Labubus: Choke warning over fake versions of must-have toy popular with celebrities
Labubus are Chinese-made cheeky-looking, sharp-toothed soft toys resembling a bear that can be fastened to handbags.
Styled to resemble grinning female elves, their popularity has caused queues at toy shops, including last month at the opening of Germany's first Labubu outlet in Berlin.
They are a type of plushie, defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as "a toy made from cloth and filled with a soft material so that it is pleasant to hold, often in the form of an animal".
Rihanna and Dua Lipa are among the celebrity fans pictured with them on social media, and they are now sweeping the UK.
But the toys are not cheap, with one UK retailer, Labubu's, offering them at around £20 each while on the Pop Mart website, they cost between £14 and £80.
Their surge in popularity has made them a target for counterfeiters and instead of forking out for the genuine article, many customers have bought cheaper versions, known as 'Lafufus', fakes that have detachable parts, including eyes, that could cause choking.
Hull City Council's head of public protection, Rachel Stephenson, said the fakes are "simply not worth the risk", as they are "poorly made and haven't been subject to the same standards and checks as the real thing.
"They can easily come apart, posing a serious choking hazard for small children."
The council's trading standards team has seized hundreds of the toys from a number of shops around the city, and warned many more will likely still be on sale.
Genuine Labubus have high-quality packaging, clean, precise detailing and consistent paintwork, official Pop Mart and Kasing Lung markings and retail for upwards of £17.50 each.
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Last weekend, thieves stole $30,000 (£22,000) worth of Labubus from a shop in Los Angeles.
Labubus were created by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung, who published an illustrated book series in 2015 called The Monsters, in which the female characters are featured.
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