Today’s toy buyers are kids — at heart.
Childless adults are beating out parents with kids as the top toy-buying demographic this year, according to data from Circana.
Pokémon, Barbie, LEGO and Marvel super heroes are the top-selling brands, raking in billions from parents with kids — but even more from child-free consumers, who bought more than half of all toys sold in the first half of 2026.
“Today, the adult collector dominates the market. … Thats going to be a thread that we follow further in the future,” said Jeremy Padawer, president of toymaker Jazwares, whose portfolio includes Pokémon and Squishmallows.
Padawer has spent his career looking for ways to design and market kids’ toys that also appeal to adults — and the effort has paid off.
For example, Squishmallows were originally meant for young girls, but Jazwares found they tested well in the 16+ demo, started marketing to young women, and has now sold more than half a billion of the stuffed plushes — which were the single best selling toy in 2024, per Circana.
So why are adults buying toys? Are they coddled Peter Pan types who refuse to grow up?
No, toy have just gotten cooler, said Padawer — and a lot more valuable.
“In the 1970s licensing was really introduced to consumer products, and toys specifically. You used to buy a frisbee or a hula-hoop, then in the 1970s, you started buying your favorite super hero or Star Wars figures,” Padawer explained.
Those kids never stopped loving Star Wars and Barbie, and now they can enjoy them with their own children — or not, as the case may be.
“At the beginning of COVID, in people’s backgrounds [at virtual meetings] you would see a blank wall. By the end, you would see all this stuff, whether they had a cat, their favorite Pokémon or Star Wars product,” said Padawer.
There are also more toys made for grown-ups — designed for both fun and collectibility.
“Games and puzzles” is currently the top selling toy category, which includes adult games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering — which hauled in $1.72 billion last year, according to Hasbro.
Pokémon cards also continue to be a white-hot product for both kids and adult collectors — the latter of which have taken to brawling in store aisles and robbing card shops.
“If you go back 20, 25 years ago, an adult collecting toys was like the 40 Year Old Virgin. It was weird. Now it’s cool to be a collector,” explained Padawer, who said he keeps around 25% of his own net worth in collectables and lost a $4.5 million Pokémon card collection in the Palisades Fire.
The grown-up toy renaissance is part of what has inspired foundering retailer Toys R Us to launch 120 new brick-and-mortar stores by the holiday season, the company announced this month.
The chain should do well, Padawer predicts, as long as adults keep nurturing their inner child.
“We have people who live their entire lives around content that has truly shaped their lives. … I think it’s beautiful,” Padawer said.
