A mass brawl broke out between a group of shoppers who were trying to get their hands on the viral Labubu ‘monsters’ toys.
Shocking footage shared on social media shows several men hurling punches at one another as security guards and others desperately try to separate them.
The group had supposedly been trying to purchase some Labubu dolls at an outlet for Pop Mart, which makes the gremlin-like bag charms, in Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre when the brawl ensued.
It is not the first time the Labubu plushies have sparked violence among fans of the furry fashion accessory, with one woman also telling the BBC she witnessed a fight between a worker and a shopper in the same store.
Pop Mart – a Chinese toy store for adults – has since announced it would be pulling all of its Labubu plushies from its 16 UK stores until June to ‘prevent any potential safety issues’.
The company told the BBC this was ‘not the kind of customer experience it aimed to offer’ and promised the dolls would ‘return to physical stores’ next month as they work on a ‘new release mechanism’.
But some devoted fans 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 bought in store or online for as little as £13.50, by selling them on second hand sites for up to £600.
This is the moment a mass brawl broke out between a group of shoppers who were trying to get their hands on the viral Labubu ‘monsters’ toys
Shocking footage shared on social media shows several men hurling punches at one another as security guards and others desperately try to separate them
The dolls (pictured) are no longer being sold in the UK after they caused fights and five-hour long queues outside stores
Ashley Bushey, 32, said she spent more than £1,000 on 13 Labubu toys, and countless hours scrolling on TikTok Shop, Vinted and Facebook re-sale groups to expand her collection.
Miss Bushey, a Northamptonshire-based coffee shop supervisor, said she predominantly tunes in to Pop Mart’s regular TikTok livestreams which showcase the toys for fans to purchase.
‘It’s a battlefield. (Pop Mart) are live every day from 2pm to 7pm and I sneak out at work, like I’m always trying to score one on the (livestream),’ she said.
She said she spends ‘more time than I care to admit’ finding Labubus, but added ‘especially now, because they’re so hard to get’ after Pop Mart’s decision to pause UK sales.
‘I’m not even a big collector in the scheme of things. If you go into Facebook groups, I mean, some of them are insane,’ she said.
Miss Bushey said she collects 90s and early 2000s toys and started buying Labubus from Pop Mart’s The Monsters series in December, describing them as ‘so ugly that they were cute’.
All the Labubus in The Monsters collection are female, which make male versions of the toys extremely rare finds.
The toy collector said she managed to find a rare, male toy named Zimomo which she bought for £200, but added she has seen some limited edition Labubus listed at £600 on Vinted and eBay.
Ashley Bushey with some of her viral Labubu dolls. She claims to have spent more than £1,000 on 13 Labubu toys
Ashley (pictured) said she spends ‘more time than I care to admit’ finding Labubus
Two Lububu dolls bought by Ashley who is a Northamptonshire-based coffee shop supervisor
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.
Part of the appeal of Labubu Dolls is the limited run of designs that means supply almost always exceeds demand, with collectors trawling sites like Reddit for information about the next ‘drop’ or release.
Pop Mart deals exclusively in ‘blind boxes’, meaning buyers have no idea what collectible figurine they’re going to end up with. With a collection as popular as the Labubu dolls, this ‘blind box’ packaging forces fans keep buying new items in a bid to complete their collections.
Thanks to popular demand of the toys, created by the Hong-Kong born artist Kasing Lung, many go to re-sale markets and compete with fakes dubbed ‘Lafufus’.
Real Labubus can be verified with a QR code on the bottom of each box, but some re-sellers may disguise a fake toy inside authentic boxes.
‘There are people that are really sneaky,’ Miss Bushey said.
‘People are scanning these QR codes and seeing if they’re real, but then the toy inside is fake, so (re-sellers) are opening them from the bottom and then putting fake ones inside of it.’
Lafufus can be identified by twisted limbs, misshapen heads, or the incorrect number of teeth whereas real Labubus have nine.
Part of the appeal of Labubu Dolls is the limited run of designs that means supply almost always exceeds demand
Labubu bosses banned sales of the must-have furry toys in the UK after fans queued (above) for up to five hours to get their hands on the latest releases
The long line outside Pop Mart’s Manchester store as die-hard enthusiasts waited for its doors to open
Videos posted on TikTok showed long queues forming outside Pop Mart’s Oxford Circus store after it announced a restock of the dolls last month
Pop Mart said it is reviewing the way its toys are distributed to help create a fair and safe environment for its customers.
It said on Instagram on Friday: ‘Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen overwhelming enthusiasm from fans, with long queues forming outside stores – in some cases, even the night before.
‘While this speaks to the love and excitement surrounding Labubu and The Monsters, it’s important for us to ensure a safe, fair and comfortable shopping experience for everyone – both our customers and our store teams.
‘We’re currently working on a new approach for the distribution that will allow everyone a fairer chance to purchase.’
Weeks earlier, the toy maker took to Instagram to reveal its Oxford Circus store was being restocked with Labubus from a popular collection, which saw adult shoppers queuing for up to five hours.
Videos posted on TikTok showed long queues forming outside the Pop Mart outlet, with several Labubu collectors revealing they waited in line for as long as five hours to try and acquire the viral toy.
Love Island star Olivia Attwood, is just one famous celebrity who routinely documents her hunt for rare Labubus on social media while showing off her ever-expanding display of the dolls at home.