Large crowd turns up to buy Labubu dolls at Pop Toy Show, sale cancelled
When the hugely anticipated Pop Toy Show opened on Friday (23 Aug), many visitors bought tickets just to buy exclusive items from a popular doll collection.
The drop, however, descended into chaos when pushing and shouting broke out, leading to the cancellation of subsequent sale dates.
Source: @matchapotato on TikTok
Limited-edition Labubu item was to be sold at Pop Toy Show
At this year’s Pop Toy Show, held at the Marina Bay Sands from Friday to Sunday (23 to 25 Aug), one of the attractions was “The Monsters” booth.
There, a collection of vinyl plush dolls and blind boxes would be sold.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
This included the Merlion Labubu keychain, said to be a limited-edition Singapore exclusive.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
This was bound to be a hot item, considering it was sold out within minutes during its initial launch on 21 June and resold over Carousell for up to six times its original price.
According to the official Pop Toy Show Instagram account, the items would be available from 5pm on Friday and Saturday (23 and 24 Aug) and 3pm on Sunday (25 Aug). The queues would begin an hour earlier on the respective days.
Pushing & shouting erupts at Pop Toy Show
However, on Friday, the first day of the show, a TikTok user posted that pushing and “fighting” had erupted as people clamoured for Labubu.
In the clip, a large crowd could be seen arguing with security personnel. A chorus of raised voices was heard.
Source: @matchapotato on TikTok
In the foreground, a number of police officers could be seen approaching the scene.
The user who posted the video said the situation was “scary” as there would be random outbursts of shouting.
Source: @matchapotato on TikTok
Another shocking video posted on XiaoHongShu showed the crowds shouting and pushing towards security personnel, who tried to hold them back. A whistle was also heard.
Source: Aurora丶on XiaoHongShu
A third video, also on XiaoHongShu, showed a number of security officers trying to push the surging crowd back.
Source: 夷曼丝 on XiaoHongShu
A woman in the crowd yelled at them, saying: “Ooi! You so violent ah!”
Source: 夷曼丝 on XiaoHongShu
Flood of complaints received online
Pop Toy Show’s Instagram profile was filled with complaints from unhappy visitors, mostly complaining of bad planning and poor queue organisation.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
Some claimed that information about the timing of the sales wasn’t posted earlier, leading to those who arrived in the morning being told to wait till late afternoon.
Others said there was no evidence of a queue at 4pm and those who came were shouted at by security personnel.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
A commenter claimed that people who cut queue were not prevented from doing so and some people even almost fell down due to being pushed.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
However, a netizen defended the security personnel, saying they were just “doing their jobs” and were being assertive. She put the blame on the organisers, instead.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
Another respondent called out people in the crowd for pushing despite exhortations not to do so.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
He said the pushing caused people to almost fall and didn’t stop even with the police around.
Sale of items cancelled
In an announcement over Instagram on Saturday (24 Aug), Pop Toy Show said the next two planned drops would be cancelled “due to overwhelming response” on the first day.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
The organisers apologised for any inconvenience caused.
This unsurprisingly led to another flurry of indignant responses from disappointed Labubu fans.
One irate individual demanded a refund, saying they bought an entry ticket just to buy the Labubu item.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
Another netizen said they flew in from overseas just to buy it from the show.
Source: @poptoyshowsg on Instagram
Pop Toy Show is 2nd to be held here
For the uninitiated, Pop Mart’s Labubu went viral after Blackpink’s Lisa was spotted carrying the cute plush around.
In Thailand, politicians were even seen carrying them while heading to work.
This year’s Pop Toy Show is the only second such event to be held in Singapore. The inaugural edition took place last September.
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Featured image adapted from @matchapotato on TikTok, Aurora丶on XiaoHongShu and 夷曼丝 on XiaoHongShu.
