From Nostalgia to Status Symbol
At first, it was easy to write this off as nostalgia. Of course, millennials buy LEGO Star Wars sets. They grew up with both. Of course, Gen Z is buying plushies. They want comfort in a scary world. But what’s happening now goes way beyond Saturday morning cartoons.
Toys have become status symbols. Limited-edition Labubus, those wide-eyed gremlin plushes from Pop Mart, are reselling for thousands of dollars. Pop Mart itself just posted a 350% profit spike in early 2025. That’s not nostalgia, that’s luxury fashion energy. Naomi Osaka debuted custom Labubu dolls at the U.S. Open, and suddenly a fuzzy goblin became as covetable as a designer handbag.
This is toys as clout. Toys as identity. Toys as the one affordable indulgence that also looks good on your shelf, your desk, and your Instagram grid.
The Labubu Phenomenon
If you haven’t met Labubu yet, imagine what would happen if a gremlin and a Beanie Baby had a baby, and then that baby became a cultural icon. Blind-box Labubu figures are the must-have collectible of the moment, inspiring lines at Pop Mart stores across Asia, Australia, and beyond. In some places, vending machines dispensing Pop Mart toys caused near riots.
Labubu is weird. Labubu is cute. Labubu is slightly unsettling. And somehow, that’s precisely what the internet wants. Fans are throwing raves themed around the toy. Conspiracy theories circulate about its demonic origins (seriously). And on resale sites, Labubus fetch prices higher than some smartphones.
It’s less “toy” and more “club membership.” If you own one, you’re part of the culture.
Kidults Aren’t Just Escaping, They’re Playing
It’s easy to dismiss the kidult boom as regression. Adults too stressed to face reality often retreat into plushies and action figures. But that’s missing the point.
Play has always been a way for humans to cope, connect, and imagine. Kidults aren’t “failing” at adulthood, they’re rewriting it. Buying a Labubu or LEGO set isn’t about rejecting maturity; it’s about reclaiming joy in a world that doesn’t hand much out.
Toys offer low-stakes happiness. They’re cheaper than therapy (though not always by much), less destructive than doomscrolling, and infinitely more satisfying than staring at a spreadsheet.
From Toys R Us to TikTok
Part of this boom is driven by how toys themselves are marketed. Once upon a time, you discovered toys in the Sears catalog or Toys R Us. Now? It’s TikTok unboxings, Instagram flat-lays, YouTube “collection tours.” Collecting has become content, and content has become currency.
Blind boxes like Pop Mart thrive in this environment because they gamify collecting. You never know what you’re going to get, so every purchase becomes an event. Post the reveal online, rack up likes, repeat. The dopamine hit is baked in.
Add resale culture on top, and you’ve got the sneakerization of toys: chase the drop, flex the exclusive, join the hype.
Toys for Emotional Survival
Here’s the secret nobody says out loud: the kidult boom isn’t just about fun. It’s about survival. Adulthood in 2025 is anxiety-ridden: climate dread, economic chaos, job precarity, you name it. Buying toys isn’t just consumption - it’s coping.
A plush on your desk is a small anchor against big storms. A LEGO set is a puzzle that ends with something beautiful instead of just another deadline. Toys give us permission to stop doomscrolling and build something, even if it’s just a tiny brick castle.
In other words, kidults aren’t immature. They’re adapting.
The Future of the Kidult Market
Toy companies know what’s happening, and they’re leaning in hard. LEGO has adult-only sets. Pop Mart designs collectibles explicitly for 20- and 30-somethings. Hasbro and Mattel are reviving old IP, with more nods to adults than to kids.
Don’t be surprised if “toys for grown-ups” becomes its own mainstream category. Think toy boutiques that look like Apple Stores, plushie collaborations with high-fashion brands, and subscription boxes designed to keep your inner child well-fed. Some of them already exist.
And honestly? Why not. The line between “toy” and “art object” is blurrier than ever. What matters is how it makes you feel.
Final Thoughts
The Kidult Effect isn’t about refusing to grow up. It’s about redefining what growing up looks like. For some, that means buying stocks and SUVs. For others, it means standing in line at a Pop Mart vending machine to score a Labubu that may or may not look possessed.
Both are valid forms of adulthood. Only one is fun.
So next time you see someone clutching a collectible plush like it’s a passport to happiness, don’t roll your eyes. They’ve hacked the system. They’ve found joy in plastic, fuzz, and nostalgia. And in 2025, that might be the most innovative survival strategy of all.
