I get the email at least once a week. Sometimes it's a DM on Instagram. It always starts the same way: "Hi, do you have the kasing lung labubu book?"
My answer is always the same, too. A polite, slightly sad, "No, I'm sorry."
Because finding a copy of The Monsters Trilogy by Kasing Lung in the wild is like finding a real-life Labubu. It's the stuff of legends, a collector's holy grail that whispers from the top of the mountain of designer toy grails. Most people have only ever seen photos of it. Many new collectors don't even know it exists, they just know the toys. But for those of us who've been in the game for a while, that book is the origin story. It's Genesis.
So, what is this mythical beast? Before the Pop Mart mega-hype, before you could find Labubu in every mall from Singapore to Ohio, there was just Kasing Lung and his whimsical, slightly melancholic world of monsters. He wasn't just designing toys; he was a storyteller, an illustrator with a style that felt like a forgotten European fairy tale. And The Monsters Trilogy Kasing Lung book was the bible.
Published by How2work way back in the day (we're talking pre-2017), it's not just one story. It's a collection of three illustrated tales: My Gym, My Dear, and My Puca. This is where the DNA of our favorite characters was born. You see the early concepts, the raw imagination before it was translated into vinyl. The art is stunning. It's ink-heavy, beautifully detailed, and carries a weight and emotion that the cute vinyl figures only hint at. This is where you truly understand that Labubu isn't just a bunny-looking thing with teeth; he's a character with a history, a personality.
One of the most enchanting parts is the story of Puca, which gives us the backstory for one of the most beloved (and sometimes elusive) characters in the monster family. Seeing these stories laid out in Kasing's original art style gives you a totally new appreciation for the figures you have on your shelf. You start to see them less as collectibles and more as little actors from a much bigger, richer narrative.
So why is it so impossible to find?
Simple. It wasn't a mass-market Barnes & Noble release. This was a niche art book for a niche community. The print run was small. To make matters worse, it was often sold as a bundle. I remember seeing it paired with an exclusive figure, a special "Book" Labubu that was holding a tiny version of the trilogy. So not only were you buying a book, you were buying a limited-edition figure. This instantly made it a high-demand item for hardcore collectors, and many were immediately locked away in private collections, never to see the light of day again.
This scarcity has created a monster of its own: the aftermarket.
I've seen copies of Kasing Lung The Monsters Trilogy sell for upwards of $500. Let me repeat that. Five. Hundred. Dollars. For a book. I saw one listing on eBay last year top out at over $700 because it included the original special figure. It's wild. And that's if you can even find a listing. They pop up maybe a few times a year on collector forums or specialized auction sites.
This is where the desperation kicks in, and where my inbox fills up with the next question: "Okay, but is there a The Monsters Trilogy Kasing Lung PDF?" or "Can I The Monsters Trilogy Kasing Lung read online?"
I get it. You love the art, you want to see the stories, but you don't have a spare $500 lying around. The short, honest answer is no. There is no official Kasing Lung The Monsters Book PDF. Kasing Lung is an artist, and his work is his livelihood. The collector community, for all its frenzy, has a deep-seated respect for the creators. Sharing pirated scans of the book is heavily frowned upon. It's seen as disrespectful to the artist who poured his soul into creating this world.
Trying to find a scan is a bit of a fool's errand, and honestly, it misses the point. This book isn't just about the information inside; it's an art object in itself. The feel of the thick, textured paper, the quality of the printing, the weight of it in your hands... A PDF could never replicate that. It's like asking for a JPG of the Mona Lisa. Sure, you can see it, but you're not experiencing it.
Real Talk: Is It Worth It?
This is the part where I have to be brutally honest, as both a seller and a collector. Do you need this book?
For 95% of collectors, the answer is no. Absolutely not.
If you love grabbing the latest Pop Mart series, hunting for secrets, and arranging your cute Macarons on a shelf, you do not need this book. Your enjoyment of the toys is not going to be diminished because you haven't read the origin story. The toys are designed to be wonderful, standalone pieces of art. The hype around some series, like the incredibly popular Exciting Macaron Labubu, is completely independent of the lore in this book. You can spend that $500 on an entire case of a new series (or two!) and probably get way more joy out of it.
However...
If you are a completist, a historian of the art toy movement, or someone who is deeply invested in Kasing Lung's work as an artist beyond just the Pop Mart releases, then yes. This book is a cornerstone piece. It's a piece of history. It is the moment before the explosion, the quiet, creative genesis of what would become a global phenomenon. For that type of collector, the price is almost irrelevant. It's about owning the foundation.
For me, the book's value is in the context it provides. When I look at the Have a Seat Labubu series, for example, I can see the direct lineage from the moody, illustrative style of the book to the character's posture and expression in the vinyl figure. It connects the dots. It makes the universe feel whole.
A Collector's Tip You Won't Find Elsewhere
If you are going to take the plunge and hunt for a copy, here's something most people don't know. There aren't really "fakes" of the book itself, it's too niche to be worth faking. The real thing to watch out for is the condition and the completeness of the set.
Many sellers will just list "Kasing Lung Book." You need to ask questions. * "Does it include the original slipcase?" * "Are there any postcards or extras included?" (Sometimes there were.) * Most importantly: "Is this the version that was bundled with a figure? Is the figure included?"
The figure itself is a whole other collectible. It's often a simple, grey-toned Labubu holding a book. If you find a listing for the book that seems "cheap" (and by cheap, I mean like $250-$300), it's almost certainly just the book, without the accompanying figure. A complete set, book + figure in good condition, is where you see those eye-watering $500+ prices.
Also, check the binding. It's a thick, heavy book. I've seen copies where the binding is starting to pull away from the spine due to age and weight. Ask for photos of the inside cover where the pages meet the spine.
The legacy of Kasing Lung The Monsters Trilogy is immense. It's the blueprint. It's the quiet, thoughtful soul of a universe that is now loud, colorful, and everywhere. It reminds us that behind every hyped-up blind box series, there was an artist with a pencil and a story to tell. It's the reason why so many of us fell in love with this world in the first place, even if we didn't know it. The book established a world so compelling that it was ready to explode the second a company like Pop Mart lit the fuse.
While owning the book is a dream for many, the spirit of it lives on in every new release. The whimsical sadness, the mischievous energy, the hint of a deeper story, it's all there. You can see it in the crossover series like The Monsters x One Piece Labubu and in the simple joy of the mainline figures.
So, no, we don't have the book in stock. We probably never will. It's a ghost, a beautiful legend that we love to tell stories about. But the monsters? They're very much real, and you can always find them right here. If you're looking to dive into the world that this book created, a great place to start is by exploring our LABUBU collection and finding a little monster to call your own.
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