First, there were Beanie Boos. Now, there’s Labubus. Stuffed creatures at the top of collectors’ wish lists somehow continue to make waves in popular culture, even today. But what is the appeal of these animals, and how does it reflect where we are as a society today?  

First things first, what even are Labubus? These little furry creatures originated as storybook characters, created by Kasing Lung, who moved to the Netherlands at 7 years old from Hong Kong, and was inspired by Dutch mythology and stories of elves. 

And so, in 2015, Lung published an illustrated book series called “The Monsters”, featuring female elves known as Labubus. Shortly after, he released toys of the characters, although not gaining much traction until 2019, when he partnered with POPMART, a Chinese toy company. 

Through POPMART, these toys were able to amass large amounts of popularity, and even more when they were spotted on the bags of different pop stars, such as Rihanna, Dua Lipa, and most notably, Lisa from BLACKPINK. 

When photos of the South Korean star carrying a bag with a Labubu on it went viral, TikTok exploded with unboxing videos of Labubu blind boxes, which is how the toy is mainly sold. Blind boxes are somewhat of a guessing game, where you don’t know what toy you’re going to get out of a selection of about six. 

In light of their massive popularity, some have pointed out that this trend seems to be playing a part in the social media movement of overconsumption. It’s worth noting that these toys are not as simple as going to Target and picking one up for 15 dollars– these toys often retail for over 100 dollars, and with their recent popularity, have been sold secondhand for thousands of dollars. 

It’s one thing to hop on a bandwagon when they cost a couple of bucks at the local 7-11, but when these cost in the hundreds of dollars, it can become a serious financial burden, especially when they’re being treated as collector’s items. 

In our struggling economy and turbulent job market, are these things we should be spending our money on?

Many have pointed out that the people hopping on this trend seem to lack the authenticity originally seen by having these toys as accessories. It represents just another fad in the culture of TikTok overconsumption and is largely looked down upon by a number of people.

Labubus have been linked to other TikTok fads, such as Dubai Chocolate and Matcha. This response is meant to point out the inauthenticity of mindlessly following these sorts of trends, and to an extent, they are somewhat true. 

But what about the people who genuinely enjoy these things? Are they performative, brainwashed, slugs, or are they simply doing and collecting things they love? Some would argue that degrading these trends is overly cruel and pointless. 

Although, at the end of the day, that’s all they are, right? Trends that everyone wants for a few months, and then leaves to rot in the back of their closet, and then spend 500 years degrading in a landfill, just like Beanie Boos or Fairy Lights. But there is a small group of people who will continue to have Labubus on their bags, carrying around an iced Matcha, and eating Dubai chocolate.

The moral of the story is: do what you like. Not just because it’s a trend, but because you genuinely enjoy it. And if it happens to be trending, don’t hide that aspect of yourself away because you’re afraid of being “cringe.” Like what you like, regardless of whether it’s trending or not, because that is the most authentic thing of all.