Chinese maker of collectible toys, best known for its Labubu dolls—grimacing elvish creatures sold in "blind boxes" that keep buyers in suspense over which variety they might get. Labubu was created by a Hong Kong artist in 2015 and began to soar in popularity when a K-pop star was seen with one in April 2024. Labubu dolls sell for as little as $20, though a rare variety sold for $150,000 at auction on June 10th 2025. Celebrities including David Beckham and Rihanna have gone public with their appreciation.
Pop Mart is considered one of the few Chinese brands to have mastered foreign branding, with a name that looks at home in America or Europe. Its shares rose by 180% in the first half of 2025, though they are down by a third from their peak in August 2025. As of late 2025 its market capitalisation stood at $38bn—more than three times that of Sanrio, the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty, and nearly seven times that of Mattel, making it the world's most valuable listed toymaker. Sales rocketed by 245% year on year in the quarter from July to September 2025. The company now has stores in nearly 40 countries. Around two-fifths of its sales are made overseas, mainly in rich countries.
Pop Mart is busily trying to create follow-up hits. As of mid-September 2025 it had launched 29 new products that year, only a fifth of which were Labubus. Newcomers include Skullpanda, a distinctly cuter line of characters. Less than a tenth of its revenue comes from licensing, according to Morningstar, but that share is expected to rise. Pop Land, a theme park in Beijing opened in 2023, lets visitors interact with characters including Labubus. The company has plans to launch a Labubu animated series, and in June 2025 it established its own film studio.
Chronic manufacturing shortfalls constrained Pop Mart's ability to cash in on the Labubu craze, prompting shoppers to scan QR codes and join digital queues lasting weeks. Entrepreneurial resellers stocked up on figurines and sold them at wildly inflated prices. A thriving market for fake Labubus—called "Lafufus"—has also sprung up, distinguished by their eight or ten teeth rather than the genuine article's mischievous nine. The infestation prompted a nationwide "Lafufu-catching" campaign as officials conducted raids and shut down online shops. Shanghai police discovered a local company sitting on a stash of the fake toys worth 12m yuan ($1.7m). By 2026 Pop Mart had expanded production of plush toys (which include Labubus) by a factor of ten, to around 30m a month. The flood of supply destroyed the secondary market for all but the rarest Labubus. During the first nine months of 2025 British officials seized shipments of fake toys worth £3.5m at the country's borders, 90% of which were counterfeit Labubus.
The Communist Party's propaganda department has met Pop Mart executives and asked why its toys are not more Chinese in nature. The company has explained that overtly Chinese products do not sell well abroad.
As he had feared, his orders had been forgotten and everyone had brought the potato salad.