Plushie Pandemic: Labubu dolls take over as latest trend that has a grip over Australians and their wallets

Blink and you’ll miss the chance to buy them, that’s just how popular the viral plushie trends have become — and at the height of this is the Labubu doll. A little monster plush toy has become the go-to accessory for designer handbags, coming in all different styles the toys have taken over Australia with the allure of the plush coming in mystery boxes. The toy craze is in full force across the country, leaving many Australian’s counting down the newest release for the monster plushies. But where have they come from? The Hong Kong plush toy has been around since 2015, but it’s only in the past year after a member of Korean band Blackpink, Lisa, was spotted with it as both a toy and bag accessory. They are dropped in batch releases with a variety of different quirky designs, dropping in mystery boxes so the excitement of which one a buyer will receive can heighten the elation or increase the heartbreak when they unbox the toys. Perth customers have to go through Pop&Fun, a distributor for the primary retailer the product PopMart, with each blind box costing $32 each and are limited to one per person. With the high demand and limited supply of the toys, scalpers have been cashing in on the hype and reselling the toy with insane markups. The small plush toys are being resold online from upwards of $100 each, with some of the rarer items on the market for thousands of dollars. For those out of the loop or left perplexed about the trend, think back to Cabbage Patch Kids or Beanie Babies with the hype of social media ballooning the demand. Labubu’s join the likes of Sonny Angel’s, Smiski’s and Pokemon Cards which saw a skyrocket in value and popularity thanks to online hype. The craze has taken social media by storm, with influencer’s posting videos of their unboxing’s online and garnering hundreds of thousands of views. It’s not just Australia that’s been seeing red at the sight of the toys, with shops in the UK recently pausing all sales of the plushie’s due to allegations of violence from people lining up to buy the collectables.