Labubus have taken the world by storm. With their sharklike teeth and beady eyes, they’ve drawn the attention of the masses. But is this a worthwhile trend a new way to enjoy the game of collecting, or are these little monsters better off staying in the box? Writers of the Life Section have come together to give their thoughts on the internet’s favorite monstrous commodity.
Dan Stark
As someone who struggles to understand most modern trends, Labubus are the latest entry to the list of things that confuse me. I don’t know where they came from and I don’t know why they’re so popular, but here we are. Personally, I can think of a lot of other things I would rather waste my money on than these performative dolls. Now, if they made a Rizzler Labubu, then we need to talk.
Fun fact: One of my wonderful roommates owns a Labubu and I had the great idea to use that this December as an alternate version of an Elf on the Shelf. But if I go to use my bathroom and I see that labubu sitting on my toilet I’ll be just thrilled.
Samantha Brody
As someone who prefers the world of niche art and video games to mainstream happenings, I’m usually out of the loop when it comes to general societal trends. I’m a Dungeons and Dragons player, what can I say. But when I learned about Labubus, my first thought was that these people can’t be serious.
I understand the enjoyment of collecting, but it has always struck me as a very personal hobby. You’re meant to collect things for yourself and for the fun of indulging obsession, not to hop on the Trend of the Week. The explosion of Labubus just feels tacky and soulless. Labubus are weird little freaks, and I can see how some people might like them, but most of this trend feels forced. Is anyone even doing this because they enjoy it?
Maleena Muzio
I will admit that when I first saw a Labubu my reaction was, “Wtf is that.” One of my best friends had bought one and I thought it was hideous and overall dumb.
However, as summer began and I saw the little monsters appear everywhere, I will admit they started to grow on me. I even began to want one. Unfortunately, I could not justify the high prices that many stores were selling the collectables for. I do not think they are worth the resell prices of over $100.
At this point, I think they are simply a fun fad and another addition to the waves of microtrends we have been seeing. If you have one, great, and if you don’t, also great!
Bonnibel Lilith Rampertab
I first learned of the existence of Labubus through a friend of mine over the summer. I genuinely live under a rock, but I knew in my heart of hearts that, like he predicted, Labubus will eventually become irrelevant. If they won’t sell at Five Belows, they’ll be food for the landfills near you and me.
Labubus will be absolutely terrible for the environment as well as a waste of money for those who buy them. If you buy a Labubu, look at yourself in the mirror holding one of them and consider: Is this something that will appeal to me after the trend dies?
If you get happiness from something like this, though, I’m happy for you. I wish I could get happiness from something like a Labubu instead of watching the producers of these get richer.
Ayyan Tamjeed
I saw a video of this Hungarian woman learning about Labubus and my favorite part is how she elongates the ‘bu’ syllables in the word. Without any context, you’d think she’s talking about her pet dog named Labubu, rather than a plushy with the toothiest grin this side of the Mississippi.
At first, I thought Labubus were sort of scary. They have this mean mug on their face and they’re accessories that people hang off their bags or pants, like a charm to ward off evil spirits. But after more exposure to this creepy fella, I have become less repulsed by the furry beast. It’s not that bad guys, give it a rest.
Addison Riccoboni
They’re consumeristic and ugly keychains with a face. What’s not to like? Plenty. Why do we feel compelled to collect overly expensive, mass-produced figures with no real reason for their popularity? Weren’t the Beanie Babies, Furbys, and Webkinz enough? The hype is meaningless and the trend is pointless.
Companies flourish off society’s incredible ability to blindly follow chunks of plastic. We completely overlook the underlyingly shallow messages we put out by admiring Labubus because of how “ugly-cute” they are. Celebrating ugliness as authenticity only allows for shallow consumerism to show. All I know for sure is this: You’ll never see me buying into this moronic trend.
Max Muller
My first encounter with a Labubu was in my boss’s break closet. This was no regular Labubu, with an imposing figure of 16 inches in height and 12 in circumference. At the time I had only barely heard of Labubus, but its grinning face glinted hauntingly in the dimly lit closet.
I would normally support letting people enjoy their hobbies, but I draw the line at collectable plastic minifigures that exist to be looked at and nothing more. In my opinion, they deserve neither their fame nor their insane sales figures.
Over 10 million Labubus have been sold in 2025, and I doubt any of them are being recycled in any meaningful way. This is a major issue because they are made almost entirely out of PVC and Polyvinyl plastics, meaning their ugly, demonic faces are chemically durable enough to outlive you and the next dozen or so generations of your descendants.
I do not care for Labubus. Their flesh-tone faces contrast with their fuzzy bodies in a way that’s extremely off-putting to me. I can best describe them as resembling demonic Teletubbies, so I can’t understand why some people are willing to spend so much time and money collecting them.
That being said, as much as I want to mock this trend, my background in Transformers collecting has forever prevented me from taking the moral high ground in this situation (and most situations for that matter). After all, almost everybody has some kind of hobby involving collecting, whether it be Pokémon cards, action figures, comics, shoes and so on. So, who am I to criticize other people for the way they spend their hard-earned cheddar? If what you’re doing makes you happy (and is legal), then feel free to keep doing it.