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The videos are everywhere. Someone filming the chaotic, beautiful mess of a Ross Dress for Less toy aisle, their hand reaching past generic dolls and off-brand building blocks to pull out… a LABUBU box. The gasp. The triumphant music. The $7.99 price tag. It's the collector's equivalent of finding a Willy Wonka golden ticket in a discount candy bar.
As the owner of PopNya, where we live and breathe these little monsters, my inbox and DMs have been blowing up. The one question on everyone's mind is: does Ross sell LABUBU?* And the follow-up is always, are they real?*
The short answer is yes, but it's a complicated yes. A "yes, with an asterisk the size of Zimomo's head."
These aren't the same as the crisp, perfect boxes you'd get from a Pop Mart flagship or a specialty retailer. This is a different beast entirely. To get to the bottom of it, I did what any obsessed collector would do: I went hunting. I hit three different Ross stores in my area, wading through aisles of discounted picture frames and questionable fashion choices, on a mission to find the elusive Ross LABUBU.
At the first two stores? Nothing. A wasteland of picked-over toys from last Christmas. But at the third store, tucked behind a stack of puzzles, I found them. Four lonely boxes from the LABUBU Monsters Camping series. The boxes were a little beat up, the corners softened from being tossed around. The price tag was, indeed, $7.99, listed under a generic "ASST'D CHARACTER FIGURE" SKU.
I bought two. For science. And for you. Let's put one head-to-head with a Monsters Camping figure I sourced directly for my own LABUBU collection.
The Ultimate Showdown: Ross Find vs. Retail Authentic
This is where the differences, some subtle and some glaring, start to appear. To the casual eye, they might look identical. But as someone who has handled literally thousands of these figures, the tells are there if you know where to look.
Round 1: The Outer Box
The first thing I noticed was the box itself. My retail box has a crisp, semi-gloss finish. The printing is razor-sharp. The cardboard feels sturdy and substantial.
The Ross box, by comparison, felt… tired. The colors were a tiny bit duller, almost like the printer was running low on ink. The cardboard was noticeably thinner and had more flex. Most importantly, there was no Pop Mart holographic anti-counterfeiting sticker on the top flap. This is a huge red flag for me. That sticker and its corresponding QR code are Pop Mart's primary way of assuring customers of authenticity. Its absence is suspicious, to say the least.
Round 2: The Unwrapping Experience
Inside, the differences continued. The foil-wrapped blind bag in my retail box was thick and had a satisfying, crinkly sound. It was sealed tight.
The foil bag from the Ross figure was flimsy. It felt thinner, and the seal was weaker. It almost felt like it could tear just by looking at it too hard. This might seem like a small thing, but packaging is a huge part of the designer toy experience, and these cost-cutting measures are immediately apparent.
Round 3: The Figure Itself
Okay, the main event. I unwrapped both figures, I pulled the "Campfire" LABUBU from my retail box and the "Fishing" one from the Ross box.
At first glance, the Ross figure looks… fine. It's definitely a LABUBU. But when I put it next to my other figures from the same series, the inconsistencies screamed at me.
* The Vinyl Feel: Authentic Pop Mart vinyl has a specific smooth, slightly soft-touch feel. The Ross figure felt harder, more brittle, and had a slick, plasticky sheen. It's a subtle difference, but one you can feel instantly if you're used to the real thing. * The Paint Job: This was the biggest giveaway. My retail LABUBU has clean, crisp paint lines. The color is evenly applied. On the Ross figure, there was visible overspray around the edges of its ears and a tiny speck of black paint on its white belly. The paint on the fishing rod accessory was slightly splotchy. These are classic signs of a figure that failed Quality Control (QC). * The Weight: The Ross figure felt marginally lighter. It's not something you'd notice without a direct comparison, but holding one in each hand, the authentic one had a more satisfying heft. * The Smell: This is a weird one, but collectors know. Authentic figures have a very neutral, vinyl smell. The Ross figure had a faint, sharp chemical odor that often accompanies lower-quality plastics and paints. It's a smell I've unfortunately become familiar with when dealing with fakes, though this wasn't as strong as the blatant knock-offs you see on some sites. If you're ever worried about authenticity, sometimes the best advice for where to find the real thing is to follow your nose.
So, What's the Real Story? My Collector-Seller Theory
After my deep dive, I'm confident these are not outright fakes like the terrible ROR MART or Lafufu bootlegs. A fake is made by a completely unaffiliated factory using stolen designs. The molds and materials are all wrong. The LABUBUs at Ross are too close to be that.
My professional opinion is that these fall into one of two categories:
Theory A: B-Grade / QC-Failed Stock This is my leading theory. Pop Mart produces millions of figures. Not all of them are perfect. Figures with minor paint flaws, loose joints, or packaging defects are supposed to be pulled from the production line and destroyed. However, a "grey market" exists where this B-grade stock is not destroyed but instead sold off in bulk by the factory (often without the brand's official permission) to liquidators. These liquidators then sell the pallets of product to discount chains like Ross, TJ Maxx, or Marshalls.
This explains everything: the lower quality, the damaged boxes, the missing anti-counterfeit sticker, and the rock-bottom price. It's technically a product made in the official factory, but it's a reject. It's a bit like buying a "factory second" pair of jeans, still wearable, but with a flaw that kept it from being sold at full price. The whole situation reminds me of the complexities of sourcing stock and the dark side of manufacturing, a topic I've touched on before when discussing the brutal truth about LABUBU wholesale.
Theory B: Old, Liquidated Overstock This is also plausible. The series I found, Monsters Camping, was released in mid-2023. It's not ancient, but it's not the hot new thing either. It's possible that Pop Mart simply overproduced this series, or a major distributor in a specific region couldn't sell their inventory. To recoup some cost, they liquidated the entire stock, which eventually trickled down to discount retailers. This would explain why you're not finding the super popular Macarons or Fall in Wild series at Ross, those sell out instantly. You're finding the less-hyped ones that had excess inventory.
Real Talk: Should You Actually Buy a Ross LABUBU?
Now for the question that really matters. My honest, no-BS advice.
If you're a casual fan or buying for a kid: Honestly? Go for it. For $7.99, it's a fantastic price for a fun little toy. If you don't care about pristine packaging or tiny paint flaws, and you just love Kasing Lung's design, you can't beat the value. It's a cheap and cheerful way to get a taste of the hobby.
If you're a serious collector: I would stay away. Hard pass. For us, collecting is about more than just the figure; it's about the hunt, the quality, and the integrity of the piece. A B-grade, QC-failed figure with no official box verification holds almost no long-term value. It's a filler piece, not a collection cornerstone. It won't have a secret or chase figure, and its questionable origins will always put a mental asterisk next to it on your shelf. You're better off saving that $8 and putting it towards an authentic box from a reputable source. If you're just starting, a better use of your time would be reading up on a collector's playbook for how to get one the right way.
If you're a reseller: Don't even think about it. Please. Trying to pass these off as A-grade, retail-quality figures is dishonest and hurts the community. Everyone knows where they came from, and you'll be called out immediately. The market is already tough, and flooding it with B-grade stock while pretending it's premium only creates distrust and devalues the hobby for everyone.
The Ross LABUBU phenomenon is a fascinating symptom of just how massive this hobby has become. The fact that these little monsters have reached a level of mainstream saturation where they end up in discount stores is wild. It's a testament to their popularity, far beyond what I saw during my own hunt for LABUBU in NYC just a year ago.
But it's also a cautionary tale. As the hobby grows, so do the grey markets and the potential for confusion. Knowing what you're buying is more important than ever. The thrill of the chase is part of the fun, but nothing beats the satisfaction of getting a perfect, authentic figure. If you want that feeling, your best bet is always to go through official channels or trusted, authorized retailers.
And of course, if you're looking for guaranteed authentic, A-grade figures from the latest series, you can always browse LABUBU figures right here at PopNya. We may not be $7.99, but we can promise you'll get the real, uncompromised deal. Every single time.
*Disclosure: PopNya may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page.
