It's 10:59 PM. Your phone is in your hand, thumb hovering over the refresh button on the Pop Mart site. You have three tabs open: New Arrivals, the LABUBU category page, and your cart, which is sadly empty. You've heard whispers on Instagram, seen a grainy photo on Reddit. A new labubu drop is imminent. But when? Exactly when?
If this sounds familiar, welcome to the club. As the owner of PopNya and a hopeless LABUBU addict myself, I live this reality every few weeks. The single most common question I get isn't about shipping or a specific figure. It's always, with a frantic edge: "When does the new labubu come out?"
And the honest answer is… it's complicated.
There isn't some neat, tidy popmart calendar that holds all the secrets. Searching for a "labubu release date" is like trying to predict the weather in a fantasy forest. It's a chaotic, multi-stage process that Pop Mart has perfected to create maximum hype and FOMO. But once you understand the pattern, you can navigate it without losing your mind (or your wallet).
This is my playbook, learned from years of waking up at 3 AM for drops and explaining to customers why a series they saw on TikTok isn't in my store yet.
The Myth of a Single "Launch Date"
First, let's kill a common misconception. There is no single, global labubu launch date. It's a waterfall, a cascade of releases that flows from East to West. Thinking there's one date is the fastest way to feel like you're constantly behind. The reality is a four-stage journey.
Stage 1: The Whispers and Leaks (The "Is This Real?" Phase)
The life of a new labubu box begins not with a bang, but with a grainy, low-resolution image on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo or Xiaohongshu. This is where the die-hards live. You'll see a photo of a new design, often a snapshot of an internal marketing slide or a test figure.
At this point, nothing is confirmed. There's no date, no series name, just a tantalizing glimpse of an upcoming labubu. This is the phase of speculation. Is it a full series? A one-off figure? A collaboration? The community buzzes, and the anticipation engine starts to turn. For a seller like me, this is when I start my initial research, trying to gauge interest and decide if it's a series we'll want to carry.
Stage 2: The China-First Drop (The "It's Real and I Can't Have It" Phase)
This is the big one. Almost every single labubu new edition launches in mainland China first. This happens via the Pop Mart China online store, their Tmall flagship, and physical stores in China.
This is the most frustrating phase for global collectors.
Your Instagram feed will suddenly be flooded with beautiful, professionally shot photos and unboxing videos of a series you can't buy. You'll see people pulling the secret, you'll see the full lineup, and you won't even have a new labubu release date for your own region.
This is intentional. It builds a massive wave of pent-up demand. By the time the global release happens, everyone has already seen their favorite figure and is desperate to get it. My DMs fill up with people asking if I have the new series, and I have to gently explain that what they're seeing is the China-only launch.
A quick tip: Don't get discouraged here. Use this time for reconnaissance. Decide which figures you really want. Is the secret figure worth chasing? Or are you happy with one of the regulars? This waiting period can save you from impulse buying later.
Stage 3: The Global Drop (The "Okay, It's Go Time" Phase)
Usually, about two to four weeks after the China launch, we finally get the global labubu launch. This happens on the international Pop Mart websites (like popmart.com/us). This is the date most people are looking for when they search for "labubu release date."
But it's a battle.
These drops, especially for a hyped series, are a bloodbath. They often happen at a specific time, like 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST. If you are not logged in, with your payment information saved, and ready to click "buy" the second it goes live, you will likely miss out. The most popular series can sell out in under five minutes. I've seen the site crash multiple times.
This is also where we might see a specific mini labubu release date, like for the incredibly popular Macarons (The Monsters I Found You series). Those little guys created a frenzy all their own, and the drop strategy was the same: a frantic, blink-and-you'll-miss-it event.
If you see someone asking if there's a labubu release today, it's usually because they heard a rumor about one of these global drops happening. Sometimes they're right, sometimes it's just speculation.
Stage 4: The Retailer Rollout (The "Finally, a Chance to Breathe" Phase)
This is where we, your friendly neighborhood online toy store, come in. Independent retailers like PopNya get their stock after the official global launch.We have to place our orders, wait for them to be processed by Pop Mart's distribution, and then wait for the international shipment to arrive and clear customs.
This can take anywhere from one to three weeks after the global drop.
This is the most important piece of information I can give you. When you see a series sell out instantly on Pop Mart's site, don't panic. It doesn't mean it's gone forever. It just means the first wave is over. The next wave is coming to retailers. This is your second chance.
Signing up for our newsletter or following our social media is the best way to know when our stock is about to land. We try to give as much notice as possible so you can be prepared without having to compete with the entire world on the main Pop Mart site. You can always check our LABUBU collection to see what's currently available while you wait for the next big thing.
Real Talk: You're Being Played (And That's Okay)
Let's be honest. This whole release system is a masterclass in psychological marketing. The leaks, the regional delays, the limited stock drops, it's all designed to make you feel a desperate sense of urgency. It makes you feel like if you don't get this new labubu box right now, you never will.
And that's how you end up paying $150 to a reseller for a single figure that retailed for $18.
I've seen it happen time and time again. The Monsters Camping series was a prime example. The night of the global drop, the Tycoco (the one with the little camera) was listed for over $100 on secondary markets. People were panic-buying. But what happened two weeks later? Restocks started to hit, retailers like us got our inventory, and the price settled to a more reasonable (though still inflated) $40-$50.
My advice? Don't feed the scalpers. Unless it's a super limited collaboration, a restock is likely coming. The hype is real, but as we've asked before, are we asking the right questions about this hype? Is the thrill of having it first worth paying 5x the price? For most people, the answer is no. Patience is your greatest weapon in the LABUBU collecting game. Sometimes, the best strategy is to just wait for the chaos to die down and see when Pop Mart restocks, which is its own complicated dance.
Your LABUBU Release Tracking Toolkit
So, how do you stay on top of all this without making it a stressful full-time job? Here's my personal toolkit:
1. Follow the Source (With a Grain of Salt): Follow the official Pop Mart global and regional Instagram accounts (@popmartglobal, @popmart_us, etc.). They are the ultimate source of truth for the global drop, but they often announce things with very little notice. 2. Go Deeper on Social Media: If you're serious, get a Weibo account and follow Kasing Lung (the artist) and Pop Mart's China page. This is where you'll see the earliest news. It's a bit of extra work, but you'll be weeks ahead of the curve. 3. Join a Community: The r/labubu subreddit and various Discord servers are great for real-time news and leaks. But be warned: they are also full of rumors and misinformation. Use them to get leads, but always wait for an official source to confirm. 4. Bookmark and Sign Up: Keep the "New Arrivals" page on the Pop Mart site bookmarked. More importantly, sign up for the newsletters of your favorite independent retailers (ahem, like PopNya!). We often have more targeted and less chaotic launch announcements. 5. Understand the Cadence: New series tend to drop every 4-6 weeks. If it's been a while since the last big release, start paying closer attention. The labubu next release is probably already in the pipeline.
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