Labubus: China's plushy, soft power tool
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Labubus — small plush toys that look like mischievous monsters — have taken the world by storm. Chinese toymaker and retailer Pop Mart has sold millions of dollars’ worth of Labubus. There’s even a booming resale market, on top of a thriving operation of counterfeits called Lafufus.
Host Elahe Izadi speaks with reporter Kelly Kasulis Cho about how Labubus became the latest trend, and why these little toys have become a symbol of China’s developing economic strategy.
Today’s show was produced by Thomas Lu. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I wouldn't say obsessed. I'm a little embarrassed, though, if I'm going to be honest. |
| 0:07.4 | This is a safe space. |
| 0:09.8 | I unboxed one on camera for The Washington Post for a video. |
| 0:14.8 | And then after that, I became like a little addicted. And I was like, I'm feeling lucky today. |
| 0:21.3 | I just want to buy one with my own money. |
| 0:26.7 | That's Kelly Kasula's Cho. |
| 0:28.7 | She's a reporter and editor for the Washington Post based in Seoul. |
| 0:32.5 | And she's talking about a little plush toy that's taken the world by storm, the Labubu. |
| 0:39.4 | A Labubu is a figurine of like an elf, gremlin monster type character with bunny ears and nine fangs |
| 0:51.7 | and like a human-like face with these big cartoon anime eyes. |
| 0:56.7 | And it's like a doll about the size of your hand, but it's also a keychain that you can clip |
| 1:02.7 | onto bags, kind of like a fashion accessory, if you will. |
| 1:07.5 | The official retailer of Labooboos is a Chinese company named Pop Mart. |
| 1:12.0 | The dolls go for about 30 bucks a piece, and they come in a variety of colors. |
| 1:17.4 | There are also some limited edition ones called Secret Rairs, and those are coveted. |
| 1:23.3 | But you don't get to just buy the Labubu you want. |
| 1:26.8 | The process is sort of like gambling. |
| 1:29.2 | You buy a Lubu box from Pop Mart. |
| 1:31.9 | You open it up and you find out what you got. |
| 1:34.8 | I actually got the secret rare on my first try. |
| 1:39.9 | It's this gray character with the rainbow teeth. |
| 1:42.5 | And I mean, people are, I saw one sell in South Korea for $500 U.S. dollars on like our version of Craigslist. |
... |
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