For a while, it felt like Labubu was everywhere.
The mischievous little monster with pointed ears, sharp teeth and an oddly adorable expression appeared on handbags, TikTok feeds, celebrity outfits and collector shelves around the world.
Stores sold out. Blind boxes disappeared almost instantly. Resellers charged huge premiums. Fans lined up for new releases, while social media turned every rare Labubu pull into a miniature event.
But in 2026, something has changed.
The Labubu frenzy hasn't completely disappeared, but the market is beginning to look noticeably calmer. Collectibles are becoming easier to find, resale premiums are under pressure, and shoppers are increasingly asking a question that would have sounded almost impossible during peak Labubu mania:
Is the Labubu hype finally cooling down?
From Cute Collectible to Global Phenomenon
Labubu wasn't originally created as a viral social-media toy.
The character was created by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung as part of his fantasy universe The Monsters. After collaborating with collectible-toy giant Pop Mart, Labubu gradually transformed from an art-toy character into one of the most recognizable collectibles in the world.
Then celebrity exposure and social media pushed everything into overdrive.
Labubu became especially recognizable as a bag charm, with collectors attaching the fuzzy creatures to luxury handbags, backpacks and everyday totes.
TikTok unboxings, Instagram outfit posts and celebrity sightings helped turn the toy into much more than another blind-box collectible.
It became a fashion accessory.
And for many younger consumers, owning a Labubu became part of participating in an online cultural moment.
2025 Was Peak Labubu Mania
If 2024 introduced much of the world to Labubu, 2025 was the year the trend exploded.
Demand became so intense that certain releases were difficult to purchase at normal retail prices. Limited editions and popular series regularly appeared on resale marketplaces immediately after release.
Pop Mart's financial performance reflected just how powerful the craze had become.
The company reported revenue of approximately 37.1 billion yuan in 2025, up about 185% year over year, while annual profit increased by more than 300%. The Monsters — the intellectual property family containing Labubu — became an extraordinarily important part of the business.
But huge growth creates another challenge:
What happens after everyone already knows about the trend?
Why Is Labubu Hype Cooling Down?
Several factors appear to be happening at the same time.
1. Labubu Is Becoming Easier to Buy
Scarcity was one of the most powerful ingredients behind the original craze.
When consumers repeatedly see "sold out", an ordinary product can suddenly feel like something they need to buy immediately.
But as production and distribution increase, that psychological pressure becomes weaker.
A Labubu that once required refreshing websites, waiting in queues or paying a reseller may now be considerably easier to obtain.
That's great news for genuine fans.
For hype-driven shoppers and resellers, however, it removes part of the excitement.
2. Resale Prices Are Becoming Less Crazy
During the height of the Labubu craze, resale was a major part of the story.
Collectors who missed official drops sometimes paid significantly above retail price to get particular characters or editions.
As supply expanded, those premiums began facing pressure.
Importantly, falling resale prices don't necessarily mean people suddenly stopped liking Labubu. Greater production can simply bring supply closer to actual consumer demand.
In other words:
Labubu may be transitioning from a scarce hype item into a more normal collectible.
3. Social Media Moves Extremely Fast
TikTok culture rarely allows one aesthetic to dominate forever.
The cycle often looks something like this:
Discovery → Viral Moment → Celebrity Adoption → Mass Popularity → Copycats → Oversaturation → Next Trend
Labubu has already travelled through most of that cycle.
Once everyone recognizes something, owning it no longer provides quite the same feeling of discovering an underground trend.
Social-media users naturally begin asking:
What's the next Labubu?
4. Collectors Are Looking for New Characters
Perhaps the biggest threat to any collectible craze isn't that people stop liking collectibles.
It's that they discover another collectible.
Labubu helped introduce an enormous audience to designer toys, blind boxes, plush pendants and character bag charms.
Now dozens of characters are competing for that attention.
Collectors who once focused heavily on Labubu may begin experimenting with other Pop Mart characters, independent designer toys, Japanese collectibles or entirely new plush trends.
The Bigger Trend: Plush Bag Charms Aren't Going Anywhere
Here's where things become especially interesting.
Labubu hype cooling doesn't necessarily mean the broader trend Labubu helped create is disappearing.
Quite the opposite.
Plush bag charms have become an established fashion category.
Consumers are decorating handbags and backpacks with:
- Mini plush animals
- Character keychains
- Plush monsters
- Food-shaped plush charms
- Capybara keychains
- Bunny charms
- Cat plushies
- Custom character accessories
The trend is part fashion, part collecting and part self-expression.
Instead of carrying exactly the same bag as everyone else, people can make their accessories feel personal simply by adding a cute character.
From “Labubu” to the Search for the Next Labubu
Every massive collectible trend eventually creates a race to discover its successor.
We've seen similar cycles before with Beanie Babies, Funko Pop!, Squishmallows and countless viral character collectibles.
In 2026, that search is already underway.
New characters are constantly being introduced as brands compete to produce the next collectible capable of spreading across TikTok and Instagram.
The winning formula usually includes several ingredients:
- A recognizable silhouette
- A cute or slightly strange personality
- Multiple collectible variations
- Affordable entry-level products
- Limited or rare editions
- Strong unboxing potential
- A design that works as a bag charm
Labubu mastered nearly all of them.
“Ugly-Cute” Isn't Going Away Either
Another lasting influence of Labubu is the popularity of ugly-cute character design.
Traditional plush toys often try to maximize cuteness: round eyes, soft pastel colors and friendly expressions.
Labubu deliberately breaks the formula.
Those sharp teeth, mischievous eyes and slightly chaotic expression make the character instantly recognizable.
Rather than looking perfectly cute, Labubu has personality.
That design philosophy is now appearing throughout collectible culture.
Expect more creatures that are:
- Strange but lovable
- Mischievous rather than innocent
- Funny instead of traditionally beautiful
- Highly expressive
- Designed for memes and reactions
Does Falling Resale Value Mean Labubu Failed?
Not at all.
This is an important distinction.
A collectible doesn't need permanently rising resale prices to remain successful.
In fact, extreme resale prices often prevent normal consumers from participating in a fandom.
If greater supply allows someone to buy the Labubu they genuinely want without paying two or three times retail price, that's arguably healthier for the long-term community.
The question for Labubu is therefore changing.
During the craze, people asked:
“Can I get one?”
Now the question is becoming:
“Do I still want one?”
That is the difference between hype and brand loyalty.
Pop Mart Now Faces the Hardest Part
Creating a viral product is difficult.
Turning a viral product into a long-lasting entertainment franchise is even harder.
The Monsters became responsible for a very large portion of Pop Mart's business during the Labubu boom, leading investors to pay close attention to whether the company can maintain momentum while developing other characters.
Pop Mart appears increasingly focused on expanding beyond a single collectible craze through international stores, new intellectual properties, collaborations and broader entertainment ambitions.
That strategy matters because even the strongest character brands eventually need new stories, formats and experiences to keep audiences interested.
So… Is Labubu Over?
No — but the era of peak Labubu hysteria may be ending.
And those are two very different things.
At peak hype, people bought Labubu because everyone was talking about Labubu.
After the hype cools, we'll discover how many people buy Labubu because they genuinely love the character.
That transition happens to almost every successful collectible.
Some disappear.
Others become nostalgic reminders of a particular year.
And a small number evolve into enduring characters that remain popular long after their viral moment ends.
What Comes After Labubu?
That's probably the most exciting question for plush lovers in 2026.
The next major collectible may already be sitting unnoticed on someone's shelf.
It could be another mischievous monster.
It could be a capybara.
It could be an interactive character.
Or it could be something completely unexpected that suddenly appears in thousands of TikTok videos six months from now.
One thing seems much more certain:
People haven't stopped loving cute things.
They're simply ready to discover the next one.
The Bottom Line
The cooling of Labubu hype isn't necessarily the end of Labubu.
Instead, it may signal the transformation of Labubu from a viral phenomenon into a more established collectible brand.
Supply is improving. Resale speculation is becoming less extreme. Social-media attention is moving toward newer characters. And collectors have more alternatives than ever.
But Labubu's influence will probably remain visible long after the frenzy fades.
It helped turn plush charms into fashion accessories, introduced millions of consumers to designer collectibles and proved that a strange little monster could become one of the biggest toy trends in the world.
The Labubu hype may be cooling down — but the collectible plush revolution it helped create is just getting started.
