This Holiday, Adults Will Be the Ones Toying Around
A new report shows that adults are spending more money on toys for themselves than for their kids. How leaders prepare for such sudden consumer shifts.
If there was one gift she had to buy this Christmas, it was the toy space station. It included three pilot action figures, two detachable rovers, and two wing-mounted cruisers for space exploration. But the gift wasn’t for her young son. It was for her husband.
It’s hardly surprising that adults are the biggest buyers of toys this year—what’s surprising is who they’re buying them for. Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a new report shows that Americans over 18 years old are spending more on toys for themselves—some $1.5 billion—than they are for their kids. So-called “kidults” now account for 28% of global toy sales. While the toy market overall has been either down or flat since 2022, in the adult demographic it’s grown 2.5%. “Adults aren’t dabbling in toys and board games—they’re driving the category,” says Chris Von Der Ahe, a senior client partner in the Consumer Markets practice at Korn Ferry.
It's the latest example—of many—of corporate leaders needing to shift gears rapidly to conform to changing customer tastes. Just recently, Cheetos and Doritos came out with “naked” versions of their snacks in response to a backlash against food coloring. In the case of toys, nostalgia, of course, has become both a driving force and a powerful marketing tactic for growing revenue, says Peri Hansen, leader of the Marketing Officers practice in North America for Korn Ferry. In fact, nostalgia is fueling growth in many industries and categories, from the boom in vintage or retro clothing fashions to new “throwback” menu items at restaurants.
According to a recent study, marketing campaigns featuring nostalgic or retro elements can increase sales by 20% or more—a considerable amount, given that the collectibles market for toys is forecast to be worth more than $35 billion by 2032. “Boomers and Gen Xers are major forces when it comes to collecting,” says Hansen, who notes that online platforms and social media have accelerated access to collectibles.
But it isn’t just nostalgia driving adults back to toys, says Matthew Siegel, a principal in the Global Technology and Marketing Officers practices at Korn Ferry: Adults are also using toys and games for socializing. As examples, he points to parents spending more time at home with their kids, the explosion in board-game meetups in cities across the US, and even so-called “LAN parties,” where people gather in the same physical location to play online games. “Adults have become more isolated, less social, and less community oriented, and they are using toys in a social context to get together in person,” says Siegel.
Marketers have noticed all of this, Von Der Ahe says—people’s hunger for socializing, their anxiety about AI’s potential effect on their livelihoods, and their desire to live less digitally. Amid the general malaise and uncertainty that has permeated the culture in the last few years, he says, people are looking for comfort and longing for a simpler time: “People want more human connection, and brands that understand that can capture a whole new revenue stream.”
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