An online store specialising in discontinued Moomin products has reported selling a rare mug for a record-breaking price.
The site, called Muumimukit rahaksi (which roughly translates as Moomin Mugs for Money) and operated by Mukilaakso Oy, said it sold the extremely rare 'Diving with Shells' Moomin mug at auction for the eye-watering price of 46,023 euros.
CEO Rasmus Rantanen confirmed to Yle that the price is the highest sum ever paid for a single Moomin mug, according to the company's information.
"We have been buying and selling mugs for 14 years now. Based on that, we can say quite confidently that none have ever been sold for more. Or at least there has never been [information] in the public domain, and I would be surprised if mugs more expensive than this had been sold somewhere else," Rantanen said.
He added that the site held a closed auction for the Moomin mug in December 2025, and the actual sale was completed in April of this year.
The buyer is understood to be a Nordic "long-time Moomin collector" who does not want their name or more specific nationality made public.
The sale was also not announced until September at the buyer's request, but Rantanen did not wish to comment any further.
"They [the buyer] had their own reasons for wanting to keep it quiet," he explained.
"Pent-up fervour"
The 'Diving with Shells' mug resembles the more widely produced 'Diving' version, which was released in 2006, but the former has additional shell and coral motifs.
According to Moomin Arabia, which manufactures Moomin mugs, a small test batch of the mugs was made at the time, but the mug never made it into actual production.
By sliding the image below, you can compare the difference between the two versions:
Mukilaakso Oy sold a similar mug in 2019 for about 9,000 euros, while another of the batch was sold at auction in Sweden in 2021 for over 23,000 euros.
According to Rantanen, Mukilaakso Oy bought the 'Diving with Shells' mug for 27,000 euros from the same Swedish auction site that set the previous sales record for the mug in 2021.
He noted that the price jumped dramatically because of the increasing popularity of Moomin mugs as collector's items, adding that the company received offers of over 40,000 euros from as many as five different bidders in the closed auction.
"It is believed that only ten pieces of the Diving with Shells mugs were made. There has been a five-year break between the previous Swedish record and a new mug coming up for public sale again. During that time, the Moomin mug collecting scene had grown in popularity, and a certain kind of pent-up fervour was evident among collectors to get the mug into their collections."
Moomins are the creation of Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson. Residing in the peaceful Moominvalley, they are gentle trolls who somewhat resemble hippos in appearance. Jansson focused her stories about the Moomins on themes including community, nature and inclusion.
