Out-of-the-box business: How Ling Vong’s food truck got more than she bargained for with Labubus
May 22, 2026 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
Ling Vong, owner of Dragon Wagon KC and KC Monsters, at her pop-up booth; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Ling Vong’s decision to sell Labubus alongside her Vietnamese street food wasn’t random, the owner of Dragon Wagon KC and KC Monsters shared. It was a strategy rooted in serving culture, creating experiences, and building community, she said.
“Food feeds the body,” Vong explained. “Culture feeds the soul. Labubus feeds the joy.”
Various Labubus for sale at KC Monsters’ pop-up booth; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Dragon Wagon — Kansas City’s first Vietnamese food truck — launched in 2024. Vong and her partner Jamie later began selling Labubus — a global icon of playful rebellion created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung — out of her food truck early last year, eventually turning the sub-venture into KC Monsters, she noted.
“Both are AANHPI stories,” she explained. “Both started as ‘outsiders’ and built community.”
The strategy is experience over transactions, continued Vong, who has been popping up at AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) events throughout May, including Hella Good Deeds’ The Art of AANHPI at the Zhou B Art Center, the Taste of AAPI in the West Bottoms, and NPIEN’s Island Fest 816 set for Saturday in Independence.
Check out a photo gallery from this month’s The Art of AANHPI event at the bottom of this article.
“I wanted to connect with my community,” Vong said. “People don’t just want a banh mi. They want a moment. Labubu pop-ups turn a three-minute food line into a 10-minute memory. Kids pull blind boxes while parents order pho. Photos get taken. Stories get shared.”
Vong also curates community and helps other small businesses through Kansas City’s first Pink Trinket Box — which she co-created with fellow vendor Timeless Main and can be found at KC Monster popups and at Origin Coi Nguon Coffeehouse in the Northland and Truly Madly Depot in Mission. (Inspired by a similar concept in Arizona, she said, visitors are encouraged to leave a trinket and then take a trinket.)
She’s not trying to be a toy store or compete with Pop Mart — the Chinese store that produces Labubus — she noted. It’s about community, not competition.
“We’re using Labubus to celebrate, drive traffic to all of our events, and introduce new fans to Vietnamese food and culture,” she added.
Click here to learn more about where to find Dragon Wagon KC on the road and here to follow KC Monsters.
A dip into the unexpected
Vong — a longtime entrepreneur who is Vietnamese and Chinese — grew up in Columbus Park and could always be found helping her parents out in their Chinese restaurants, she shared. So when she lost her car dealership during the pandemic, she decided to make a pivot back to her roots.
“During COVID, everything was closed except for food,” she recalled. “So I had an idea. I was like, ‘What if I get back into restaurants — but not have a restaurant — but something like a tent?’ And then my husband goes, ‘Let’s get a food truck instead. It’s easy, not a lot of overhead.’”
After the adventure of finding a suitable trailer in Alabama, leaving their SUV in the South, and renting a large truck to haul it back, she decided not to stick with the usual Chinese food.
“I wanted to do something that was a little bit different,” she explained. “And I noticed there were no Vietnamese food trucks. So it was something new for me, because I’ve always done Chinese food with my parents. I learned how to cook Vietnamese food as I was growing up, but it was only at home that we would eat it.”
The Dragon Wagon KC food truck serves customers during the Taste of AAPI festival in the West Bottoms in early May; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Dragon Wagon KC’s first popup in 2024 was at Café Cà Phê, Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. Since then, Vong has been serving up traditional Vietnamese comfort food with a twist and switching up her menu for every pop-up, she said. Signature dishes include her Dragon Dip, a banh mi with a pho dip, and Dragon Fries, authentic lemongrass pork served over fries, drizzled with signature mayo and fried onions.
“I wanted to try something new and out of the box,” she noted. “And with a food truck, you have to get creative.”
“I try to do something different every time to attract new customers and a different audience,” she added, “and also to get that nostalgic feel like, ‘Oh, this is just like home.’”
Unboxing the inner child
After running Dragon Wagon for a while, Vong — who also helps other small businesses outfit their food trucks — decided she wanted to start selling merch, but she wasn’t sure what to offer, she said. She thought about going back to Vietnam and finding little trinkets like keychains. But then she came across Labubus, before they made their debut in U.S. pop culture.
“I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to get them,” she recalled. “It became like the Hunger Games. I started getting the thrill of finding it. I finally found one, and I was like, ‘What if I sell this out of my food truck? They’ll chase the blind box. They’ll chase my truck.’”
After traveling to Asia and trying tactics like buying a $150 amusement park ticket just to get a number to stand in line for the chance to buy one Labubu, Vong detailed, she eventually brought back as many Labubus with her to Kansas City in early 2025 that she could fit in her travel boxes — while also having to produce receipts for customs at the airport to prove they weren’t counterfeit.
“They remind me of ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’” she said of the plush characters. “And I grew up during that time, so it feels really nostalgic. I think that’s what attracted me the most.”
“They’re actually for adults in China,” she added. “You have to be 18 to buy it, because they don’t want to encourage gambling (with the blind boxes).”
Back home in Kansas City, Vong first tried collaborations and giveaways with local businesses like Café Cà Phê and Mr. D’s Donuts, as well as hosting pop-ups and parties with other local vendors where customers could outfit and even tattoo their Labubus.
“If you’re wondering what the hell is a Labubu,” Café Cà Phê’s Instagram asked. “Well it’s giving Gen z version of Beanie Baby, Furby, Tamagotchi craze vibes, with Vietnamese roots, and the cuuuuuuuuuutest blind boxes ever!”
That was in January 2025, before Lisa of South Korean girl group Blackpink introduced Labubus to the U.S. in May and started the mainstream craze, Vong noted.
“I was the first one to bring it here,” she continued. “Because of (Lisa), it got really, really popular out of nowhere. And adults were fighting for them right in front of me. Sometimes I had to tell them, ‘You need to go out there to touch some grass, because it’s not that serious.’”
Boxes of Labubus and other collectible characters and trinkets stacked ready for sale at KC Monsters’ pop-up booth; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Eventually, the Dragon Wagon became known as the “Labubu truck” — which Vong didn’t love and felt defeated the purpose — so she decided the dueling ventures needed to be separated, she said. Vong launched her vendor business, KC Monsters, which also sells other trendy toys like Sonny Angels.
The phenomenon is different here, Vong noted. In Asia, a Labubu is seen as a symbol of clout, often called a “Birkin pendant.”
“When I came back here, I noticed that people use it more for comfort or healing their inner child,” she explained. “It’s like emotional support.”
But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows while selling Labubus, she said — noting raging demand, higher prices than some customers expected, and Satanic theories about the Labubus’ origins and meanings.
“I faced a lot of backlash, too,” Vong added.
Now that the market is becoming more saturated, Vong shared, she’s already looking for the next new thing. She might even curb KC Monsters after this summer, except for maybe around Christmas. She wants to focus more on Dragon Wagon, which will be popping up at World Cup watch parties this summer in places like Overland Park and Olathe, she said.
“I’d rather be known as Dragon Wagon than the Labubu girl,” Vong noted. “It’s a bad and a good thing. There’s a lot of mixed feelings about the toys, because it went crazy.”
Check out a photo gallery from Hella Good Deeds’ The Art of AANHPI at the Zhou B Art Center below. Photos by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News.
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