A Beijing auction house on Tuesday sold a human-sized Labubu figure for 1.08 million yuan (US$150,260), setting a new record for the “blind box” toy as it moves from craze to collectible.
The event held by Yongle International Auction, which traditionally specializes in modern art as well as jewelry, marked the first-ever auction dedicated to Labubu, toothy monster figurines that are mainly sold by Chinese toy company Pop Mart and have been at the center of a global frenzy for the past year.
The auction offered 48 lots for sale and was attended in person by about 200 people, while more than 1,000 bidders put down offers via Yongle’s mobile app, the auction house said.
Photo: AFP
The starting price for all the items was zero, while the lots sold for a combined 3.73 million yuan.
The highest grossing item, a mint green, 1.31m-tall Labubu figure, received several bids to sell for 1.08 million yuan.
The auctioneer said it was the only one available in the world.
A set of three Labubu sculptures, about 40cm tall and made of PVC material, sold for 510,000 yuan.
The set, from a series called “Three Wise Labubu,” was limited to a run of 120 sets in 2017 and another one sold for HK$203,200 (US$25,888) at Sotheby’s most recent auction in Hong Kong.
Labubu was created a decade ago by Hong Kong artist and illustrator Kasing Lung (龍家昇). In 2019, Lung agreed to let them be sold by Pop Mart, which markets collectable figurines often sold in “blind boxes.”
A buyer of a blind box toy does not know exactly what design they will receive until they open it.
The starting price for Labubu blind box toys sold in Pop Mart’s stores is about 50 yuan.
The character’s popularity skyrocketed after Lisa of the South Korean pop music group Blackpink was spotted with a Labubu, and praised the doll in interviews and online posts.
Many celebrities followed. In May, British soccer star David Beckham shared a photograph on Instagram of his Labubu attached to a bag.
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
Russia early yesterday bombarded Ukraine, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France. A nationwide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defenses were operating in several places. In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building. Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, Kyiv Governor Mykola
RSS