I first knew something was up when the emails started.
It was a normal Tuesday morning, processing orders for PopNya, and I saw three separate messages in my inbox with the same strange subject line: "Do you have the blue boo boo?"
My first thought was, "The what?" I've been deep in the LABUBU world for years. I know the series, the artists, the chase figures. I know the difference in texture between the Macaron series and the Forest Concert series. But "blue boo boo"? That wasn't in any official catalog.
I did a quick search and my screen was flooded. TikToks with millions of views. A little blue LABUBU figure, usually held in a car, with a cutesy, high-pitched audio clip saying something like "hola bubu." It was adorable. It was viral. And it was causing a very specific kind of chaos in the designer toy community.
So, let's clear this up right away. There is no official LABUBU figure named "blue boo boo." It's a fan nickname, a piece of internet slang born from social media, that has latched onto one specific figure and turned it into a phenomenon.
The Real Identity of "Blue Boo Boo"
The figure everyone is losing their minds over is from The Monsters Exciting Macaron series. Specifically, it's the one called "Sea Salt Coconut." It's a common figure in a blind box series that retails for around $17. Let me repeat that: a common figure.
In the world of blind boxes, "common" means it's one of the standard designs in the set. You have a 1 in 12 chance of getting it in a standard case. It's not a "secret" or "chase" figure, which are produced in much smaller quantities and are intentionally rare.
But the internet doesn't care about production ratios.
The "blue boo boo" trend seems to have exploded on TikTok and its Chinese counterpart, Xiaohongshu. Someone, somewhere, posted a video of their cute Sea Salt Coconut LABUBU, maybe paired it with a trending audio, and it caught fire. The specific shade of pastel, powdery blue, combined with LABUBU's inherently mischievous and adorable face, was the perfect recipe for viral content. It's cute, it's aesthetic, and it's easily shareable.
This is where the term "hola bubu" comes in. It's often the audio clip paired with these videos. The combination of the visual (the blue figure) and the audio ("hola bubu") created a powerful, memorable meme. People weren't just searching for a blue LABUBU; they were searching for the physical embodiment of this cute internet moment.
A Seller's Nightmare: When a Common Becomes a Chase
From a seller's perspective, this trend has been… wild. Suddenly, a figure that I would normally sell for a standard price as part of the Macaron set became the most requested item in the store. People weren't asking for the Macaron series; they were asking for one specific figure from it.
This creates a huge problem. We buy these figures in sealed cases of 12. To get one "Sea Salt Coconut," we have to open a whole box. What do we do with the other 11 figures that are now, in the eyes of the trend-followers, less desirable?
The secondary market answered that question with pure, unfiltered capitalism.
I watched in real-time as the price for a loose, out-of-box Sea Salt Coconut figure went from its expected value of about $15-$20 to $40, then $60, and at the peak of the hype, I saw listings for $80 or more. For a common.
This is a classic example of what I call the "Common as a Chase" phenomenon. Social media hype artificially inflates the demand for a single, mass-produced item to the point where its market value completely detaches from its actual rarity. It's the same dynamic that drove the price of The Loyalty Labubu through the roof, but this time, it was for a figure that was, by design, not rare at all.
It puts collectors in a tough spot. Do you pay 4x the retail price for a single common figure just to satisfy the trend? It also puts sellers like me in a weird position. Do I break up my sets and contribute to the price inflation, or do I hold firm and tell customers it only comes as part of a random assortment? We've chosen the latter, because we believe in the fun of the blind box experience, not just chasing the one "it" toy.
Real Talk: A Warning About the Blue Boo Boo Hype
This is the part where I have to be the bad guy. As a collector and a seller, I need to give you some honest advice.
Be extremely careful when buying a "blue boo boo" on the secondary market.
Because the demand is so high, the fakes and customs are already appearing. I've seen it with my own eyes. People are taking other, less popular LABUBU figures, painting them a similar shade of blue, and trying to pass them off as the real Sea Salt Coconut. Some are even 3D printing copies.
How to spot an authentic Sea Salt Coconut LABUBU: 1. The Material: The real figure has a specific matte, slightly velvety texture. It's not glossy. The fakes often use cheap, shiny plastic or have a rough, uneven paint job. 2. The Markings: Check the bottom of the feet. The authentic figure will have the proper POP MART and Kasing Lung copyright information clearly and crisply printed. Fakes often have blurry, misspelled, or missing text. 3. The Color: This is the hardest part, but the real "Sea Salt Coconut" is a very specific, slightly muted, pastel blue. It's not a bright, primary blue. Compare any potential purchase to official photos from POP MART. 4. The Box and Card: If you can, get it with the original box and character card. The card is another point of verification. The printing should be high quality. This is similar to the importance of the card in other series, which can sometimes feel like a whole other collectible, as we've discussed with what a Labubu card really is.
Honestly, the rise of customs and fanart is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it shows incredible passion from the community, and we've talked before about why Labubu fanart is so important. But when people start passing off customs as authentic, hyped products, it crosses a line into scam territory.
Our Take
So, is the "blue boo boo" worth the hype?
No. And yes.
No, it is absolutely not worth paying $80 for a common figure. The trend will pass. In a few months, there will be a new "it" color, a new viral TikTok sound, and a new LABUBU in the spotlight. Those who paid exorbitant prices will be left holding a figure worth a fraction of what they paid. It's a fascinating case study in how internet culture can temporarily rewrite the rules of supply and demand, but it's a dangerous game for collectors to play.
But yes, the phenomenon itself is a testament to the power of Kasing Lung's design. Why did this specific figure go viral? Because it's genuinely a great design. The color is perfect. The sculpt is full of personality. The reason it works as a meme is because the base product is so charming. It's a reminder of why people like Labubu in the first place: they are little canvases for emotion and storytelling, even in a 15-second video clip.
My advice? If you love the Sea Salt Coconut LABUBU, don't buy it from a scalper. Buy a few boxes from the Exciting Macaron series. Try your luck. You might pull it, and you'll get the authentic thrill of the blind box hunt. Or you might pull the "Lychee" or "Sesame" one and discover a new favorite. The whole point of this hobby is the joy of discovery, not just acquiring the one thing everyone else has. The popularity of LABUBU is still incredibly strong, and as we've seen, the question of if Labubus are still popular has a clear and resounding answer.
The "blue boo boo" is a moment in time. A fun, silly, viral trend that brought a smile to millions of faces. And that's great! But as a collector, your collection should be about what brings you joy in the long term, not just what's trending on your For You page today.
Don't let the hype distract you from the hundreds of other incredible designs out there. Take a look at the full LABUBU collection and you'll see a whole world of monsters beyond the "blue boo boo", each one waiting to become your new favorite.
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