For 29-year-old Laura Sergeant, her obsession with collecting Labubus started last December.
The hype over the dolls on social media made it almost impossible to get. Sergeant nearly gave up on buying her first Labubu until she saw blind boxes for Labubus displayed in the window of Beard Papas, a Japanese bakery located at the Mall of America.
“I was really excited,” said Sergeant. “I was like, ‘they have Labubus in there’ and I had to learn how to get one from there.”
Within the next week, she got her first Labubu from the bakery. It was a green grape Labubu, part of the Exciting Macaron series. Ever since, it’s been a collecting spree.
Sergeant’s collection has now grown to 32 Labubus, displayed in clear cases and on shelves in her St. Paul apartment. The toys remind her of the children’s picture book “Where the Wild Things Are.”
“They’re cute and nostalgic. And I like that they come in the pendant form, so that you can bring them out and put them on your bags or backpack or whatever. And I like dressing them up a lot. They’re kind of like dolls,” she said.
The toys resemble monsters that many hardcore collectors describe as having a “cute and ugly” charm. They’re sold by a Chinese toy company called Pop Mart, known for their blind boxes — which people buy without knowing what Labubu they will get.
Local Labubu Facebook group grows to over 800 members in four months
Sergeant is the creator of a local Facebook buy, sell and trade group for Labubus, which has now grown to over 800 members in just four months. She first got the idea to create a Minnesota group after joining national Facebook groups.
“I liked the community that was there,” she said. “People were always super friendly and people would not just buy, sell and trade in them but they would share their collections and share different strategies on how to get Labubus and other Pop Mart items.”
Sergeant wanted a smaller online community specific to Minnesota, where people could do in-person buying and selling locally. She’s even orchestrated two giveaways of Pop Mart items to celebrate reaching 100 and 500 members.
“The [Labubu] hype is continuing to grow. I think they’re getting more and more popular. And then also, I think that when you have a group that has more members, it looks more legit,” she said.
Members of the group will post pictures of their collections, celebrate recent additions and share tips on how to get the elusive dolls.
Minnesotans flock to Rosedale Mall for Labubus
Apart from buying the collectibles in the Facebook group, some have been successful with livestreams on TikTok and the Pop Mart website.
Others will wait as early as 6 a.m. outside of Rosedale Center in Roseville to get a Labubu. The mall has two Pop Mart vending machines, and it’s the only place you can buy official merchandise in person.
In May, the machines went viral among local Labubu hunters on social media. TikTok videos, Reddit threads and Facebook posts capture lines of up to 50 people outside of the mall wanting to score a Labubu.
Rosedale Center manager Lisa Crain says the first Pop Mart vending machine opened last spring. Because of rising demand, a second one was added in April.
“The lines were probably some of the longest we’ve seen in a while,” she said. “I think that’s what we love to see, is it creates that excitement in shopping centers and retail in general.”
Crain says the vending machines are attracting families and adults of all ages. On a recent Thursday morning, a handful of people including Katherine Kleinke and her 9-year-old son Lorenzo visited the machines to get a Labubu.
Kleinke, who lives in Maplewood, was wearing a bag that had one large plushie Labubu inside and three Labubu keychains attached, while her 9-year-old son Lorenzo was holding a large Labubu with a red crown.
“I always say, like, the more anxiety and stress in my life, the more is on my bag,” she said.
Unfortunately no Labubus were in stock, but they were happy with buying a “Lafufu” — a fake version of the doll — at a nearby vendor. Kleinke and Lorenzo have been collecting Labubus since last spring and now have around 50 in their collection. They frequently visit the vending machine and also purchase the dolls from online resellers.
It’s become a hobby that Kleinke and her son enjoy. She says her son loves cuddling with his Labubus before bed.
“He is on the spectrum, and when he gets special interest, he’s fully focused on that. Pop Mart is one of the first places that I feel like had interest that both of him and I could share together and obsess over,” she said.
Others, like Ashley German, drove an hour and a half from Princeton with her partner to try her luck at getting her first Labubu. Although the vending machines weren’t stocked with the dolls, she’s hopeful she’ll get her first Labubu soon.
“I need to have one,” she said. “They have the most adorable little gremlin faces. And there’s something that speaks to me about them.”
More Asian retailers opening in Minnesota
The Pop Mart machines are seeing success as more Asian-concept retail spaces are opening in Minnesota. In the Twin Cities area, Eden Prairie’s Asia Mall remains a mainstay for Asian foods, groceries and shopping.
Multiple Japanese-style “clawcades” like Eagan’s Duck Entertainment, also carrying Pop Mart items, have grown in popularity. A trendy Japanese retailer, Daiso, opened three locations in Minnesota this year to long lines during their grand opening days. Bubble tea shops can be found in more places now than a few years ago.
“The excitement for this merchandise and the whole Asian experience, I think that’s what you’re starting to see,” said Crain.
Inside Rosedale Center, two new Asian food businesses were added to the food hall and another Asian shop called Kukuri selling Japanese goods recently opened. Crain says the trend of blind boxes has taken off and the lines for the Pop Mart vending machine have created more foot traffic for Rosedale Center.
“Pop Mart has been doing well throughout the country, and so when they added the second machine, we knew that, obviously it was successful. But I didn’t think anyone anticipated with the Labubu doll, how popular it was going to be,” she said.
