Manufacturing Process
Injection moulding (used in mass-market collectibles): molten plastic is injected into a steel mould and ejected after cooling. Fast, cheap at scale, highly repeatable. Surface detail depends on mould quality. Finishing is usually minimal — paint is applied by machine or in batch dips.
3D printing (used at Labubu Studio): each figure is printed layer by layer from Premium PLA filament. After printing, the layer lines are sanded and hand-finished to produce a smooth surface. Each figure is then quality-checked individually before packing. Slower and more labour-intensive — but each piece gets personal attention.
Quality and Consistency
Factory production at scale is consistent by design — every piece out of a good mould is nearly identical. This works in its favour for detail sharpness and colour uniformity, but means individual quality control is statistical rather than per-piece.
Hand-finished 3D printed figures vary slightly piece to piece — minor differences in sanding smoothness, paint application, or surface texture. This is the nature of handcraft work. Labubu Studio quality-checks each figure before shipping, but the process acknowledges that each one is hand-touched rather than machine-uniform.
Which to Choose
Choose factory figures if: you want mass-market consistency, you're buying blind-box style (where variation is part of the appeal), or price is the primary factor. Major collectible brands in this category include Pop Mart and similar.
Choose 3D printed from Labubu Studio if: you want a studio-made piece where each figure is individually inspected, you value the small-batch production model over mass-market, or you want a specific edition that isn't available in factory production.