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The Labubu phenomenon: How a toy became a symbol of late-stage capitalism

A Civil Services perspective with reference to Marxist Socialism

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What is a Labubu doll?

Labubu is a fictional character designed by Kasing Lung and produced by the collectible toy brand POP MART (a Chinese company known for selling ‘blind box’ art toys). Labubu dolls are small, grotesquely cute figurines, often limited in number and sold in sealed packaging so the buyer doesn’t know which specific figure they’ll get.

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Despite being simple plastic toys, Labubu dolls are often resold at exorbitant prices in secondary markets, sometimes hundreds or thousands of dollars more than the retail price—driven purely by collector demand, artificial scarcity and speculative trading.

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Why is Labubu doll a symbol of capitalism?

From a civil services and socio-economic perspective, the Labubu doll exemplifies key features of late-stage capitalism, which Marxist socialism deeply critiques:

  1. Commodification of emotion and art
  1. Artificial scarcity & consumer manipulation
  1. Inequality in access
  1. Speculative economy over real value

Marxist critique: How Labubu contradicts socialism

Karl Marx, in his vision of socialism and communism, emphasised:

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Now contrast that with the Labubu phenomenon:

Marxist principleCapitalist reality (Labubu Doll Case)
Collective ownershipControlled by private brand (POP MART)
Production for needProduced purely for profit and speculation
Classless societyToys accessible only to elite consumers
De-commodificationEmotion and nostalgia turned into high-priced commodities
Worker dignityFactory workers in low-cost countries make toys they’ll never afford

Civil Services implication: Why should an administrator care?

As a civil servant in a democratic socialist state like India (Directive Principles in Constitution), understanding such cultural-economic trends helps in:

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