China’s blind box toys captivate global fans

Chinese cultural sensation Labubu, created by toy giant Pop Mart, has gained massive popularity in South Africa as the hottest plush collectible.

Originally children's book characters, Labubus shot to fame as collector's items after Pop Mart turned them into blind-box figures.

"As a collector myself, I can tell you that this trend is on par with Pokemon in terms of the current black market, how in-demand this stuff is. I collect Pokemon cards so I can relate to the two. In terms of the two most collectible things of 2025, its probably a Labubu doll and other Pop Mart pendants and Pokemon cards. They are both the same, you can't get your hands on either," said Dean Pillay, a distributor of Pop Mart.

Thousands of orders flood in, leaving retailers scrambling to meet the explosive demand.

"Literally as soon as we get the next drop of Labubus they are pretty much gone. We've got a waiting list at the moment, so we have probably about 300 people already on that waiting list, and so they're probably not even going to hit the shelves," said Sheree Steenkamp, Brand and Project Manager of Nexus Media.

The thrill of the unknown fuels the craze. Collector Zaid Motala owns six Labubus, but each unboxing still sets his heart racing.

"I'm hoping for either Dada of Baba Kuku or the secret. So we'll see. Let's see. Let's see. Who do we have, Right, this is awesome. So this one over here is a Sisi and it is especially cute because it is adorable right? And now it has a twin over here. So while I have two of these. Right. The best part about it is that most people are buying all kinds of crazy for this, because this is one of the more adorable ones," said Motala.