KUALA LUMPUR: The trendy Labubu figurines have become a hot item, so much so that a teenager expressed her irritation after her figurine was stolen right off her bag in Singapore recently.
According to a report by 8world, a teenager's said her brown Labubu figurine was "taken" while she and her friends were out shopping in Orchard Road.
Park Ji-eun, a 17-year-old student of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, told 8world that the figurine had been hanging from her bag, but when she returned home later, she found that only the hook remained.
As the hook on the figurine was difficult to remove, she believed that a thief had cut the figurine off the hook.
Shortly after, her friends sent her several short videos of similar incidents, where other Labubu figurines had also been cut off by thieves, with only their hooks left behind.
"I'm really upset. Many people have these Labubu figurines. Is it really necessary to steal a toy?" Park was quoted as saying by 8world.
As these figurines had gone viral, many people resorted to buying them from second-hand sellers online. A second-hand figurine, still in its original packaging, could sell for as much as S$50, while rarer versions might fetch up to a staggering S$280.
A simple search on platforms like Carousell yielded over 10,000 results for Labubu figurines, with most brand-new unopened ones listed at double the original price.
While it's unclear if the increasing second-hand market prices were linked to the frequent thefts, such incidents had become common.
Another incident was shared on TikTok recently, where a young woman's Labubu keychain was stolen from her bag in Indonesia.
In the end, Park decided not to file a police report, as she felt the process was too troublesome. After all, she said, it's just a figurine and not worth the effort.
Labubu's fame may largely be attributed to K-pop icon Lisa from BLACKPINK, who was seen carrying the doll in public. This sparked a trend across Southeast Asia, with fans eagerly searching for the doll.