Do you remember Furbies? Those creepy little monsters of fur and plastic, glued together by cheap child labor and Epoxy? Neither do I, but Furbies were a massive trend at the end of the last millennium. In fact, Hasbro created five generations of Furbies over two decades. Over 40 Million furbies were manufactured, yet they are nothing but a footnote in American culture, like Beanie Babies and Tamagotchi pets. They all became yet another plastic fad, another anamorphic waste to rot in a dump for the next millennium.
Enter Labubus: another creepy little monster of fur and plastic. Originally from Hong Kong, the plush toys were designed by Kasing Lung and released in 2015 with ‘Monsters’ figurines inspired by Nordic mythology and folklore. But it was in 2019, following a collaboration with Pop Mart, that Labubu popularity began to grow among collectors, including Blackpink member Lisa who, in 2024, was spotted with a Labubu on a keychain. The Labubu craze soon spread from South Korea to Thailand, the Philippines, and eventually North America with help from influencers like Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and Dua Lipa. Influencer Lilz Bullz, of 24k gold TikTok satire fame, told The Panther Post, ““ I tried to buy one, but they were sold out everywhere, even on the Pop Mart lives. As I couldn’t get a standard Labubu, I thought why not make the only 24k gold Labubu in the world?” Why not, indeed.
The dolls then made their way to TikTok where the demand became large enough to crash the Pop Mart website on more than one occasion. Though this extreme step is humorous, it also highlights the absurdity of fast fads, like Labubu and the heaps of other trends to come before it. Between the campaign posters and the classroom decor, Labubus have even become an installation at Cypress, with a rose gold (not 24k!) Labubu greeting you as you walk into Mrs. Brick room.
“I learned about Labubus from my daughter, Savannah,” Mrs. Brick told us. “My Labubu was a gift from her this summer and I decided it would have a happy life in my classroom. Students from all of my classes voted to name it 24K.” This is, of course, a reference to the now infamous TikTok by Lilz Bullz.
The concept that a trend can be so temporary, that making one out of pure gold is then comedic Feels like something that deserves a Ted talk. It seems that our society has become so used to the speed at which these trends come and go that it is difficult to notice that we are losing sentimentality and the ability to cherish these items because as soon as we connect with one, something else becomes the hot new thing.
