Design Comparison: Character vs Canvas
Molly's design is a big-headed girl with a pouty expression and blank eyes. She's deliberately minimal — almost a mannequin — which makes her an incredible canvas for themed series. Molly can become a steampunk character, a space explorer, or a historical figure because her base design is neutral enough to absorb any theme.
Labubu is the opposite. The character has so much built-in personality — those teeth, those ears, that grin — that the base design carries any outfit. Where Molly becomes the theme, Labubu wears the theme. Both approaches work beautifully for different reasons.
Labubu Studio editions like Pink Fang Bubu and Angel Bubu showcase this character-first approach at a larger 18×16×10 cm scale, with hand-finished details that emphasize texture and expression.
Price Comparison Across Formats
Standard blind box figures for both Labubu and Molly fall in the $12-17 range. Both characters also appear in mega/oversized formats that can run $100-300+. On the resale market, both have high-demand designs that command premiums.
Labubu Studio editions sit at $49.90 each — positioned between the blind box tier and the mega collector tier. The key difference is transparency: you pick your design, you know the price, and shipping is flat $6.99 within the US. No lottery mechanics.
Availability and Series Depth
Molly has a deeper catalog simply because she's been around longer. There are hundreds of Molly designs across dozens of series, including high-profile collaborations with brands like Warner Bros and various fashion houses. If you like variety and historical depth, Molly's catalog is massive.
Labubu's catalog is growing rapidly but is still smaller. What Labubu lacks in series depth, it makes up in current momentum — Labubu drops consistently generate more social media buzz and faster sellouts than most Molly releases in 2025-2026.
For Labubu specifically, studio editions offer four distinct designs — Duck Bubu, Snow Wing Bubu, Angel Bubu, and Pink Fang Bubu — available without the sellout pressure of Pop Mart drops.
Collector Community Dynamics
Molly collectors tend to be completionists. The sheer number of series encourages systematic collecting — fill the set, display the series, trade duplicates. It's a collector's collector character with deep community knowledge about variants and rarities.
Labubu's community is more casual and social-media-driven. People are drawn to specific designs rather than completing series. The Labubu bag charm trend — hanging the figure from a handbag — created a whole fashion-adjacent collector segment that Molly doesn't have in the same way.
Both communities are active on platforms like Reddit, Discord, and Xiaohongshu, though Labubu currently dominates TikTok and Instagram engagement.
Verdict: Both Deserve a Spot
Molly is the deeper collection with more variety, stronger collaboration history, and a more traditional collector appeal. If you enjoy the hunt and the satisfaction of completing themed sets, Molly delivers.
Labubu is the character with more personality per figure and stronger cultural momentum right now. If you're drawn to expressive design and want fewer, more impactful pieces, Labubu is the pick. Studio editions at $49.90 offer a way to own a specific Labubu design at display scale without chasing drops.
Plenty of Pop Mart collectors buy both — they scratch different itches.