n US$7 billion in toy purchases. But what is it about these toys that drives such ardent passion from consumers, who are increasingly cash-strapped in a time of record-high pricing for everyday goods like eggs? How do retailers, be it a more traditional toy company like Chinese toy maker and retailer Pop Mart or an apparel and lifestyle goods reseller like StockX, cash in on this trend without alienating or infantilising these shoppers? What are kidults? The adult consumers who are interested in products traditionally marketed for kids, such as Lego sets and plush toys, have been dubbed kidults. The term was coined in the 1950s by TV industry executives to refer to a group of older viewers who watched shows intended for children. Today’s kidults are spending their time and money collecting items like a Lego bouquet set or decorating their bags with Labubu keychains. If you walk around metropolitan cities like New York City, London or Singapore, you may even spot a Labubu hanging off a Birkin bag or two. How kidults are saving the toy industry Market research company Circana stated that, in 2024, adults accounted for 28 per cent of all global toy sales, a 2.5 per cent increase since 2022. In the same year, grown-ups bought more toys than any other age group, including preschoolers. This is especially notable considering that US toy sales have been hit heavily by declining childbirth rates over the past few years. Juli Lennett, a US toys industry adviser at Circana, credits adult shoppers of toy products with reviving this retail sector.  In a Circana report released earlier this year, Lennett stated, “Toy sales experienced stabilisation in 2024 as the industry moved from a state of correction to consistency. Stabilising tailwinds, including growth in the adult toy market, helped balance out the headwinds, including higher grocery prices and rising consumer debt.” Frédérique Tutt, global toys industry adviser at Circana, added, “Toys sales in 2024 reflect a strong contrast in consumer behavior, between shoppers making very rational decisions, buying on deals and on an as-needed basis, whilst at the same time clearly indulging on feel-good toys to fuel their fandom or to give themselves some respite.” Lennett and Tutt hypothesised that the toy industry would move from a place of consistency to one of creativity to stimulate growth for the industry, especially as a stronger lineup of highly anticipated toyetic movies, based on popular franchises like Polly Pocket and Monster High, comes out over the next couple of years. “This year, we expect the global toy market to be positively affected by the box office and popular series on streaming platforms continuing to fuel young and mature consumer appetites for toys and collectible merchandise,” Tutt said. “These factors should help make up for the declining birth rates across most regions and economic uncertainty impacting consumers’ spending mindset.” Retailers reach out to the kidult consumer Both traditional toy retailers like Pop Mart and apparel and lifestyle retailers like the resale platform StockX have been profiting off the sale of adorable or creepy-cute items over the past decade. One toy that has earned notable attention in this sector is a little creature named Labubu. The furry critter with the toothy grin was first conceptualised in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung as a set of trouble-making, but sweet female Nordic elves in the children’s book series The Monsters. In 2019, Lung entered into a licensing agreement with Pop Mart to turn the storybook elves into collectible toys. Pop Mart’s first Labubu series, called the Exciting Macaron, was released in October 2023. Shortly after the toys entered the retail market, Pop Mart found itself with a hit on its hands. New Labubus, which retail for roughly US$30 a pop, with some limited-edition items priced even higher, regularly sell out online within minutes of their release. Long lines of customers camp outside of Pop Mart stores in countries like Vietnam and Japan to get their hands on one of these fuzzy figures. In 2024, Labubu began gaining traction globally after celebrities like Dua Lipa and Rihanna were spotted sporting the toys on their designer handbags, and Blackpink’s Lisa discussed the collection in several interviews. In the same year, Pop Mart reported US$1.8 billion in revenue, a more than 100 per cent year-over-year increase. The Labubu dolls and The Monsters tribe, all inspired by Lung’s series, contributed about US$400 million in revenue last year, a growth of 726 per cent from the previous year, making it among the company’s top-selling stock-keeping units (SKUs). Melissa Minkow, CI&T’s global director of retail strategy, said that more retailers should be thinking of ways to tap into the expanding power of kidult shoppers online. “Digital channels are a great way to appeal specifically to the adult demographic because kids will often be too young to engage with these brands on apps or websites, and typically the stores are designed to mostly cater to the kids,” Minkow remarked. She added that retailers should create additional product ranges and channels geared toward the adult demographic, demonstrating that the brand is meant for mature but fun- loving consumers. They could include products like claw clips, a popular accessory amongst women in their mid-20s to 30s, and phone cases. How StockX is catering to kidults One retailer that has been highly successful in targeting the kidult shopper is StockX. In both March and April of this year, the online marketplace experienced record-breaking sales of Pop Mart’s blind boxes, sealed packages that contain both ‘basic’ and ‘secret’ figures, featuring Labubus. In the first week of May, Labubus made it to the top of StockX’s collectible releases with the ‘Big into Energy’ Blind Boxes ranking as best release-day performance for a non-sneaker on the site. The blind box had an average resale price of US$208, a 24 per cent premium on its original retail price of US$168. Labubu has experienced an insanely quick growth trajectory among US collectors, with the company reporting tens of thousands of trades in 2024, compared with less than 100 trades in 2023. As Drew Haines, StockX’s senior merchandising director of sneakers and collectibles, told Inside Retail, the commotion around the Labubu blind boxes is akin to the trading card nostalgia of the 1990s, another kidult consumable that has re-emerged in recent years. “But with the internet and social media, these blind boxes have taken on a virality we never could have imagined in the ’90s,” Haines observed. “Much like with modern-day trading cards, consumers are purchasing these and unboxing them in live videos, hoping they pull a rare or valuable version of that collectible. This fun, gamified experience has fueled demand and caught the attention of a broad customer base… Coinciding with the rise of blind boxes is a new obsession with bag charms. The trend has only grown further as more Gen Z audiences are looking to customise their handbags and backpacks to showcase their individuality.” Haines confirmed that Labubus and other Pop Mart products are likely to remain on the popular items list on the brand’s site. StockX has strategically expanded its marketplace beyond sneakers and apparel to include things like collectible toys,” Haines added. “In response to growing consumer demand, the platform introduced Pop Mart collectibles to the catalog in 2022 and plans to continue expanding its offerings to serve this rapidly growing kidult collector community.” This story first appeared in the June 2025 issue of Inside Retail US magazine.