Labubu secret figures drive chase culture, resale prices, and collector frenzy

Why the secret figure is the whole game

The smallest Labubu in a blind-box drop can do more than finish a shelf; it can send resale prices into four figures and make one pull feel like a community event. Pop Mart builds that tension into The Monsters line on purpose: secret figures are the hidden chase pieces inside the box, and the chance of drawing one changes from set to set.

Pop Mart says Kasing Lung created The Monsters in 2015 in three picture books inspired by Nordic mythology, with Labubu standing out as the most recognizable character in the world. The character’s mischievous look and kind-hearted personality are a big part of the appeal, because collectors are not just buying plastic, they are buying into a story universe that feels established and expandable.

On TikTok and elsewhere, the moment a collector says “I got the secret” becomes its own reward signal. That is why one rare pull can travel farther than an ordinary restock photo: it turns a private unboxing into a public win.

How the odds actually work

For most Labubu collectors, the headline number is around one in 72. That is the common secret-figure mechanic, but some older or collaboration releases are even tighter, landing at roughly one in 120, one in 144, or one in 168. Those odds matter because they explain why certain pulls turn into status pieces instead of just another variant.

This is not random trivia; it is the business model. Pop Mart’s product pages say the secret chance varies by set, and that variability is what keeps every new release from feeling interchangeable. The game is simple: the harder the pull, the louder the bragging rights.

Which figures carry the most heat

If you are tracking where premiums are most likely to spike, focus first on the hardest-to-find chase variants and the releases with the strongest collector memory. The ID variant from Big into Energy was the clearest example in early 2026, reaching four-figure resale prices before cooling to more sustainable levels. That kind of move tells you what the market rewards: scarcity, recognizable design, and a set that already has active demand.

Release timing also matters. Big into Energy arrived on April 25, 2025, Have a Seat on July 12, 2024, and Exciting Macaron on October 27, 2023. Older series tend to carry more nostalgia and lower remaining supply, while collaboration or novelty lines, such as Coca-Cola and Wacky Mart, can get a premium when they tap a wider fan base beyond core Labubu buyers.

Buying signals that matter before you pay resale

The best chase purchases usually have one of three things working in their favor: a tough secret ratio, a set with a proven fan base, or a collaboration that reaches beyond the usual collector pool. A Labubu secret with a 1:120, 1:144, or 1:168 pull rate has a very different risk profile from a newer, easier secret, and that difference shows up fast in resale.

Watch for these signals before you buy:

• A collaboration tag, especially with a brand that pulls in casual buyers as well as collectors.
• An older release with fewer clean pulls circulating on the secondary market.
• A chase that has already peaked at four figures and is now easing back, which can mean the hype has moved ahead of the price.
• A current drop that is still being opened widely, because fresh supply can keep prices from running away too early.

If a secret is already priced like a trophy before the set has had time to settle, you are usually paying for excitement, not just scarcity.

When to rip, when to hold

If you are buying for the thrill, ripping sealed boxes makes sense when the set is fresh and retail access is still realistic. Newer drops, especially ones with visible momentum like the March 12, 2026 Sanrio Characters blind-box collaboration listed for 7:00 PM PST, are where the hunt feels most alive because the market has not fully settled yet.

If you are trying to protect money, pause when resale chatter gets ahead of the actual odds. The clearest warning sign is a chase already trading at a huge premium before the market has had time to digest supply, because that usually means you are paying for hype, not just rarity. A cooling chase can still be collectible, but it becomes a very different buy once the first wave of speculation passes.

The resale market is still being reset

Labubu pricing is not crashing out of relevance, it is being recalibrated. CNBC reported that Pop Mart wanted Labubu to be accessible and warned that a model driven only by profit would eventually crash, which matches what collectors have been seeing as resale prices move away from peak speculation. That is why a cooled price on a once-overheated secret can be healthier than a fresh frenzy.

The larger market picture supports that reading. Associated Press reported on March 25, 2026 that Pop Mart’s 2025 revenue hit 37.1 billion yuan, up 185 percent year over year, and profit reached 12.8 billion yuan, up more than 300 percent. The same report said about 38 percent of revenue came from The Monsters IP, and CEO Wang Ning said Labubu is becoming “a lifestyle for more people” rather than just “a passing craze.” That is the clearest sign that this is no longer a side hobby inside Pop Mart’s lineup.

Counterfeits are part of the story now

When a toy line gets this hot, fake product follows. Chinese customs said it seized more than 40,000 suspected counterfeit Labubu products in June 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Seattle seized 11,134 counterfeit dolls in September 2025 valued at nearly $514,000, and Shanghai police said they detained eight people and seized about 5,000 fake Labubu toys worth roughly $1.7 million. Those numbers are a warning to anyone paying a premium on the secondary market: authentication is no longer optional.

The fake-market pressure also tells you how far the brand has spread. Once counterfeits are moving at that scale, the real market starts rewarding buyers who know how to read packaging, release history, and where a piece sits in the line’s timeline. In practice, that means a secret figure with a suspiciously low price is just as much a red flag as an inflated one.

Why the chase keeps expanding

Labubu is now being pulled into a bigger commercial machine. Financial Times reported in January 2026 that Pop Mart was planning a New York Fifth Avenue store while facing questions about whether the craze was globally sustainable, and Associated Press later reported that Pop Mart had confirmed a Labubu movie partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Add the company’s theme park in Beijing and manufacturing partners in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico, and China, and the chase culture starts to look less like a passing collectible trend and more like the center of a global franchise.

That matters for collectors because every new channel, from film to retail to licensed collaborations, refreshes the audience and reopens demand for older secrets. The most important move now is not just chasing the rarest pull, but understanding which releases have lasting collector gravity. In Labubu, rarity still drives the hunt, but the real advantage belongs to the buyer who can tell a true scarcity play from a temporary spike.