LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Labubu dolls were flying off

the shelves on a shopping livestream in London on Tuesday as

Alibaba's ( BABA ) AliExpress brought China's Singles' Day

shopping frenzy to Britain, tapping into the worldwide craze for

collectible Pop Mart ( POPMF ) toys.

Pop Mart's ( POPMF ) Labubu, Crybaby and SkullPanda dolls - sold in

sealed "blind boxes" that conceal which figurine is inside -

have become a global hit, fuelling a surge in revenues for the

Beijing-based company which is borrowing from the Disney

playbook to turn the trend into long-term growth.

AliExpress hired 23-year-old British influencer Anna

Williams, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok, to co-host

four daily two-hour livestreams with fellow influencer Mary He,

which the company expects will sell around 10,000 toys by Friday

to shoppers following on the AliExpress app.

POP MART SALES SURGE IN BRITAIN

Sales on the platform's official Pop Mart ( POPMF ) store in the UK

rocketed 1,500% in October compared to a year ago, according to

Bonnie Zhao, general manager at AliExpress UK, and sales of

collectible toys overall were up 300% in the first half of this

year.

Broadcasting in front of a display of Pop Mart ( POPMF ) toys,

Williams and He opened mystery boxes and showed viewers products

including Labubu "why so serious" clown dolls and

blueberry-scented Hacipupu gummy bear dolls, priced from 11

pounds to 74 pounds ($15-$99).

The toys have become fashion accessories, worn as

decorations on bags and with a thriving resale market.

Livestream shopping started in China but Western brands like

Zara and IKEA have also tried out the format which aims to

entertain shoppers and drive sales with well-known hosts

offering special deals.

"It's still in its early days but we have seen a huge

increase of brands doing live shopping, especially since TikTok

Shop launched in Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and France,"

said Carmen Muley, who was a host on the first AliExpress

livestreams for the Spanish market in 2016 and now advises

brands on live shopping.

($1 = 0.7451 pounds)