Real or fake Labubu (« Lafufu »): 6 checks
18 June 2026 · 6 min read · By the MIRUMI
The success of Labubu figures has created a substantial parallel market. Collectors even coined a word for the copies: « Lafufu ». The good news is that a fake can almost always be spotted with the naked eye, provided you know where to look. Here are the six checks to run before buying — the same ones we apply before every shipment.
1. Count the teeth: nine, no more, no less
This is the quickest and most reliable test. A genuine Labubu has exactly nine pointed teeth, set in a single upper row, visible when the mouth is open.
Counterfeits get this detail wrong almost every time: eight, ten or eleven teeth. Workshops copying the figure usually work from photographs, and the tooth count is the first thing that slips when a mould is recut by hand.
2. Scan the authentication QR code
Since January 2024, every Pop Mart figure ships with a QR authentication card tucked inside the inner box. Scanning it queries Pop Mart's authentication server, which reports whether this is the first scan or a code that has already been activated.
The trap to know about: if you open a brand-new box and the code comes back as « already activated », there are only two explanations. Either the box was opened before you by a reseller, or the figure is a copy. Either way, it is not a sealed new product.
3. The holographic sticker on the packaging
Official boxes carry a holographic sticker whose colours shift as you tilt it. Copies use a flat metallic print that does not react to light — or skip it entirely.
Look at the cardboard finish too: genuine Pop Mart packaging is matte, in muted tones. Copies almost always run too bright and too saturated, on a glossier surface.
4. Weigh the sealed box
A sealed box for a standard vinyl figure weighs between 78 and 84 grams depending on the character. Below 75 g or above 88 g, be suspicious.
This check became especially useful after a run of copies appeared in early 2026 weighing consistently around 71 g: their resin core is hollow, which you can feel immediately in the hand, even without scales.
5. Examine the paint edges
On a genuine figure, paint stops cleanly at its intended boundaries. On a copy it bleeds: marks on the teeth, smudges in the whites of the eyes, overspill into the recesses of the face.
This flaw is hard to fix in unofficial production, because it requires piece-by-piece quality control that copy workshops do not have.
6. Be wary of the price
A genuine standard-series Pop Mart blind box sits around 12 to 20 dollars at retail. A markedly lower price, especially from an unknown seller or through a social media profile, is the simplest warning sign to read.
Conversely, a very high price guarantees nothing either: speculative resale on rare editions is real, and some sellers charge collector prices for a piece that is not one.
The blind box format: what you are actually buying
A blind box, by definition, does not let you choose the colourway: the box conceals one of the series' characters at random. That is the whole principle of the format, and what makes it appealing to collectors.
The practical consequence for returns: once the box is open, the surprise is spent and the item can no longer be taken back. With us, returns stay free for 30 days as long as the box is intact and sealed.
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