LOS ANGELES — A group of burglars snatched a bunch of the summer's most sought-after toy after they broke into a Los Angeles County store overnight, the shop said on Instagram.
One Stop Sales in La Puente said four men broke into the store and stole "all of our inventory," which included a number of the trendy Labubu dolls — toothy, gremlin-looking plush toys that have exploded in popularity.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said deputies responded to a burglary in the 600 block of Glendora Avenue in La Puente, east of Los Angeles, at 1:29 a.m. Wednesday.
"Several boxes of Labubu dolls were stolen, valued at approximately seven thousand dollars," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
The burglars were using a stolen Toyota Tacoma that was recovered shortly after the burglary, the sheriff's office said.
One Stop Sales posted in-store security video on Instagram that shows a group of masked men enter the store as the sound of breaking glass is heard. The men can be seen in the video taking boxes of merchandise from the store.
"Today we got robbed, and they took all of our inventory trashed our store, we are still in shock, if you guys can share this post please and help us find these thief’s!" One Stop Sales wrote on Instagram.
According to the store's website, some of the pricer Labubus are going for $500. A Labubu collection that dropped in the spring was retailing for $27.99, but the retail market for the plush collectibles, specifically this summer, has been hot.
The Labubu dolls are exclusively made and sold by Pop Mart, a Chinese retailer that is known for "blind box" collectibles. When they purchase one of the boxesm, buyers don't know which color or design Labubu they are getting until they open them.
It wasn't immediately clear how many Labubus the burglars made off with. The store had been promoting its inventory on social media in the days leading up to the break-in.
Andrew Blankstein reported from Los Angeles and Rebecca Cohen and Nollaig O'Connor from New York.
