A viral craze has yet again struck the internet, and this time it’s a cute plush collectible toy character even causing queues in Manchester.
In Britain it’s safe to say we are accustomed to a queue or two, but this newest line which has started forming outside a toy and collectibles shop on Market Street has puzzled a fair few Mancs.
The queues aren’t appearing from nowhere either; social media users describe how they’ve walked past the store as early as 7:30am and seen dozens of people standing outside waiting.
The culprit of these queues? An adorable collectable plush toy character that goes by the name of ‘Labubu‘.
Here’s the reason why Market Street has those insane queues.Labubu has made her way to Manchester in all her variations.Credit: Pop Mart
If your follow-up question is, “What is a Labubu?”, don’t worry because we asked exactly the same thing before we ended up nose-deep in the world of these widely popular plush toys.
ADVERTISEMENT
Labubu is the name of the viral plush toy created by Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-raised designer Kasing Lung, who drew inspiration from his love of fairytales to make this worldwide cuddly phenomenon.
Recognised by their bunny-like ears, large eyes and big smiles (which some people find off-putting), Labubu has become a bit of an overnight superstar and shows no signs of slowing down.
ADVERTISEMENT
The general public aren’t the only ones all over these famous fur-balls either, as celebs and stars alike have been attaching them to their handbags and sporting them like a prized possession.
And these are some pretty big names too, everyone from global superstar Rihanna to pop princess Dua Lipa have been pictured with a variation of Labubu dangling from their handbag.
People don’t just want to buy these viral toys as they are, part of the reason people are so obsessed with Labubu is the surprise element as you’ll find thousands of unboxing videos online.
ADVERTISEMENT
Avid TikTok users will come across plenty of unboxing style videos, where collectors predict which colour or variation of the viral toy they will get before inevitably find out for themselves.
Previous Love Island contestant, reality TV star and model Olivia Attwood has got involved in this current Labubu trend, making lots of videos on social media expressing her love towards these plush collectables.
Attwood has become an unofficial mascot for Labubu through her various videos on social media, where she either unboxes or makes reference to these ‘monsters’.
This adorable plush toy character has even made its way into the rap field with UK drill act Central Cee not only having one but five variations of Labubu.
ADVERTISEMENT
Each Labubu falls under a category or ‘series’, Cench seems to be a fan of the ‘Have A Seat’ range with all his collectibles in a sitting position.
The series all have their own names and limited edition style characters too including ‘Wings Of Fortune’, ‘Big Into Energy’, Pop Mart even launched a collaboration with household brand Coca Cola.
Labubu toys are exclusive to Pop Mart and available in their stores nationwide including Manchester Market Street and soon in their brand-new Trafford Centre destination too HERE.
So, that explains all the queuing, at the very least.
A popular Manc streetwear brand is hosting a big festival to mark their fifth birthday
Danny Jones
Popular Manchester streetwear and footwear brand, CLINTS Inc., is hosting its first-ever festival to mark five whole years in fashion – and it’s going to be big.
The highly sought-after clothing and sneaker make started out from a bedroom in Moston and is now a premium label in British urban, skating, UK grime and hip-hop culture, having been worn by many famous names and welcoming even more through the door of their Deansgate shop.
Located in the ABC Buildings on Quay Street next to Spinningfields, the flagship CLINTS store opened back in 2022 and is much more than a place to buy some new drip: it’s a place that showcases art, music, and a whole sub-sect of shopping beyond just skate silhouettes and trendy trainers.
As hack as it might sound to some, wearing this brand comes along with immersing yourself in the wider style and scene; the very same scene being celebrated in tandem with their fifth birthday.
Not to tease you more than the company already has, but as you can see, details are scarce.
There is no lineup or even location for this festival… only a date.
CLINTS Fest (the inaugural one, at that) will take place on Saturday, 6 September – presumably at or around the 21-23 Quay Street site, but who knows?
Fans of the brand can sign up for the mailing list for the latest details, and pre-sale tickets are also available now, with a couple of clicks on the website revealing that the event is set to start at 12 noon and wrap up around 10:30pm.
If you’re interested, you can register your interest HERE.
Credit: The Manc Group
While you can expect the festival to be packed to the rafters with die-hard followers of all things CLINTS and streetwear, they’re not the only local indie holding a special one-off this month.
In fact, this weekend, a fellow trainer specialist who is still just starting out life in the fashion game but is already making waves reminiscent of their contemporaries.
Here’s hoping this is just the beginning of the journey and they’re the next Manc brand to become a national success story.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/CLINTS Inc (via Instagram)
Shopping
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Thomas Melia -
11th May 2025 
