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What a bunch of little monsters!
A crew of masked bandits broke into a California toy shop and snatched $30,000 worth of wildly popular Labubu dolls — passing up cash and electronics for the trendy collectables, according to footage and a store owner.
Four thieves allegedly smashed a glass door at One Stop Sales in La Puente and made off with tens of thousands of dollars of the viral monsters — a cross between a Cabbage Patch Doll and a Gremlin with bunny ears — at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, said co-owner Joanna Avendano.
“We worked so hard to get to this point, and for them to just come in and, like nothing, take it all away, it’s really bad,” Avendano told ABC 7.
Surveillance footage shows the crooks passing by the till and several electronics then heading straight for the whimsical dolls, which have sparked a recent craze as a fashion accessory on TikTok.
The dolls, created by the book illustrator Kasing Lung, have been snapped up by celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa, and a single one sold for more than $100,000 earlier this month.
“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 [sic],” the store wrote on Instagram.
Avendano said the shop, which opened two months ago, may have been targeted because she announced a restock of the dolls on social media.
She noticed a truck parked near the store before closing up Tuesday night, and believes it may be linked to the break-in.
“[I got] a gut feeling to check my phone,” she said. ”Once I checked my phone, I saw there was motion, a sound that was coming through the front.”
The dolls, which generally sell for up to $500 each, are storybook characters created by Lung from his popular book series “The Monsters.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department City of Industry responded to the burglary and is now investigating.
English (US)