Toy and game makers target the “kids” market that chases nostalgia and gain

Do you remember the good old days? Toy and game makers are counting on it.

Companies are embracing their adult customers, announcing releases that evoke nostalgia for the cultural touchstones of the 1980s and 1990s. Nintendo is reviving games designed for the tabletop Virtual Boy console. Lego is launching a set inspired by the 1985 movie “The Goonies.” Mattel (MAT) has acquired the “Home Alone” movie franchise and the Backstreet Boys into figurine sets.

Older generations — from college students who strap Labobo dolls to their backpacks to grandparents who display model cars — fuel the industry’s growth, with many financing their spending with gains from hot markets. Adults spent more money on games for themselves than any other age group in 2024, according to market research group Circana. Adult shopping continued to outperform youth purchasing in the toys and games category in the first half of 2025, Circana said.

“Pop toys,” such as Labubu and Wakuku plush mini dolls, have gone from “niche items to lifestyle essentials for adults and millennials,” QuantaSing Group (QSG) CEO Ping Li said on a conference call this fall. (Labobo is a big-hearted magical beast with a toothy smile, while Wakoko is a childlike wild character with round cheeks.)

Consumers “are looking for comfort, identity, solid affirmation and connection through their purchases, and pop games offer exactly that,” Lee said during a call in June, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. (China-based QuantaSing acquired the equity rights to Wakuku through an acquisition announced earlier this year.)

Adults are often inspired to buy toys by the feeling of nostalgia they evoke, according to surveys by consumer insights group CivicScience. But the survey found that some shoppers are collecting items to join a community of fans or to make a financial investment.

Retailers and brands are keen to tap into a group they call “kids,” who executives say are willing to spend. Mattel is looking to adults to revive sluggish Barbie sales after older consumers boosted Hot Wheels sales, Mattel said on a conference call in October.

Etsy (ETSY) has a “millennial toy” label, while Build-a-Bear Workshop (BBW) runs an 18-plus e-commerce platform that sells stuffed animals sipping margaritas and Bloody Marys.About 40% of Build-a-Bear’s business now comes from teens and adults, the company said this spring.

Working with influencers and building a social media following helped Build-a-Bear reach “the growing children’s market, who often tend to be higher-value collectors, gift-givers and buyers of mass-market products,” CEO Sharon Price-John said this summer.

Labubu also rose to prominence through the social media circuit. Shoppers don’t know which model of Labubu they’ve purchased until they remove its packaging, which may force people to keep buying until they unbox what they want. The so-called “blind box” has given rise to other popular items, such as Sonny Angel figurines and Pokémon cards.

Pokemon sales on eBay ( EBAY ) have increased dramatically in recent quarters, prompting the platform to host live shopping events focused on trading cards, eBay executives said in October.

The cartoon cards are so popular that Costco Wholesale (COST) CEO Ronald Vacheris cited them while explaining why the wholesaler is adding a waiting room to its e-commerce platform.

Waiting rooms for “high-velocity items, such as Pokémon cards” can “reduce traffic from bots, and increase the opportunity for members to purchase high-demand items, while improving site speed and stability during peak traffic periods,” Vachris said on a conference call this fall, according to a transcript.

Rising stock markets with some investors awash with cash are likely to make some adult splurges more popular. “Everything is speculative right now: the stock market, Bitcoin, trading cards,” Jason Machera, president of trading card company Upper Deck, said in a recent LinkedIn post. “It’s some collector’s pricing.”