Warning issued as fake Labubu keychains takeover London
Some UK councils are concerned about the safety of counterfeit dolls
London’s Southwark Council has recently issued a warning regarding fake Labubu dolls often being sold in London’s top tourist spots.
This follows similar warnings issued by many other regions of the UK, which have also seized hundreds of counterfeit dolls nationwide.
The Pop Mart mystery blind bag series, named “The Monsters”, is home to the Labubu universe – and many are left undecided whether the dolls themselves are adorable or scary.
As the dolls have taken over social media, debates have emerged over whether Labubus are just another rapid consumerist trend, urging many to spend more money to get the rarest and most expensive dolls from each series.
The counterfeit dolls are often made from inexpensive materials and feature detachable parts, posing a choking hazard to children.
Some UK councils have cited the Toys (Safety) Regulations Act 2011 in their concerns over children gaining access to cheaper, counterfeit Labubu dolls.
There are many guides online on how to spot a fake, with real Labubus having nine teeth, a stamp at the bottom of the foot, and a QR code on their box to verify authenticity.
Designed by Kasing Lung in Hong Kong over a decade ago, Labubus have brought in over 23% of Pop Mart’s total revenue last year alone, and nowadays, the online and in-person queues for the dolls make it challenging to obtain a real figure in the first place – easily making people turn to the cheaper, easier to access dolls, at the cost of the materials they are made from.
The dolls were pulled from all UK Pop Mart stores earlier this year, following customers fighting over the blind boxes.
This limited and exclusive access, which now further requires buyers to join extensive online raffles to obtain a real Labubu, means many are turning to fakes despite the warnings, due to the inability to access the real dolls.