Labubu Day March 8 announced; collectors eye staggered global Midnight Carnival launches

SmartBuy, the Alibaba-owned lifestyle/trends site, published a primer on February 26, 2026 that sets March 8, 2026 as the formal fan/brand-recognized "Labubu Day"; the excerpt supplied to this report truncates the primer’s explanation of the date’s symbolic origin at "vi." That March 8 date already appears in Alibaba’s product table as a minor restock for the Labubu Lunar New Year variant, tying the fan calendar to Pop Mart’s operational schedule.

Pop Mart’s release process remains account-driven and staggered. Alibaba’s materials state, "Pop Mart does not publish a public master calendar for Labubu," and "It relies on real-time notifications via its official app, WeChat mini-programs (for Mainland China), and email alerts—each tied to user account location and purchase history." Alibaba provides concrete timing examples: "A collector registered in Beijing will receive alerts for Chinese domestic releases 48 hours before launch, while a U.S.-based user may get the same alert only 12 hours prior—or miss it entirely if their app permissions restrict push notifications."

The Lunar New Year Labubu, described as "Red envelope variant + gold foil base," launched January 29, 2026 at "00:00 CST / 11:00 EST / 16:00 GMT" for China channels; Alibaba lists China availability as "All channels, including Tmall & JD.com." The same variant was released in Australia/New Zealand on January 30 at "08:00 AEDT via Pop Mart AU site." Alibaba’s restock schedule lists a "Major restock: February 14–16, 2026 (Valentine’s Day promo)" and a "Minor restock: March 8, 2026 (International Women’s Day)," which aligns with SmartBuy’s March 8 designation.

Collectors looking for the next big drop should mark March 15–17 for the Labubu: Midnight Carnival Series. Alibaba lists the series as "12 blind box variants + 1 secret" with regional launch times in the table header: "China: Mar 15, 10:00 CST U.S.: Mar 15, 18:00 PST EU: Mar 16, 09:00 CET." Availability is sharply regional: China gets a "Full rollout across 127 flagship stores & online," the U.S. release is "Available only at 32 Pop Mart Stores + online (CA, NY, TX, FL)," and the EU run is "Limited to Germany (18 stores), France (12), UK (8); no Italy/Spain availability." Alibaba also lists two blind-box restock windows - "First restock: April 22–24, 2026" and "Second restock: June 10–12, 2026" - and adds the explicit caveat, "Restocks apply only to blind boxes—not secret variant."

Third-party listings are already populating ancillary merchandise. Toyol Toys lists "Kasing Lung - The Calendar 2026 (The Monsters, Labubu)" and shows "1 - 3 BUSINESS DAYS OF SHIPPING & HANDLING" and "7 - 10 DAYS FOR DELIVERY," with site copy reading "Prices are in US Dollar ~ Happy Shopping 💙👻" and a visible "Just added to your cart" UX element; no price or SKU was provided in the excerpt.

With SmartBuy’s March 8 label and Alibaba’s staggered launch windows, collectors should watch March 8 for the Lunar New Year minor restock and March 15–17 for the Midnight Carnival blind-box rollout, remembering that notification timing depends on whether accounts are registered in Beijing, the U.S., or elsewhere and that the secret variant is explicitly excluded from the announced restocks.