Is Labubu Fine Art? Life-Sized Monster Sells for a Shocking Price
Mint mischief: This grinning vinyl art toy just became the most expensive Labubu ever sold. With nearly 30 million monthly searches on Google, Labubu, created by artist Kasing Lung, is the hottest IP in town.
⏰ WED Jun 11, 2025 @ 9 PM PST
🐟 Published from Seattle, WA
🔨 Built by Chase Burns Broderick
Beijing’s Yongle International Auction turned blind-box fandom into blue-chip spectacle on Tuesday afternoon, 10 June 2025, when all 48 Labubu lots offered at the Phoenix Center’s two-hour sale (2–4 p.m. CST) found buyers, yielding a white-glove total of ¥3.73 million (about US $520k). The star was a unique, 131-centimetre Mint Green Labubu that leapt to a ¥1.08 million hammer—¥1.242 million with premium, or roughly US $172k—before an audience of roughly 1,000 online bidders and 200 collectors in the room. By nightfall the Weibo hashtag reporting the result had topped 50 million reads, sealing Pop Mart’s snaggle-toothed mascot as the newest six-figure contender in the designer-toy arena.
🧑🎨 MORE: Who Made Labubu? Meet the Artists Behind Pop Mart’s Most Iconic Toys
FAST FACTS
• Auction house: Yongle International Auction, Beijing
• Venue: Phoenix Center (public preview ran 3 – 9 June)
• Auction date & time: Tuesday 10 June 2025, 2 – 4 p.m. CST
• Lots offered / sold: 48 / 48 (a white-glove sale)
• Total sales: ¥3.73 million (≈ US $518 – 525k)
• Top lot: 131 cm Mint Labubu (catalogued as “薄荷色”), 1-of-1, PVC
• Price with premium: ¥1.242 million (≈ US $172k)
• Participation: ≈ 1,000 online bidders, ≈ 200 in-room
• Social reach: Weibo hashtag #初代Labubu被108万拍卖成交# passed 50 million reads within 24 hours
LOT LEADERBOARD
131 cm Mint Labubu (unique) — ¥1,080,000 / ~US $150k
160 cm Brown Labubu (edition 15) — ¥820,000 / ~US $113k
“Three Wise Labubu” PVC trio, 40 cm each (edition 120) — ¥510,000 / ~US $70k
(Exchange rate at close: ¥7.19 = US $1.)
Sixteen more lots cleared ¥10k, and three others broke ¥500k. All 48 pieces opened at no reserve.
WHY THIS MATTERS
• Designer toys enter the big-league. Blind-box figures that retail for ¥50 (~US $7) just produced a US $170k comp, putting Labubu alongside grail sneakers and KAWS vinyl.
• Pop Mart halo. A one-off Labubu cracking seven figures (RMB) strengthens every sister IP—MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, DIMOO—and helped nudge Pop Mart’s HK-listed stock to a fresh high.
• Demographic flex. Local outlets reported a heavily female, Gen-Z-leaning crowd; the youngest registered buyer was nine months old (family spent ¥32k).
• Not a one-off hype cycle. Yongle’s art director told Beijing News they will hold monthly Labubu auctions now that the proof-of-concept is public.
