Labubu, Baby Three bubble bursts, leaving many collectors with regret

"They said the model is out of style and would only buy it for display," the 24-year-old office worker in Thu Duc Ward, HCMC, said. "I was devastated."

In late 2024, Ngoc went on to spend more than VND7 million building a Baby Three collection of over 10 items. She planned to buy a few as keepsakes at first but after browsing online groups for collectors daily, she was pulled into a shopping spiral driven by a fear of missing out. She said she was motivated by the excitement of unboxing and owning rare models priced between VND250,000 and VND900,000.

By early 2025, the craze for Labubu and Baby Three figures had begun to taper off, and official products became widely available, reducing scarcity. As the novelty wore off, Ngoc lost interest in hunting for new Baby Three figures.

Pop Mart Labubu counter in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China, on Oct. 30, 2025. Photo by NurPhoto via AFP

In July 2025, she decided to sell her collection after noticing them gathering dust on the shelf. By then, the market had shifted. In Facebook groups for Labubu and Baby Three collectors, reselling posts made up more than 90% of the content.

"I realized many people were trying to sell off their collection, just like me," she said.

Buyers were scarce. Rare models previously in high demand now drew little interest and were offered at sharply reduced prices.

"When I look back at how many Baby Three figures I bought and calculate the money spent, I feel a deep sense of regret. If I had bought gold instead, everything might have been different," Ngoc said.

The global art toy market is facing collapse after a period of rapid growth. Bloomberg found that by the end of 2025, secondary-market prices of major art toy lines such as Labubu and Baby Three had fallen by nearly 24% after new releases. Shares of Pop Mart, owner of the Labubu brand, dropped nearly 40% from their peak, equivalent to a loss of US$11-13 billion in market value.

The decline has led to widespread buyer’s remorse among collectors. A VnExpress survey of online Labubu groups in Vietnam found that posts about offloading items significantly outnumbered buying demand.

Vo Ngoc Hieu, 30, a collector-turned-seller, said the market has been sluggish in recent months. He said the number of art toy buyers has fallen by half compared to the peak in late 2024.

"Models that were once ‘hot’ are no longer rare. Many people look at their collection and realize they bought on impulse and now only feel regret over the money spent," Hieu said.

Duc Tien, 31, of Thu Duc Ward, HCMC, also stopped collecting Labubu in April 2025 after acquiring more than 80 figures.

"My only regret is that I initially planned to buy two or three figures for fun but ended up buying too many," he said.

After spending tens of millions of dong, he now faces a dilemma, as selling yields little while keeping the toys feels wasteful.

Duc Tien in Thu Duc Ward, Dec. 2025. Photo courtesy of Tien.

Phan Dung Khanh, Director of Investment Advisory at Maybank Investment Bank, said the cycle of rapid growth followed by a sharp decline occurs in many consumer products. He cited past trends such as pearl yogurt and seven-level spicy noodles, which drew strong online attention before the number of shops and followers nosedived as interest faded.

When a trend winds down or a product is no longer scarce, buyer’s remorse can emerge. As prices continue to decline, financial pressure may prompt some people to cut losses. Others, without financial stress, may realize their interest has waned or their living space is limited, leading them to stop collecting and sell off their items.

Khanh advises consumers to define their budget before following a trend to avoid affecting personal finances.

"Consumers need to assess whether a product has long-term value or is only a short-lived trend and avoid spending due to herd mentality," he said.