This article was written by Francisco Alhambra Pascual. Francisco is passionate about toys and the stories they tell, and brings over 23 years of hands-on experience driving sales and marketing across Asia, Latin America, Europe and beyond in the toy world.
My friends have always called me “friki” (in Spanish), “geek” or “nerd” (in English), I’ve always collected toys, Star Wars and Marvel action figures, comics, … and now art toys as well ☺
Well… it seems there are many frikis nowadays…
The toy industry is experiencing a historic transformation that few industry observers have fully grasped. For the first time, adults purchasing toys for themselves have surpassed children as the dominant toy-buying /consumer demographic. This isn’t a niche trend or seasonal anomaly—it’s a structural shift reshaping how the world’s largest toy companies think about their business.
Just to throw some basic numbers, adults 18+ now represent around 28-34% of global toy sales and account for roughly 60% of total market dollar growth, despite comprising only 25% of toy buyers. In the first half of 2025 alone, adult toy sales grew 18% year-over-year. For context, children’s toy sales grew only 1%. This reflects a fundamental change in who controls toy industry economics.
Kids’ sales are kind of flat. Adults’ sales are booming.
The Convergence of Four Growth Drivers
This demographic revolution it’s the result of four big trends that have created the perfect conditions for adult toy consumption to boom.
1. Collectibles have gone from “nice” to “want”
Collectible toys used to be a corner of the market; now they’re one of its engines.
Blind boxes, vinyl figures, Die-Cast Vehicles, limited runs, chase variants – adults are obsessed. Brands like Pop Mart, Hot Toys, 52 Toys, …have turned mystery figures into a lifestyle, with fans lining up, trading, and hunting down specific designs like they’re sneakers. The product isn’t just a toy, it’s a flex, a fandom badge, and a little hit of dopamine every time you open one.
And honestly, the business model is brilliant:
You don’t know what you’re getting, you want the rare ones, and you definitely “need” the full set. That’s not a toy; that’s a carefully engineered habit loop. Even myself have ended getting a couple of full sets of PopMart’s to be able to complete the collection.
2. Trading cards: from binder to “asset class”
Trading cards are no longer just in a shoebox under the bed. The modern trading card world looks more like a financial market than a playground. Pokémon, sports cards, anime TCGs – adults are buying, grading, trading, and treating high-end cards like alternative investments. There are grading services, digital marketplaces, even blockchain-verified cards.
You’ve got people in their 30s and 40s finally able to afford the cards they dreamed of as kids… and now willing to drop serious money on them. That childhood “one day I’ll get that card” is finally here – with a credit card attached.
3. Licensing is the new infrastructure
If it’s big in entertainment, it’s big in toys.
The biggest growth is clustering around licensed products: Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Harry Potter, anime, gaming IP, viral characters. It’s not just “a toy,” it’s that character from that universe that you’ve lived with for 10, 20, 30 years.
Adults aren’t just buying “a figure”; they’re buying a piece of a story they’re emotionally invested in. That’s a very different level of attachment than a random generic toy on a shelf.
And studios know it. Toy companies know it. That’s why we see collector-grade figures, display-worthy packaging, numbered editions, and collabs dropping like streetwear. The line between toy aisle, pop culture, and collectible art is basically gone.
4. Nostalgia is now a business model
The pandemic accelerated a psychological reconnection with childhood. With extra cash and time during lockdowns a lot of adults went back to the things that made them feel happy as kids: LEGO, Pokémon, plush, action figures, card games. This was meant to be temporary comfort-seeking. Instead, it became a lasting lifestyle choice.
Now, people in their 30s and 40s are building LEGO sets on the weekend, hunting die-cast vehicles or Squishmallows , or unboxing figures on TikTok. Toys stopped being “for kids” and became a form of self-care, decoration, and self-expression.
What are adults actually buying?
I love to walk the aisles of retail stores and over the last three years what I am seeing is obvious:
- LEGO “18+” sets – Huge builds, black boxes, big price tags. These are basically design objects masquerading as toys.
- Plush and plush charms – Comfort, collectibility, and cute designs all in one. The line between “kid plush” and “adult anxiety pillow” is very blurry.
- Blind-box collectibles – Pop Mart and many others, designer toys, vinyl figures. You’re not “playing” with them, you’re curating them.
- Trading cards – Pokémon, sports, TCGs tied to anime and games. Binders now look like portfolios.
- Action figures and statues – Highly detailed, often display-only, aimed squarely at fans who know the lore. (I love my Hot Toys and SH FigureArts).
- Die-cast Vehicles – Hot Wheels, Tomica, Majorette, Burago, premium 1:64s, 1:24 and 1:18 collector lines. These aren’t just “little cars” anymore, they’re mini design objects. Adult collectors are chasing limited runs, special finishes, movie cars, …
- Board games – Not just family games, but strategy titles, big boxes, and hobby games that live on Kallax shelves and in game nights.
If it can sit on a shelf, hold value, photograph nicely, and spark conversation on social media, adults are in.
Asia is not just joining in – it’s leading
One important twist: this isn’t just a Western phenomenon.
In China and across Asia, collectible culture has exploded. Blind-box retail, IP-driven designer toys, and highly shareable characters are everywhere. Young adults line up at malls to pull mystery figures, then trade them right outside the store. Cities are full of pop-up stores and photo-friendly installations built around these brands.
Where Western markets are rediscovering nostalgia, Asian markets are building new collectible IP in real time.
What this all means for the toy industry
To me the big picture is pretty simple:
- Kids keep the category alive.
- Adults are pushing it forward.
The old mental model – “toys are for children” – is done. The companies winning right now are the ones treating adults as a core audience, not a side hustle.
That means:
- Designing with display in mind, not just play.
- Pricing for premium, not pocket money.
- Building fandoms, not just selling SKUs.
- Thinking in seasons, drops, and collabs, not just Christmas and birthdays.
Toys haven’t stopped being fun. They’ve stopped being only for kids.
For toy companies, the lesson is unambiguous: the future of the industry belongs to those who can serve adults authentically. This requires premium product positioning, influencer-driven community-building, limited-edition scarcity mechanics, and integration with IP and entertainment franchises.
If anything, the toy industry has finally caught up to what a lot of us adults quietly knew all along: growing up doesn’t mean you stop playing. It just means your toys get more expensive and your shelves get fuller!
Francisco can be reached on LinkedIn or at – francisco@toyspulse.com
This article also appeared in Edition 20 of The Toy Universe Magazine
