).
Gilbert noted this surpassed collectable toy rival Sanrio Co, the brand behind Hello Kitty, which has a market cap of JPY$1.46 trillion ($15.5 billion AUD).
It also beats out Mattel, who is the brand behind the likes of Barbie and Hot Wheels, which currently has a market map of around USD $5.5 billion ($8.6 billion AUD).
Pop Mart, which sells Labubus and other collectible blind box toys, opened its first physical store in August 2022.
There are now 11 Pop Mart stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, along with 19 robo shops, which have drawn huge lines of people hoping to get their hands on a Labubu.
Shoppers are often waiting in line for hours for the toys, with one Brisbane woman sharing she lined up at 4am to secure a Labubu and another Melbourne man lining up from 2:30am ahead of a drop.
One man even paid someone $100 on Airtasker to get them to wait in line for them in Sydney and buy him a set.
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