They're tiny, they're mischievous, and they are taking over the world one blind box at a time.
From cult collectibles to global pop culture sensations, Chinese toy brands are rewriting the rules of cute.
The toys are sometimes so popular, in fact, did you see this in the news?
That stores stopped selling them? What's behind this hype and why can't the world get enough?
We are live from I'm Beijing. This is Roundtable.
My name is Steve. I thank you very much for being with us today.
And for today's program, I'm joined by Niu Honglin and Yuxin. first on the show it's small it's mischievous oh those little teeth those little teeth impossibly cute And it's taking over the world.
Laboo Boo. You know about Laboo Boo now, of course.
It's the elf-like figure from Chinese toy giant Pop Mart. who has become the face of a global cute invasion.
From viral TikTok trends in the States, to high-end store displays in Paris, this little pint-sized character is drawing crowds that wrap around city blocks sparking social media frenzies and even inspiring limited edition collaborations with some major brands.
But here's the thing. Libubu is not alone.
It's leading an entire wave of Chinese-designed companies. cool toys that are redefining global pop culture with their bold designs and their mysterious blind box appeal.
Those are fun. They're also irresistibly charming.
These little collectibles are captivating fans from Beijing to Bangkok to Boston. turning casual shoppers into devoted collectors.
Nyong Lin and Yushan, do you have a labubu?
Do not have the luxury of having one. I've never even seen one.
And I'm here. Have you? I haven't even seen one before.
And I'm actually in the place where they're coming from.
Yusheng and I, we saw one in an unexpected location.
Yes, and it is, I think, the highest franchise in this world, which is located in Xizang.
So we went to the store and saw the one that is on the shelf, but it's not for sale.
Oh, The mint green one, very popular, very interesting.
And the fun thing is it's... on the high plateau.
That's how high the invasion goes. Unbelievable, isn't it?
It's almost impossible to get your hands on one. these days.
We're going to talk about that but there are other examples that we're going to discuss as well.
But these pop toys, just for a little bit of background, Yushun, These Pop Toys are collectibles, yes, and these stores are quite commonly found.
Yeah, so sometimes they're called like art toys or designer toys.
And these are collectibles created by these artists and designers and typically sold in some limited editions because They are in the form of what we call a blind box or mystery box.
And you don't know what's inside and that is why some people are chasing after these kind of things because you never know when you're going to get your limited edition of your Labooboo.
Totally, because if you're collecting and you're looking for one, right?
You're looking for that last piece of the puzzle, the last part of the collection.
So you keep buying the boxes, keep buying the boxes.
Right. Yes. And at the same time, we see that Wang Yusheng said you don't know what's inside well you don't know which exact version or which exact one is inside, but people are buying different collections.
And it's becoming something that is less than a toy, but more of... an item that you attach deeply with and also it's quite expensive.
And being expensive is designed by the stores.
We'll get into that a bit later. Yeah, exactly.
So these are called designer toys, yeah?
Mm-hmm. Because they focus on original ideas and also strong artistic styles. they have their own unique actors or on that kind of intellectual property idea and carry a luxury feel and a lot of cultural value and people are chasing after these and Um, of course we're gonna discuss it later, like why it is so popular.
But of course, some of the celebrities bring out that kind of sensation that they tag them on the bag or something like that.
Yeah, it's not just kids, right? Typically we think of dolls, these are for children, but that's not the case here yeah so the main buyers is teenagers and also adults over the age of 14 who are looking for something that fits their personal style or characteristics offers emotional connection, also is cool to share with friends on social media, of course.
Yeah, speaking of social media, it's an absolute magnet and it's part of the reason that these little dolls are so popular overseas right now.
They are very popular in store as well from... um louis in paris to oxford street in london pop mart stores have become tourist I'm talking about the store that are selling labubus and fans queue for hours, sometimes arriving at 7.30 a.m. just to grab a limited edition.
And for the global retail market, by the end of 2024, had stores in over 30 countries and regions with over 500 physical shops and more than 2,300 robotic vending machines worldwide.
And when we say that these toys are designed to be seen as luxurious goods, it's for good reasons. for a lot of Pop Mart stores around the world.
They are designed to be located around the stores or neighboring the luxurious goods stores. louis vuitton and you for those of you do not know this i i just learned this this morning If you want a location next to Louis Vuitton, you need the proof of the mall and also also the proof of Louis Vuitton itself.
What? Really? Because they care about the vibe that their consumers are surrounded with.
And that's why. being able to do that shows that pop mart has that sees in their hearts of making themselves as a type of luxurious I mean, I get it.
You don't want to have a dollar store next to a Louis Vuitton.
Yeah. But at the same time, I didn't know Louis Vuitton had that much power in deciding who gets to sit next to them at the table.
That's pretty interesting. Some big overseas sales, Yuxuan, yeah?
So 2024 overseas sales. Online revenue reached 1.4 billion yuan, that's about 204. million US dollars, and that is an yearly increase of more than 800%.
Wow. And also in other regions, Southeast Asia was the biggest market for up 619% year on year.
Also, North America was the fastest growing region up 557% year on year.
And TikTok, this statistic will blow your mind.
TikTok shop sales alone surged nearly 5,800%.
5,000. Yeah, not 58% or 580%. I mean, take those with a grain of salt obviously because that just means that the sales weren't there before and all of a sudden this toy just boomed, right?
That makes sense. But still, it's still really, really impressive.
I saw headlines, and this toy is still dominating headlines.
This is from CNN from May of this year. This is the headline.
Sales of viral plush toy Labubu halted in UK stores after reports of brawls.
People are fighting over this toy. Here's another headline from the New York Post this morning.
California police recover $30,000 worth of Lububu dolls. after they were stolen from a warehouse this is from AOL this morning How to spot a fake labubu, Pop Mart's advice for getting the real deal.
By the way, the advice is buy directly through. verified retailers or PopMart itself.
But it just shows you, right? You've got Theft happening of these dolls worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
You've got the knockoffs coming out because people are trying to capitalize. on this where they're not supposed to be capitalizing on this.
It's really quite the sensation. But again, it's not.
And I mentioned this before. It's not just Pop Mart.
It's not just Labubu. There are other brands that are making waves, too. yeah some of the brands are will also like to you know take the market share meaning so a chinese brand famous for its like 10 yuan stores.
It's it's design a toy brand top toy. So essentially, it's kind of a substory of this a brand opening a store in this well-known Malaysian shopping mall and it has been warmly received by local consumers ever since.
And they got some pretty big plans. They want to open flagship stores in 100 shopping spots around the world from New York to Paris and they are taking some Chinese originals like Nezha and also the intellectual property of black myth Wukong to The global stage.
So they are also using these kind of franchises or IPs to... design different types of toys to sell to global markets.
They're calling themselves Google of the 20 toy industry.
I find that slogan quite interesting. Oh, that's a grand claim.
Yeah. Hey, if you're going to come in coming hot, then I guess.
Yes, and there's also 52 toys. They have posted $204 annual revenue of $600.
30 million yuan, which is around 88 million US dollars.
So the brand is called 52 Toys. Yes, that is the brand. brand's name and also they are looking at a 30% year on year growth. and it's Thai business growing over 300 percent, which I think is a strong demand for Chinese designer toys in the Southeast Asian market, which coincides with the situation of Labubu because the first popularization of the toy happened in Thailand.
And it started with the minister or the head of the Department of the Tourism of Thai, welcoming a human inside of the booboo costume in the in the airport.
So that was the debut of the toy in Thailand.
And that soon started the frenzy of the thailand people loving labubu and that started the entire fire of the entire what a great idea because you know a person inside a libubu costume getting off an airplane saying I'm here now And being welcomed at the airport.
Yes. Yeah, that's really a genius marketing idea.
Alright, so why then? I mean, these Chinese toys, we just looked at some of the statistics, that's proof enough.
So now we know they are killing it overseas, but why?
Why are they winning the hearts of people?
I think we had a lot of discussion on this and we've been talking about the reasons why for so many times of course social media takes a huge role in this um and celebrities are wearing them and that is why their fans are chasing after this and it is becoming kind of fashion trend even on collaborating with these luxurious brands and another point I would like to mention is that the I think The marketing strategy that they are using, of course, they're leveraging online shopping platforms.
And one is TikTok shops. a platform and PopMart launched like their new products, including the different names of Laboom.
I'm not sure they're Labubus, but Zimomo, Crybaby, and Demu.
Molly. model yeah kind of thing and like you know trending these things and which sold out instantly in their live streams, which is on the platform of TikTok shop. and viewers caught them impossible to get.
And during the launch, PopMart offered free shipping store wide leaving a strong first impression on new customers and that is why how they That is how they like expand their whole market online.
Yes. And it has something to do with the founder of these different types of franchises or toy stores.
I've read a story about a... the CEO and the founder of another Chinese toy factory.
The factory's name is Motor Nuclear, and they are making machine or matcha-themed auction figures.
So those little transformers are happening in the form of a figure and you can play with it.
And what's fun about that is that the founder was a huge fan of these kind of toy.
And he loved his idea about these toys so much that he wrote millions of words of an entire world full of these figures and he forced his workers to read them.
And the workers were like, come on, it's just a job.
And then he realized that his own enthusiasm is good enough to start a business. and to understand and know about the world, but not good enough to cater to the needs of the market.
So he changed gear. He switched gears and he decided to learn about the market, learn about what fans want, what people were really buying these toys are one now are looking for and then He also collaborated a little bit of Chinese style and Chinese style. stories we talked about, Black Myth Wu Kong, as well as other interesting fairy tales from Chinese culture. incorporated a little bit of these elements into the designing of the toys and then it hits the market and got a huge success.
So I think there are so many elements. And one thing for sure is that you need to know about the market.
Yeah, and knowing about the market, knowing about the culture, too, when you're trying to sell in a different country.
For example, in Singapore. I saw the picture of the Merlion Labooboo.
Oh, yeah. which is very much entwined into Singaporean culture.
So they did that there. I think there was a Louvre-themed... fridge magnet that sold in France.
So obviously that's tied to the culture there as well.
So yeah, knowing where you're selling is a very smart thing to do.
I think the design of these toys, too. You mentioned Crybaby.
I think that's another Pop Mark creation.
You know, teary-eyed. But not just teary for sadness, teary for the whole range of human emotions that can bring tears out of you.
Oh, yeah. That's another... a point, I think.
They are designing stories for these characters.
They're not only designing toys, right? So that is why people would like to collect the whole series of their stories I think another brand that's really good at it is Disney, right?
I remember that huge and popular character Linabel was coming, like, to the Disneyland People were crazy about the stories of the character behind this little pink fox.
And that is why people are so in love with it.
So when people are designing these kind of Labubu and Dimomo and everything, They know what is behind it, and they probably not only fall for the cute face, but also the stories behind it.
Makes it more relatable. somehow I suppose, right?
Another good reason for the success overseas When these customers want their products, they want them very quickly, right?
And because of the supply chain, the Chinese companies are able to... really efficiently manage customers are able to international customers are able to get there products sometimes within 72 hours.
So that's impressive overseas but also Here in China, the toy industry has a pretty... tightly connected logistical network as well, does it not?
Yeah. Yeah, so actually we're talking about this in recent years.
These designer toys have become increasingly popular with global consumers and in the first four months of this year China exported more than 13 billion yuan worth of dolls and animal toys which is an year-on-year increase of 9.6%, and two regions are so good at producing these toys.
One example is Guangdong in southern China.
That's about probably a four-hour flight from Beijing.
Yeah, so only the city of Dongguan in Guangdong province. is responsible for manufacturing approximately 85% of China's pop toy and a quarter of the world's total anime related merchandise.
Really? So cool. Oh, my goodness. That place is like the heart of pop toy business.
Universe. Exactly. So this vast production capacity has led to the name of it and also...
Since 1990s, Guangdong has been the top toy exporter in China with exports growing from about 27 billion yuan in 2001 to over 105 billion yuan.
That's about more than 14 billion US dollars in 2024.
So dolls and toy animals alone make up over 20 billion. billion yuan of that.
Yeah, almost 3 billion of the 14 billion dollars come from dolls and toy animals.
And if you really think about it, for these toys to be able to be seen as luxurious goods, they need to be very delicate.
And we're not only talking about the stuffed animal type of... toys like Labubu.
We're also talking about the Transformers kind of toy.
We want them to be able to move by every joint, you want it to be very precise, which means the lathe or the machine that are making it also need to be very smart.
And with many of the toy companies in these counties, in these provinces, trying to create their own IP, upgrade their own toys they would also need the machines to be able to cater to their needs, to be able to manufacture little tiny little accessories or parts cards, let alone some toys would also have different costume, different different little furniture, little houses that you can put your precious little toys in.
So all these, all these things, adjacent products are made in these two places. and because they're doing such a good job, they would be able to upgrade their game by the minute.
So not only that, but I think the areas that you're talking about have transformed from made in China to created in China.
And we've talked about this on Roundtable before, and I think that this push is happening really successfully.
I read a story from China Daily. That's an English media outlet here. in the country.
And there was a quote from Peter Helus. He's the chief advisor to foreign investors for the Guangzhou government down south.
And this is what he said. assembling their own teams and producing products with their unique designs and technologies.
The old days of manufacturing goods for clients in other parts of the world using their technology and selling the products at very low profit margins are gone and that's in reference to that shift right away from made in China to create it in China.
I think it's a really powerful shift and it's happening kind of right in front of our eyes with a little toy doll with Sharp teeth and pointy ears.
Isn't that incredible, though? Yeah, I think back then when... we are having the idea of mating China.
That is shocking. I mean Chinese people's capability of doing things.
And that is telling the world that, okay, Chinese people can do that.
But when we are having that idea of creating China, That is, I think, showing people what we have and what we can offer.
So I think that is the idea of transforming the whole scenario right now in not only the industry, but also the cultural confidence part of things. and those who are interested in these toys and anime they are enthusiastic people They really want the image in their head to be manufactured as a toy to be popular among their peers.
They see the consumers not only as consumers, but their peers who share this love for these toys and they are quite innovative because even though we're only talking about these cool toys, or in Chinese,
Actually, these places would be able to, are able to manufacture other type of toys.
Sure. As a mom of a three-year-old, he has a lot of toys.
My son has a lot of toys and these toys can do things that are much, much out of my expectation.
I didn't used to have these toys. Some of the toys already are embedded with artificial intelligence.
What's the coolest toy he has? You can talk to them.
They will be able to reply. And instead of asking mommy why the sky is blue, he doesn't do that anymore.
He does that with his toys, to his toys, and these when I say Transformers, I mean it.
One of my boys' toys can one of my boy's toys can be transformed. into a robot and at the same time it can move around and shouting and talk to my kid and transform itself back to a twang and sometimes another one can be transformed into a plane, they can do all these sorts of cool things.
And that is because of the innovative power of the founder of these toy companies.
I mean, we mentioned it before Yeah, popular with kids, of course, but popular with adults, too.
I had a former coworker. It wasn't a Labubu doll.
It was a different doll. But traveled to... another country to Japan for a conference of fellow doll owners who and they were all friends with each other on social media, and they traveled with their dolls to that country. to have the conference together and like meet and share stories and take pictures with each other Some people might be dismissive of that, saying, oh, that's silly for adults.
But it's not silly at all and it's huge huge business and for these people who are into that.
That's their hobby, right? That's their thing.
So it's a really healthy outlet too. And we should not dismiss this at all.
So with all the positives, I guess, being said, getting China's pop. toy stores and stories overseas to different countries.
I guess there are some difficulties, I guess, that come with those two.
One thing is obvious that not every... Chinese anime or character is as popular as Labubu, right?
We mentioned a lot of names. We only know Labubu now.
Sure, yeah. lack of the global brand recognition compared to like international competitors is a common problem for new uh, franchise and characters to go overseas.
Um, They have to know who they are. Of course.
And there are so many competitors from so many global... and strong brands.
And that is how far we can go. And if we say the industrial line is a plus for Chinese tourists, then the logistic, the transportation to overseas places might be something that we need to overcome in the coming years.
Because for these type of toys, we mentioned accessories, we mentioned tiny little gadgets that are attached to these toys they also need to be very carefully managed during logistics making sure the quality of the toy is maintained even when they're traveled thousands And for Disney, for example, they have their very own logistic lines.
And if we want to make sure that some of our famous brands, our favorite Chinese toy brands can have the same level of quality no matter where they're shipped to, we need to think about the logistic chain as well.
Yeah, that's why having warehouses overseas, though, is such a huge plus, right?
Because it deals with that problem, too.
Consumers' tastes, they change. You never know when that change is going to come.
Staying ahead of the game is another big challenge, I think, but also competition, too. you know, when other companies see one toy maker achieving huge success, well then 100 more toy makers want to join the party.
Yeah, and you never know what's the next trend and the market and the brand has to be creative all the time. to meet different demands and we know that the market is gradually saturated with new brands, new designers and distribution channels and leading to fierce competition and even the brand that we're talking about, Pop Mart, they have so many different characters right and different series of toys and they are actually I don't know they're competing whether they're competing with each other or not Of course, they are like popular ones, not that popular ones.
But anyway, they have to be creative all the time to attract more consumers.
And another thing is intellectual property protection.
We already know that a lot of LeFouFous are there.
Yeah, I told you the headline before. Right.
So fake ones are getting to the market very very fast and widely And that is something that really what not the market want, not the consumers want and not the Brands want, but... The brands definitely don't.
Well... I don't know. That might be a topic for another show on another day.
There might be some sort of advantage to that somehow, some way.
Kind of like advertisement? Kind of, maybe, yeah.
All right, so those are problems that are going to come up, I think.
The next time we talk about this, if it's a different toy, it'll always repeat itself, right?
Those are the challenges. What I hope... is that AI doesn't find its way into this.
Oh, they are. They're in it. I know. You can talk to them. one of my favorite things about labubu though is that you can't talk it doesn't talk back to you you can talk to it but it doesn't talk back But obviously, AI integration is going to be a move. in future developments of pop toys too.
And also, you know, as the world gets smaller and you have more Chinese franchises and brands having success overseas you're gonna have some cultural exchanges, opportunities for cultural crossovers there, even within the toy industry, right?
Yeah, of course, these kind of industry will increasingly merge with other sectors like cultural tourism and by creating themed attractions, theme parks, and events to expand where and how consumers interacted with their products.
I saw that there is a another I think it's another brand.
They have a like Something something land which means you can get into that huge shopping mall and all the things that not only the products, but also the environment is designed for this theme.
And these are creating new environments for people to shop, also interact with the products.
And my hope is that after fall in love with these lovely, lovely toys, you would have the patience to also learn about the background stories of them. so that our precious fairy tale stories with Chinese culture, huge background culture behind it would also be able to to be appreciated.
No doubt. These toys can absolutely be cultural ambassadors at the same time.
As little playmates.
