I get this question in my DMs at PopNya almost every single day. "What's the most expensive Labubu you have?" or "How much is the rarest one?"
It's a simple question with a ridiculously complicated answer.
Because if you just want the headline, the answer is easy. It's probably some life-size, one-of-a-kind artist piece sold at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong for a price that could buy a nice car. We've all seen the articles about a statue selling for tens of thousands of dollars. That's the most expensive Labubu in the world, technically.
But is that a useful answer for you, a fellow collector? Absolutely not.
That's a museum piece. A publicity stunt. It's not part of the living, breathing market where you and I operate. For us, the question of the most expensive Labubu doll is far more interesting, and honestly, a lot more volatile.
The real answer lies in the murky, fast-moving world of blind boxes, secret "chase" figures, and the unpredictable hurricane of social media hype.
The Kings of Hype: When a $15 Toy Hits $1,000
Let's talk about what "expensive" means for a figure you could, theoretically, pull from a box. Every Labubu series, like The Monsters Exciting Macaron or the Flowers series, has a standard set of designs and one or two "secret" or "chase" figures. These are the ones with much lower pull rates.
The labubu rarest one in any given series is usually the big secret. And that's where the market goes completely wild.
Case in point: The Monsters Exciting Macaron series. This is probably the most famous recent example of Labubu-mania. When it launched, a single blind box was about $15-$17. You had a 1 in 144 chance of pulling the big secret, "Ty-Coco," a fluffy, green, coconut-themed monster.
Initially, the aftermarket price for Ty-Coco settled around $150-$200. High, but expected for a new, popular chase.
Then Lisa from BLACKPINK posted a video of her unboxing them.
I watched the market explode in real time. It was genuinely insane. Listings for Ty-Coco that were sitting at $200 were suddenly being bought out. Within 48 hours, the most expensive Labubu doll price for this specific figure shot up to $800, even $1,000 on some platforms. The regular figures from the series, which were worth maybe $20, were suddenly selling for $50 or $60 each.
So, for a brief, chaotic period, a mass-produced vinyl toy that came from a $15 box became one of the most expensive rare Labubu figures on the collector's market. That's the power of hype.
But here's the part most articles don't tell you. What happened next?
The price crashed. Not completely, but it corrected. As more Macaron boxes were produced and opened, more Ty-Coco figures entered circulation. The initial frenzy died down. Today, you can find Ty-Coco for around $300-$400. Still very expensive, but nowhere near its peak.
This is a critical lesson. Hype-driven prices are temporary. They're a bubble. And if you're the one buying at the absolute peak, you're likely going to lose money if you ever decide to sell.
Real Talk: My Honest Opinion on Chasing "Expensive" Labubus
Look, I run a store. In theory, I should be telling you to go out and spend a fortune on the rarest figures. But I can't.
Honestly? Chasing the most expensive Labubu sold is a fool's errand for 99% of collectors.
You're not collecting a toy at that point; you're playing the stock market, and it's a market manipulated by influencers and FOMO (fear of missing out). The joy of finding a cute monster you connect with gets lost. You start looking at your shelf and seeing dollar signs instead of art. It's the fastest way to burn out of this hobby.
I've had customers spend hundreds on a single chase figure, only to feel empty when the next "it" toy comes along a month later and their prized possession is no longer the hot topic.
My advice is always the same: Collect what you love. If you genuinely love Ty-Coco and can afford the aftermarket price, go for it! It's a fantastic design. But don't buy it just because it's the "expensive" one. Your money is often better spent on a full case of a new series, where you get the thrill of the hunt and a dozen new friends for your shelf. If you're new to this, understanding the real deal on the LABUBU box and how cases work is a much better starting point.
*What About the Truly* Rare Ones?So if the hyped-up chase figures aren't the whole story, what is? What makes a Labubu truly rare and valuable over the long term? This is where we separate the collectors from the hype-beasts.
The conversation about the labubu highest price** should actually be about figures that were produced in genuinely limited quantities, not just ones with low pull ratios in a mass-produced run.
This includes things like: * Early Kasing Lung handmade figures: Before the Pop Mart era, the artist Kasing Lung made his own resin figures by hand. These are incredibly rare and command thousands of dollars when they surface, which is almost never. * Exclusive collaborations: A Labubu released only at a specific convention (like Shanghai Toy Show or Thailand Toy Expo) in a run of 100 or 200 pieces. These have a fixed, verifiable scarcity. * Artist-customized 1/1 pieces: Sometimes artists will take a base Labubu and create a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of art from it for a gallery show.
These are the pieces that hold their value or appreciate steadily over time. They aren't subject to the wild swings of a K-pop idol's Instagram post. Their value is based on true scarcity and artistry. Understanding this difference is key to knowing what "rare Labubu" actually means and how to avoid getting burned by a temporary trend.
The problem? These figures are often even less accessible than the hyped chase figures. You need to be in the right communities and have deep pockets.
Answering Your Specific Questions
I know people search for very specific things, so let me try to answer a few common queries I see.
"How much is the rarest Labubu?" It depends on your definition of "rarest." A hyped chase like Ty-Coco might be $300-$400. A convention exclusive could be $1,000-$2,000. An original Kasing Lung handmade piece? If one even went up for sale, you're likely looking at $5,000+.
"How much is the brown Labubu worth?" People are usually referring to Zimomo "Chestnut" from The Monsters Camping series. It's a standard figure, not a chase, but it's one of the most popular designs from that set. Because it's so beloved, its aftermarket price is a bit higher than its peers from the same series. While the retail box was around $14, a Chestnut Zimomo can sell for $30-$40 on its own. It's not "expensive" in the grand scheme, but it's a perfect example of how a specific design's popularity can create its own micro-market.
"What about the 24k Gold Labubu?" This is one of those collector myths that just won't die. Every so often, a rumor about a solid gold Labubu surfaces, and people wonder if it's the true most expensive Labubu in the world. The truth is a bit more complicated, involving special editions, gold-plated figures, and a lot of community lore. It's a whole topic on its own, and if you're curious, I actually wrote a whole post breaking down the truth about the 24k Gold Labubu.
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