Thousands of dollars' worth of Labubus stolen as toy's popularity continues to soar
The store, One Stop Sales, shared footage of the robbery on social media.
LA PUENTE, Calif. -- Dozens of boxes of the popular Labubu toy totaling around $7,000 were stolen from a store in La Puente, California, this week, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Joanna Avendano, co-owner of One Stop Sales, said her shop had only been open for two months when it was burglarized early Wednesday morning.
"We worked so hard to get to this point, and for them to just come in and, like nothing, take it all away, it's really bad," she said.
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Surveillance footage from inside the store captured the moment the suspects smashed through the front door just after 2 a.m.
"A gut feeling to check my phone," recalled Avendano. "Once I checked my phone, I saw there was motion, a sound that was coming through the front."
The suspects bypassed electronics, cash and other merchandise, targeting only the high-value Labubu dolls, the whimsical, wide-eyed collectible, monster plushies that have gone viral on TikTok and gained popularity through celebrity endorsements.
"I was watching everything, from when they got in, what they were taking," said Avendano. "I was panicking because I was just ... I couldn't do anything."
Avendano said she believes the break-in was planned.
She had noticed a suspicious truck parked near the store before closing Tuesday night and suspects the burglars had been watching the shop's social media account, where she had recently posted a video announcing a new restock.
Deputies told ABC News Thursday that the suspects remain at large but they have recovered the stolen white Toyota Tacoma used in the crime.
Avendano hopes someone will recognize the suspects or the truck seen near the shop.
Labubus, which debuted in China in 2015, have exploded in global popularity, spotted on celebrities like Rihanna, Lizzo, and BLACKPINK's Lisa and growing into a billion-dollar industry.
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Revenue for Pop Mart, the Chinese designer toy company behind Labubus, doubled in 2024, reaching $1.8 billion, according to Pop Mart's annual financial report. While the doll retails for about $30, they can go for hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars on the resale market.
On social media, videos show crowds packing store entrances and pop-ups, lining up for a chance to score a box.
Alex DePaoli, an associate teaching professor of marketing at Northeastern University's School of Business, told ABC News that part of the Labubu appeal comes from their marketed rarity and the way they are sold through a "blind box" system.
"[It's a] system essentially where you don't know what's in the box, you hope that what's in the box is what you want," DePaoli said in an interview that aired Friday on "Good Morning America." "If you don't get what you want, you've got to go buy another one. A lot of folks have sort of likened that sort-of system to almost gambling."
The market for Labubus has become so popular that some consumers are turning to counterfeit alternatives known as "Lafufus," which are made with lower-quality materials and may have different features than authentic Labubus.
"They're not just toys, they are accessories," DePaolis said of the Labubu craze. "They are things that you can collect, not just to dress them up, not just be amused by, but also to complete an outfit."
ABC News contributed to this report.
