Lafufus, Fake Labubus, Spawn Safety Warning and Raids

Asia Pacific|Lafufus, Fake Labubu Dolls, Raise Safety Alarms and Spawn Raids

Global demand for Labubus, the cute-ugly plush elf dolls embraced by celebrities like Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and David Beckham, has led to a flood of counterfeits that reveal a dark and dangerous side of the toy business.

The dupes are known as Lafufus, presumably because of their fake nature, and they, too, have fans who make up a subculture of the wider craze. But the fakes have alarmed buyers, consumer protection agencies and customs officials on multiple continents, as well as Pop Mart, the Chinese company that has been making Labubus since 2019.

Not only have they generated consumer complaints, but officials have also flagged safety risks and potentially hazardous chemicals linked to Lafufus.

The real collectibles took off after the K-pop star Lisa of Blackpink was seen on social media carrying little Labubus on her bag and hugging a big one last year. The Labubu craze has caused Pop Mart’s sales to surge, with revenue for the first half of the year amounting to more than $1.9 billion, surpassing revenue for all of 2024, the company said last week.

That success has been fueled by the way some of the dolls are sold. They often arrive in “blind boxes,” so that buyers don’t know what they will find inside. That generates excitement as unboxing videos amass on social media. But the element of mystery has made it easier for fakes to flood the market.

In Britain, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, a nonprofit organization that works with the government on consumer protection issues, put out “an urgent warning” this month about the rise in sales of counterfeit Labubus. It said that the fakes were “poorly made in unsafe manufacturing premises” and might contain hazardous chemicals that “can cause lifetime damage to a child’s organs.”