Police in Australia arrested a man accused of stealing more than 40 Labubu dolls worth more than £4,000.
The bizarre theft came to light during a police search at a property in Melbourne’s west on Tuesday.
At least 43 Labubu dolls were found during the search operations carried out by police inside the Webb Road property in Airport West, said Victoria Police in a press release titled “These Labubu are not for you you”.
Mainly sold by the Chinese toy company Pop Mart, the designer toy-turned-fashion-collectables are sold from Pop Mart brick-and-mortar stores, the platform’s online store, and its TikTok live streams.
The fuzzy toy was designed in 2015 by Hong Kong-born illustrator Kasing Lung as part of his collection of characters, The Monsters, inspired by Dutch and Nordic folklore.
Earlier this summer, Labubus were reportedly reselling for more than £1,000 each, with a child-sized Labubu selling for more than $150,000.
The dolls confiscated in Melbourne by the police are estimated to be of around AUS $9000 (£4390). The police officials also found limited edition toy dolls of about AUS$500 (£243) each among the confiscated dolls.
“Officers from the Melbourne East Neighbourhood Policing Team executed the warrant at the Webb Road property about 6am on Tuesday 21 October,” the police said.
According to the police officials, these high-demand toys were stolen during a series of burglaries at a Melbourne CBD shopping centre since July.
“It is alleged the dolls were stolen during four separate burglaries at a shopping centre on the corner of La Trobe and Swanston streets in Melbourne since July,” they said in a statement. The police have charged a 40-year-old Australian national with burglary and theft for the crime of stealing the Labubu dolls.
He will be appearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 5 May next year for bail.
The crimes surrounding the prestigious furry elf-like toys have been reported in the UK as well.
In September this year, border force chiefs said fake Labubu dolls make up 90 per cent of potentially “dangerous” fake toys coming into the UK.
Agents have seized more than 259,000 counterfeit toys at the border so far this year, worth around £3.5m, new Home Office data shows. They said around 236,000 of these were knock-off versions of the collectible Pop Mart monster dolls, which have prompted long queues and bedlam inside shops after going viral.
Genuine Labubu dolls, which can retail for hundreds of pounds, are identified by their furry monster-like appearance. The counterfeit dolls often have twisted limbs, misshapen heads or the incorrect number of teeth – real Labubus have nine.
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