Need to know
- Labubus are one of 2025's trendiest and most sought-after toys, but rising demand has resulted in a surge of counterfeit versions known as Lafufus
- These fakes may be unsafe for small children, with poor quality control and small parts that may pose choking or health risks to infants
- Many counterfeits are close to indistinguishable from the real thing, though there are some tell-tale signs of a fake
When Melbourne mother Benita's six-year-old daughter finally unboxed the toy she had been coveting for weeks, her delight rapidly crumbled into disappointment.
Instead of the fuzzy, so-ugly-it's-cute Labubu she had been dying to show off to her friends at dance class, she was looking at a counterfeit "Lafufu". Its soft vinyl face was deformed, cheap stuffing leaked from its split seams, its feet were loose and its trademark serrated smile painted hopelessly askew.
While Benita knew the boxes, bought from a two-dollar shop, weren't the real deal, she hadn't been expecting a product that was so obviously damaged and poor quality. Genuine Labubus from popular culture toy brand Pop Mart are known to vanish from shelves within minutes of release.
However, when it comes to fake Labubus, there is more to worry about than cosmetic defects. Regulators around the world have pointed to serious safety issues – running from choking hazards to dangerous chemicals. And these issues could potentially place young children at risk.
What is a Labubu?
Fuzzy, fugly and famous, Labubu has become one of 2025's biggest viral crazes.
Equal parts cute and creepy, these bunny-bodied, gremlin-faced dolls have become a popular accessory for children and adult collectors alike. They're equally as likely to be found dangling from a child's school backpack as they are clipped to the designer handbags of celebrities like Madonna, Rihanna, Naomi Osaka, and K-pop idol Lisa from Blackpink.
Love for the dolls from celebrities, combined with the popularity of social media unboxing videos, have helped fuel the toys' rocketing popularity over the past two years, transforming them into a phenomenon.
Based on a partnership between Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lunch and Beijing-based toy company Pop Mart, Labubu's success is built on "blind boxes" – sealed mystery packages, where buyers don't know which toy they'll get until opened.
Each series includes a limited set of designs with a small chance of receiving a rare or special edition, transforming every purchase into a mini lotto.
Eugene Chan, associate professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, says the hunt for a specific Labubu can be problematic, potentially encouraging addictive behaviour and excessive spending.
The hunt for a specific Labubu can be problematic, potentially encouraging addictive behaviour and excessive spending
"That sense of excitement, that adrenaline, the sense of gambling, really plays a part in the human psychology behind it all," he says.
He says these toys, expensive relative to their size, rely on these marketing gimmicks that promise a flood of dopamine with every unboxing.
For collectors, this might mean buying box after box in the hopes of completing a set or discovering a special version or rare Labubu, the odds of which vary from one in 72 to one in 168 blind boxes.
For Pop Mart, the blind box model has made bank. In the past year the toy retailer's revenue has more than doubled. With 40% of their revenue coming from outside of China, record sales have rapidly transformed Pop Mart into a billion-dollar company.
In its half-year results, Labubus alone made Pop Mart over $1 billion and accounted for approximately 35% of the company's total global revenue.
Chan says that, while Labubus might eventually go out of fashion, he does not see the hype around collectibles, especially blind boxes, dying down anytime soon. From Tamagotchis in the 1990s, Beanie Kids in the 2000s and Squishamallows in the 2010s, he says the trend of colourful toy collectibles "will likely continue".
Can you pick the Labubu from the Lafufus?
Why the hype?
The major appeal of Labubus, beyond their bizarre cuteness, comes with the toy's exclusivity and carefully orchestrated scarcity.
As Labubu mania has gone global over the past year, social media platforms and news sites have been flooded with scenes of people queuing for hours, sometimes even overnight, to snag themselves a Labubu, while online sales have sold out in seconds.
Official Labubus drop in limited runs, selling out so quickly it can feel borderline impossible for most everyday buyers to get their hands on one.
At Pop Mart's Melbourne Central store, restocks are quietly announced to a group of diehard fans through WhatsApp groups between 10 to 30 minutes before the store opens, with products sold out before many shoppers would know they were available. In May, Pop Mart had to temporarily suspend sales of Labubus in their United Kingdom stores when brawls broke out between shoppers.
As the popular plushies continue to sell out, resale prices have also soared. Rare Labubus can earn resellers and scalpers hundreds of dollars on online marketplaces like Facebook and eBay.
Counterfeits: The Lafufu
The hype surrounding Labubus has led to counterfeit Lafufus becoming widespread, filling the gap created by the real product's scarcity.
Sold in deceptive replica packaging across the world, some buy knock-off Labubus by accident, thinking they're the real thing. Others, like Benita, intentionally buy Lafufus and take the risk that the product might disappoint.
Authorities in the US recently seized 11,000 counterfeit Labubus at Seattle airport at an estimated retail price of over $US500,000.
However, issues with Lafufus run deeper than a few misshapen chompers. Trading authorities around the world have raised the alarm over safety issues with the counterfeit dolls.
A fake Lafufu
Safety concerns
In the UK, The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) warned that poorly made counterfeit Labubus may contain small detachable parts such as eyes, hands, feet and accessories which pose a serious choking hazard to children under the age of three.
Loose stitching and exposed stuffing, CTSI claimed, could further increase the risk of suffocation.
They added that dangerous counterfeits have "no regard for the safety of their consumers", bypassing rigorous safety checks and compliance demands required for toy products in the UK.
Beyond choking hazards, Lafufus can be toxic to children. In the Philippines, the Ecowaste Coalition found unauthorised variants of the dolls tested positive for heavy metals like lead and also that they contained phthalates, a chemical compound used to soften plastics and can contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that interfere with the body's hormones and damage children's development.
CHOICE goes Lafufu shopping
To test out the quality of some of these counterfeit dolls, CHOICE purchased three fakes from online marketplace Shein in August and two from a two-dollar shop in Melbourne.
Many of the dolls had small, easily detachable parts that could represent a choking hazard to infants.
Three of the five Lafufu dolls we purchased had a small rubber part around one centimetre in length that easily detached itself from the foot. All five also had small metal clips on their tags that were easy to remove. On one of the Lafufus from Shein, the two plastic eyes popped out when its face was lightly squeezed. The real doll had no small parts that were easily removed.
CHOICE test coordinator of children's products Antonio Bonacruz, says according to the Australian and ISO safety toy standards, these small parts would likely fail the "small parts test" and would pose a choking hazard to children under the age of three.
These would likely fail the 'small parts test' and would pose a choking hazard to children under the age of three
However, Bonacruz says the way that the dolls are marketed both online and in stores, and their lack of child-specific labelling, does not suggest they are being specifically targeted at young children.
"These items, whether genuine or imitation, are not toys for babies and toddlers and should not be treated as such" Bonacruz says.
"I usually see primary-school aged children and young adults collecting these items and they appear to be marketed at children of these ages. Choking can unfortunately happen to anyone of any age, but babies and toddlers are at greater risk because they would put almost anything in their mouths or noses and accidentally swallow or inhale small objects. And it is important that parents are aware of the potential harm to infants and younger children," he adds.
A real Labubu.
How to spot a Lafufu
There are several ways to avoid getting stung by accidentally buying a counterfeit:
- Buy directly from the manufacturer, Pop Mart, either at their bricks-and-mortar shops, vending machines, online store, or through verified vendors like EB Games.
- Look for Pop Mart's anti-counterfeiting measures, which include holographic QR code stickers that take you to a verification tool. Of the fake ones we bought, most were without QR codes, though one had an imitation code linking to the Pop Mart general website. Real Labubus also come with a unique character card corresponding with the doll's design, a detail none of our fake dolls included.
- Count your Labubu's teeth. Authentic Labubus are known for their trademark pointy smile with exactly nine teeth.
- According to NSW Fair Trading, overly bright coloured fur and vinyl, widely spaced ears, lower quality fabrics, and loose stitching are also signs of counterfeits.
- Be suspicious of low prices. Real Labubu keychains retail for $32, smaller phone-sized charms for $28 and larger plushies for upwards of $50. Our Shein Lafufus were priced between $8 to $15, and our two-dollar shop Lafufus were $25 each.
- Check the packaging. Fake boxes often feature shiny packaging, while genuine Labubu packaging has a matte texture and the boxes are opened using a cardboard pull-tab.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
