Doll collector says resale market is 'battlefield'

Ashley Bushey said she believed it was only in the UK where there had been incidents of violence over the dolls

A collector of the popular Labubu dolls has said the resale market has become a "battlefield" after the manufacturer paused sales in all UK shops.

Ashley Bushey, from Corby in Northamptonshire, said she had spent more than £1,000 on 13 dolls since December.

The 32-year-old says she scrolls through online webpages including TikTok Shop, Vinted and Facebook groups to try expanding her collection.

Pop Mart, which makes the furry bag charms, pulled the Labubu plushies from its 16 UK stores until June after reports of customers fighting over them.

Deemed the latest fashion accessory, they are sold in blind boxes where collectors do not know which doll is inside, until they open it.

The toys' popularity began in 2024 after K-Pop star Lisa from girl group Blackpink shared a photo on social media with one.

Other celebrities including singers Rihanna and Dua Lipa followed suit.

Ms Bushey, a coffee shop supervisor, collects toys from the 1990s and 2000s and said the dolls were "so ugly that they were cute".

"I'm not even a big collector in the scheme of things. If you go into Facebook groups, I mean, some of them are insane," she said.

Characterised by their quirky monster-like features, the dolls are sold in blind boxes where collectors do not know which one they have bought until they open it

The regular monster dolls sell for about £17.50 and are typically resold for up to £30.

Ms Bushey said she paid £200 for a rare male toy, and she had seen other limited edition Labubus listed online for about £600.

However, she said this did not take the fun out of being a collector.

"I like the chase of it... part of the fun is trying to get them."

Ashley Bushey says she started collecting Labubu dolls in December

Pop Mart said on Friday it had seen "overwhelming enthusiasm" from fans with long queues forming outside stores and people camping outside overnight.

It said: "It's important for us to ensure a safe, fair and comfortable shopping experience for everyone - both our customers and our store teams.

"We're currently working on a new approach for the distribution that will allow everyone a fairer chance to purchase."

Does Ms Bushey believe this will stop resellers?

"Hopefully it makes it better. Hopefully they have some sort of system in place... I don't know how realistically they are going to stop the resellers.

"It doesn't seem they have these issues in other countries... it seems to only be in the UK that people are turning to violence."