Ensito, with his custom-made Labubu teeth, posing with a new doll in his collection
Collectors young and old energetically snapped up "blind boxes" - sealed, mystery packages containing the quirky monsters - often paying $15 (£11) or more.
Those unable to get the characters they wanted were often prepared to pay much more on the resale market.
The hype around the creatures convinced a mega-fan from North Carolina, who goes by the name Ensito, to leave his tech job in 2024 to create Labubu content full-time, travelling as far as Italy and Spain to seek out the latest releases.
Ensito has spent more than $50,000 (£37,000) to build his collection of more than 400 Labubus, a figure he tells the BBC he's "embarrassed to say".