Long before the pandemic(疫情), many adults turned to toys from Legos to collectible items to tap into their inner childhood for comfort. But all the stresses from the health problems stimulated(刺激)and strengthened the trend, according to Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of a toy review site.
This so-called "kid-adult" market is significant. Ages 18 and older represented 14% of U. S. toy industry sales, or $5. 7 billion in 2022. It grew 19% compared with that in 2021, according to the NPD Group Inc. , a market research firm. This group also enjoyed the second-fastest increase after customers aged 12 to 17.
Last year, Build-a-Bear launched a website called Bear Cave for the 18-year-old and over, highlighting items like toy rabbits holding a bottle of wine. And Basic Fun took a high-tech on the traditional Lite Brite toy from the 1960s and recreated it as wall art with thousands of pegs and 45 LED lights aimed at the adults in time for the holidays-with a $99 price tag. McDonald's tapped into this group, releasing adult Happy Meals in October with toys designed by the fashion brand Cactus Plant Flea Market.
Loren Brereton,61,was recently visiting the American Girl store with her granddaughter Alana,7. She said that during the pandemic, she took comfort looking at her own daughter's dolls. She also pulled out some of her son's Lego's and other toys and played with them. And she was thinking of buying a few playthings for herself. "All of those games have brought me comfort when I was a kid, but, you know, sort of changed you at different times when you needed it,"she said. "And you needed it. "
"The pandemic certainly served as a stimulus for this trend as adults found themselves stuck at home with nothing else to do with a lot of time in their hands
"said Genevieve Cruz, senior director at Lego, "But we do believe that the trend goes beyond the pandemic. "
