Childless adults have overtaken parents as the biggest toy buyers of 2026.
Jeremy Padawer, president of toymaker Jazwares, told the industry last week that adult collectors now dominate the market. “Today, the adult collector dominates the market. … Thats going to be a thread that we follow further in the future,” he said. His company, which holds licenses for Pokémon and Squishmallows, has spent years engineering products that hook both children and grown-ups.
The numbers back his claim. Circana data shows households without children bought more than half of all toys sold in the first half of 2026. Pokémon, Barbie, LEGO and Marvel super heroes ranked as the top-selling brands overall, pulling billions from parents with kids but even more from child-free consumers.
Padawer pointed to Squishmallows as the clearest case study. The plush toys were originally designed for young girls, but Jazwares discovered they tested strongly with the 16-and-up demographic. The company pivoted its marketing toward young women and has since sold more than half a billion units. Squishmallows became the single best-selling toy of 2024, according to Circana.
The shift has not gone unnoticed by struggling retailers. Toys R Us announced this month it will open 120 new brick-and-mortar stores by the holiday season, betting that adult nostalgia and collecting habits can sustain physical toy sales.
Padawer rejected the notion that adult toy buyers are simply refusing to grow up. “No, toy have just gotten cooler,” he said. He traced the transformation to the 1970s, when licensing entered consumer products in force. “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,” he explained. Those children never abandoned their attachment to Star Wars and Barbie, and now they pursue those franchises with or without kids of their own.
The pandemic accelerated the trend visibly. “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,” Padawer said.
Manufacturers have increasingly designed products specifically for mature buyers. “Games and puzzles” now ranks as the top-selling toy category, encompassing adult-oriented titles like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. Hasbro reported that Magic: The Gathering alone generated $1.72 billion in revenue last year. Pokémon cards remain scorching hot for both children and adult collectors, though the latter have been involved in physical altercations in store aisles and robberies at card shops.
The cultural stigma around adult collecting has largely evaporated. “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,” Padawer said. He practices what he preaches, keeping roughly 25% of his personal net worth in collectibles. He lost a $4.5 million Pokémon card collection in the Palisades Fire.
Padawer framed the phenomenon as emotionally genuine rather than commercially manufactured. “We have people who live their entire lives around content that has truly shaped their lives. … I think it’s beautiful,” he said. He predicted Toys R Us will succeed in its expansion as long as adults continue nurturing their inner child.
Toys R Us plans to open 120 new stores before the holiday season.