Mexican Labubu: How a 2-Decade Old Brand Launched Its Own Blind Box Craze

In the mid-aughts, few designs were as popular among young girls in Mexico as Distroller—a Lisa Frank-esque lifestyle and toy brand.

Founded in 2004 in Mexico City by artist and entrepreneur Amparo “Amparin” Serrano, Distroller was known for its vibrant and playful designs featuring iconic motifs like the Virgin of Guadalupe or Amparin’s own whimsical creations. 

Its designs appeared everywhere and on everything: school notebooks, collectible bracelets, personalized watches, and toys. The latter often included made-up characters named after Mexican food like Chamoy and Mole—or most notably, the Neonatos, plush wide-eyed creatures that became the brand’s signature products. 

Distroller Vintash

Neonato’s popularity has crossed borders, entering the US market in 2017 with physical stores in Texas and California. But their popularity waned over the years—coming to halt after the founder’s death in August 2022. 

But a recent renewed interest in the nostalgic brand is bringing hundreds of Mexicans to Distroller’s new era. Led by Amparin’s daughter, Minnie West, Distroller Vintash, an offshoot of the Distroller brand, opened its doors on Oct. 31—Amparin’s birthday. “I just saw an old interview where my mom says Distroller was born when she was born, so it seemed fit,” West told Inc. Distroller Vintash operates as a separate company than the still-standing Distroller brand, yet the original motifs and designs are present in the renewed store.

When West decided to revive the brand she came at it with no plan, learning how to run a business day by day.

Like an archeologist trying to find ancient artifacts, West dug into the deepest storage units filled with the objects that filled her childhood: her mom’s original creations.

“My mom treated her creations like they were her children, and so they became my siblings,” West says. “I missed my siblings and thought maybe others missed them too.”

To build a product lineup, West selected what she as “a fan would’ve like to see brought back.” Then she reached out to her mom’s original staff and Neonato manufacturers to join the team.

“These people knew me when I was ten years old,” she says. “Most were shocked at how much I reminded them of my mom and some even cried. But none of them said no.”

West not only brought back old-style plush Neonatos and vintage Distroller accessories, she brought new iterations of the toy as well.

Inspired by the Labubu craze, which her young niece introduced her to, West decided to find a new way for consumers to engage with the toy. And thus, the keychain and pop socket versions were born, with blind box packaging that makes every trinket a collectible surprise.

“We thought about how someone our age could use it in their day to day, you can’t carry around a stuffed animal everywhere but a pop socket and a keychain, that you can,” Fernanda Martinez Contreras, creative director at Distroller Vintash says.

Nostalgia Sells 

Leading up to the store’s opening, the team of 12 at Distroller Vintash teased the launch on Instagram, deploying no formal marketing or reaching out to influencers. From just word-of-mouth between old fans, the store ran out of its 2,000 trinket stock within the first few hours.

“It looked like a scene right out of the Walking Dead,” West says.

A few weeks later, when Distroller Vintash restocked the neonatos, fans lined up as soon as 4 a.m., with the store’s staff eventually running out to get Krispy Kreme donuts to hand out to folks waiting in line.

While plans have a steady stock already underway, it will take some time since the toys are made entirely by hand in Mexico. Still, the store is booming with fans who just want to take a stroll down memory lane. 

But West’s renewal of the brand is not just borrowing from the archives and creating new ways to enjoy the toys, it is also resurrecting the brand’s original DNA, and irreverent dark humor which got washed away as it focused on young children.

“The community reunited with something that marked their childhood, and now it coming back as an adult version that is also collectible has resonated with them,” she says. “Nostalgia sells, but it’s the authenticity that makes them fall in love.”

From the get go, West had set out no expiration date for Distroller Vintash, letting consumers guide how much stock to make, and how long to remain open.

“I’m just going to have fun with it,” West says. “That’s what my mom used to do.”