Labubu dolls are hard to come by. Even at the giant flagship store of their maker, Pop Mart, in Shanghai, throngs of customers are told they need to wait a week or longer. The grimacing elvish creatures, which come in “blind boxes” that keep buyers in suspense over which one they might get, sell for as little as $20. But a rare variety sold for $150,000 at an auction on June 10th. It is not just Chinese children trying to get their hands on the dolls; celebrities including David Beckham, a British football player, and Rihanna, an American pop star, have recently gone public with their appreciation.
