After all, no matter how brilliant the narrative, there will come a day of disillusionment. Currently, it seems that only BTC has broken this curse.

Written by: Blockchain Knight

Labubu is a fictional IP character created by Hong Kong artist Long Jiasheng in 2015, belonging to the "THE MONSTERS" series under Pop Mart. Its design combines elements of dark elves from Norse mythology with Eastern aesthetics, forming a unique "ugly-cute" style that subverts the traditional sweet paradigm of toys.

Initially spread as a niche character in picture books, Labubu quickly rose from the art world to a global phenomenon in trendy toys after collaborating with Pop Mart to launch blind boxes in 2019.

In April 2024, BLACKPINK member Lisa posted a Labubu doll on social media, calling it "my baby," which triggered a buying frenzy in Southeast Asia, with the Thai market seeing a 7-fold premium.

Subsequently, celebrities like Rihanna and Beckham's daughter adorned their Hermès bags with Labubu, elevating it from a toy to a "luxury accessory," thus opening a new "hype path" that sparked global enthusiasm, with its market price skyrocketing several times.

On June 10, the only original mint-colored Labubu made its debut at the Yongle 2025 Spring Auction, fetching a hammer price of 1.08 million yuan, pushing Pop Mart's stock price to a historic high, resulting in nearly a 10-fold increase in its stock price within a year, and making its founder the richest person in Henan.

This scene inevitably reminds me of another product that was similarly popular worldwide a few years ago—NFTs. Both were led by celebrity effects, topped global auction charts, and experienced widespread public hype; the only difference is that one is a physical asset, while the other is a virtual asset.

Upon deeper analysis, we can see that both share a similar spiritual core, as both create scarcity to evoke consumers' "fear of missing out (FOMO)" emotions; for instance, both rely on social media virality, with Labubu users showcasing hidden versions on Xiaohongshu or TikTok, while NFT players set their collectibles as social media avatars, both filled with strong social attributes.

So the question arises: will they meet a similar fate? After experiencing explosive market hype, will they ultimately return to calm, or even face the aftermath of a hype bubble? After all, those million-dollar NFT avatars have now lost 90% of their value.

Before that, we can briefly look at the development of other classic IPs from Pop Mart. MOLLY, as Pop Mart's first hit IP (born in 2006), created scarcity through collaborations with luxury brands and trendy labels, with some co-branded items priced over 10,000 yuan, and scalper markets seeing a 300% premium. However, the heat cycle for new series has shortened to 6-12 months, with some styles' prices halved from their peak.

Another IP named SKULLPANDA saw a 40% drop in resale price within six months due to a surge in supply.

Currently, we do not have data to compare the price fluctuations of all IPs released by Pop Mart, but some highly representative IPs generally return to calm after market hype, with significant price retracements, which is almost identical to NFTs.

At present, in the second-hand market, the LABUBU originally priced at 599 yuan has been hyped to nearly 15,000 yuan, which inevitably brings to mind another trendy toy from over a decade ago—Bearbrick. At that time, a co-branded version with Chanel fetched a high price of 220,000 yuan, but most models now only retain 30%-50% of their original price. So, can Labubu escape such a fate?

Perhaps history has already given us the answer. After all, no matter how brilliant the narrative, there will come a day of disillusionment. Currently, it seems that only BTC has broken this curse.

Moreover, the scarcity of Labubu is only shaped through official descriptions. It is important to note that NFTs inherently possess absolute scarcity, which cannot be broken or artificially interfered with. From this perspective, NFT + Labubu seems to be more intriguing, but that is another story.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。