Industry Forum

INDUSTRY FORUM TOY ASSOCIATION

Kidult Kraze

By Jack Placidi

Why should kids have all the fun? Adults have scrutinized this assumption more than ever in recent years, and their heightened spending habits in the toy aisles illustrate the resulting paradigm shi . Lately, we’ve seen an explosion of toys exclusively made for the “kidult”. According to a recent survey conducted by the Toy Association, 2,000 parents were asked if they had recently bought toys and games for themselves, exclusively. 58% of the respondents stated that they had, ranging from board games, to building sets, collectibles, and video games. What’s interesting is that the toy industry as a whole has a market dedicated exclusively for these buyers (shown by products and sales) and awards like the People’s Play Awards have a Kidult category to recognize the popularity of these products.

Proof is in the Product

When it comes to products that promote a wide range of play to all ages, the company that immediately comes to mind is LEGO. In 2021 alone, LEGO revenue jumped 27%. e company continues to create a wide variety of building sets that promote building play, encourage creativity, reduce screen time, and provide a stress-relieving activity. ese modern bene ts are enjoyed just as much by young LEGO builders. e fruits of LEGO’s adult-marketed R&D naturally reverberate to their ageneutral and kid-marketed products, with heightened attention to detail, and more sophisticated engineering than ever before. From smaller sets like Everyone Is Awesome (pictured le ), to the grand scale Titanic Building Set, these examples are marked ages 18+. Not necessarily because they have mature content to them, but because they’re meant for display, rather than heavy play. ey result in beautiful pieces of art that adults can put on a shelf or work desk a er they complete the build, and relish a sense of accomplishment.

Adults vitally require play in their lives, just as much as children. In adults, play helps release endorphins, and even improves brain functionality. During the height the COVID quarantine in 2020, US games sales increased tremendously, with total spending reaching 56.9 billion dollars. e bulk of these game sales came from adults wanting an outlet to enjoy each other’s company during a time of mandated separation. us, digital games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (pictured below) and the Jackbox Party Pack bundles found their stride during this time to keep that social need satis ed. Nowadays, many adults nd themselves creating game nights to cater to their own age group with games like Cards Against Humanity, What Do You Meme?, and many others that encourage social play and in-person fun.

e author’s avatar character, protecting his fellow neighbors in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

While play is an important aspect in the recent trend of kidult sales, many adults buy toys for the purpose of collectibility and display. Many of the big players in the industry already know the value of this factor in the adult marketplace. Mattel, for one, has been laying heavily into it with Barbie and making collector editions of the iconic doll. Many of these dolls are made to resemble famous historical gures, like Maya Angelou, Billie Jean King, and Florence Nightingale, to name a few. One particular doll that comes to mind is the Barbie Signature David Bowie Doll (pictured above). While David Bowie might have some fans in the Gen Z crowd, a majority of these buyers are adult collectors buying it for their own display and keeping it in the original packaging. Sales for this doll exploded soon a er it was launched, selling out of preorders in short order.

Storefronts for the Serious Collectors

Speaking of Mattel, they have a ton of brands that have become super popular with grown-ups. Not just Barbie, but Masters of the Universe, WWE, and Hot Wheels all have an adult collector marketplace to them. What better way to sell these brands to adults than with your own digital storefront? Mattel Creations is what happens when you open up a toy shop with the collector aspect as priority number one. Even the Fisher-Price Little People line got some adult collector treatment through exclusive packaging and collaborations with e Golden Girls, Ted Lasso, and e O ce, all of which are exclusively aiming to appeal to the fans of the shows. Hasbro has capitalized on this market as well with their storefront that’s dedicated to the sales of collectible gures and toys. With the existence of their online shop, Hasbro Pulse, they’ve made a market exclusively designed for adults to purchase all sorts of collector based memorabilia, from Star Wars gures with old school packaging and high quality lightsabers, to highly detailed and monumental Transformers. ere’s also the Sel e Series (pictured below) coming down the pipeline that allows you to use an image of yourself to place as the head of an action gure. According to Jim Silver, CEO of TTPM, the leading online reviewer of toys, baby products and pet gear. “50% of the action gure aisle is now geared toward the collectibles being sold to adults.” Even outside of their own storefront, many Hasbro brands in the action gure category are o en bought by grown-ups for themselves. Marvel Legends gures nd most of their sales through comic book stores, where a majority of the sales are for…you guessed it…adults!

e need for play is not something that’s exclusive to children. Adults also need the outlet in their daily lives to de-stress or cultivate a hobby that they might neglect, due to the hustle and bustle of a busy life. Toys are the tools to help with that. Whether it’s the desire to do something more hands-on, or the excitement one gets from adding another collectible to their shelf, there will always be a market for the adult who makes time for fun.

Bring your own jello-encased stapler! It’s always morphin’ time with the upcoming Sel e Series from Hasbro.

Jack Placidi is the creative director at aNb Media, whose expertise includes years of video content creation and promotion for various toy companies and in uencers. For more info, email at jack@ttpm. com.