Business
Toys aren't just for kids. Mattel and other companies are embracing 'kidults'
Jeremy Hart played with Hot Wheels as a kid, but he eventually grew out of them, tucking the miniature cars away in a toolbox.
Then nostalgia struck when he attended the Hot Wheels convention in California with his son three years ago.
“I get these little glimmers and glimpses of memories and feelings when I look and see those Hot Wheels from my childhood,” Hart said.
Today, the 48-year-old has fully embraced his inner child. He has spent hundreds of dollars on Hot Wheels and is always on the hunt for new ones that replicate vehicles he’s owned or that were featured on TV shows he watched when he was younger, such as “The Fall Guy” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Hart proudly displays his collection at Dent Express, the auto body shop he started in Torrance.
Hart is part of a growing number of adults who are buying toys for themselves, reclaiming memories from their childhood and showing off their fandom on their desks and shelves. Some have managed to cash in on their obsessions, building up lucrative followings of toy fans online.
Hot Wheels collector Jeremy Hart.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Toy companies including Mattel, the Lego Group, Hasbro and MGA Entertainment have taken note of the rise of these customers known in the industry as “kidults” and increasingly are making toys with them in mind.
Mattel President and Chief Commercial Officer Steve Totzke said that while the El Segundo-based company has long counted adults among fans of its major brands such as Hot Wheels and Barbie, sales to adults have grown over the last few years. Depending on the brand, he said, adult collectors can account for up to 25% of sales.
“I’m just thrilled that the rest of the industry and society is catching up, because I do believe that play is essential and you should be enjoying toys and joy at all ages,” said Totzke, who has worked at Mattel for more than 20 years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. toy companies saw sales surge as people stuck at home looked for activities to do. While overall growth has since slowed, sales to people who are at least 18 years old and buying toys for themselves are still going strong, data from market research firm Circana shows.
In the 12 months ending June 2024, U.S. adults tallied more than $7 billion in toy purchases, the figures from Circana show. Some of the top-selling toys for adults include Pokémon, Star Wars, Lego Star Wars sets, Funko Pop! and Squishmallows. From January to April, adults bought more toys than any other age group, surpassing preschoolers for the first time, according to Circana.
In the second quarter, from April to June, sales for adults ages 18 to 34 grew by 10%, while sales for ages 35 and older grew by 9% compared with the same period last year.
Azusa Sakamoto, a 42-year-old nail artist and Barbie superfan, started collecting Barbie dolls and all the accessories and decor tied to the doll when she was a teenager. Known as Azusa Barbie, Sakamoto views Barbie as more of a “fashion icon” than a toy. Some people love Chanel. She loves Barbie.
“I just buy whatever I like, you know, whatever makes me happy,” she said. “I don’t think … age matters.”
Barbie collector Azusa Sakamoto.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Inside her West Hollywood apartment, Sakamoto is living in a Barbie world. Rows of Barbies line pink walls. There’s a Barbie fridge, Barbie window shades and a Barbie nightstand.
Pink-haired Sakamoto said she relates to Barbie’s optimism and independence. She estimates she owns more than 600 Barbies and 300 Barbie shirts, sharing her fandom and recent purchases on social media.
Roughly 43% of adults in the United States bought a toy for themselves in the last year, Circana found in a 2024 survey. Some of the top reasons adults said they bought toys were for socialization, enjoyment and collecting. Others responded they purchased toys to escape from reality, display in their homes or as investments.
Harrison Woodward said receiving a Lego Technic set of a model car reignited his childhood interest in the plastic building pieces that can be connected to make intricate creations.
“I was hooked after that,” he said. “I loved the sense of peace that it gives me. … They’re like 3D puzzles.”
He’s now spent close to $20,000 on Lego sets, with the majority of the purchases made within the last year. After his videos of him buying, building and showcasing Lego sets went viral on TikTok, the 26-year-old began earning payments from the social media platform; he also struck sponsorship deals with retailers and other companies.
The Arizona resident said he makes enough money from his Lego venture that he was able to quit his insurance job several months ago to create online content full-time. On TikTok and Instagram, some of his videos rack up millions of views featuring replicas of the Titanic, the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University, said playing with toys as an adult can be beneficial, helping people foster curiosity, creativity and communication. Adults should be wary, though, if they’re buying dolls as a replacement for making friends in real life.
With people experiencing heightened feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety while spending more time scrolling on their smartphones, it’s chipped away at social connections adults make, she said.
“They can’t be a substitute for humans,” she said. “But if these toys become a way to get humans to play with other humans again, I’m all for it.”
Juli Lennett, vice president and industry advisor, toys, for Circana, said social media has made it easy for people to find others with the same interests, making it more socially acceptable to buy toys as an adult. Some adults who question whether buying a doll house they never had as a kid is healthy behavior have found reassurance from toy enthusiasts online.
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1. Barbie collector Azusa Sakamoto. 2. Hot Wheels collector Jeremy Hart. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Social media star Charli D’Amelio has shown off her Squishmallows collection on Instagram. Olympic rugby player Sammy Sullivan is a mega-fan of Lego sets. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher brought a heart-shaped plushie to union bargaining sessions. When Fisher Price unveiled a Little People Collector Britney Spears set in September, blogger Perez Hilton posted “NEED this!” on X, formerly Twitter.
“There is that opportunity to really think about the audience and create more toys that we’ve never seen before for that more adult audience,” Lennett said.
On Mattel Creations, a website for collectors, adults can find limited-edition collectibles that are of higher quality than toys designed for kids.
Several of the items on the site were listed recently as sold out, including a $300 Shogun Warriors Skeletor figure that stands more than 2 feet tall, a miniature $200 Porsche 930 in a display case modeled after a white sculpture by artist Daniel Arsham and $30 brightly colored Magic 8 balls decorated like an astronaut Barbie or a Hot Wheels race car driver.
In 2020, Mattel released a $400 remote-controlled Tesla Cybertruck with a vinyl “cracked” window sticker — a nod to when Tesla CEO Elon Musk smashed the “bulletproof” window on the car.
“There’s an aspect of designing for rarity, and then there’s also an aspect of modern play,” said Chris Down, Mattel’s chief design officer. When designing toys, Down said he and his team at Mattel ask themselves, “How are adult consumers not just playing with something the way that you would play with it as a kid but also playing all the way through to displaying?”
Mattel has partnered with artists, an Italian design company, a streetwear brand and others on toys and products. It has tapped into cultural and entertainment draws such as “Harry Potter,” Pokémon, “Wicked” and the hit television show “Breaking Bad,” creating new figurines based on their characters. The company teamed up with Formula One to build new F1-themed Hot Wheels and has released Little People NFL collector sets. The popularity of the 2023 Barbie movie, which grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, drove sales for the dolls.
Mattel reported net sales of $1.08 billion in the second quarter, down 1% compared with the same period last year. Net income surged to $57 million, more than doubling the total from the previous year.
The Lego Group also has been embracing adult buyers, some of whom call themselves AFOLs (Adult Fan of Lego). On the Lego brand’s website, replicas of the Mona Lisa, cars, plants and more are featured online with the words “Adults Welcome.”
Genevieve Capa Cruz, senior marketing director for adults at the Lego Group, said the company expects sales for both adults and kids to grow.
“Consumer research shows that when adults are building with Lego bricks, they also tend to gift it more to the kids in their lives, and encourage building together, which makes it an even more enjoyable activity for everyone in the family,” she said in a statement.
Other toy companies also have been attracting adult buyers, offering them ways to customize their toys.
MGA Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based company that makes Bratz dolls, sells mini do-it-yourself collectible sets, including one in which fans can make their own wizarding potions from “Harry Potter” or weapons from “The Lord of the Rings.” The company’s Miniverse collection also offers the chance for adults (21 and over, please) to make mini cocktails.
“People love the detail that goes in the toy. It’s like collecting a piece of art,” said Isaac Larian, founder and chief executive of MGA Entertainment.
Adults make up around 15% to 20% of the company’s sales, he said. Those between the ages of 18 and 35 represent the company’s “sweet spot,” but its consumers also can be older. MGA currently is promoting a Kylie Jenner Bratz doll, and it started releasing dolls based on characters from the “Mean Girls” films this month. Both are targeted at young adults.
Hot Wheel collectors like Hart plan to purchase more toys in the future.
“It’ll probably be never-ending for me,” he said. “Once I move up to the next size display case, I’m gonna have a bunch of real estate to fill.”
Nike is cutting about 1,400 jobs in its operations division, mostly from its technology department, the company said Thursday.
In a note to employees, Venkatesh Alagirisamy, the chief operating officer of Nike, said that management was nearly done reorganizing the business for its turnaround plan, and that the goal was to operate with “more speed, simplicity and precision.”
“This is not a new direction,” Mr. Alagirisamy told employees. “It is the next phase of the work already underway.”
Nike, the world’s largest sportswear company, is trying to recover after missteps led to a prolonged sales slump, in which the brand leaned into lifestyle products and away from performance shoes and apparel. Elliott Hill, the chief executive, has worked to realign the company around sports and speed up product development to create more breakthrough innovations.
In March, Nike told investors that it expected sales to fall this year, with growth in North America offset by poor performance in Asia, where the brand is struggling to rejuvenate sales in China. Executives said at the time that more volatility brought on by the war in the Middle East and rising oil prices might continue to affect its business.
The reorganization has involved cuts across many parts of the organization, including at its headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. Nike slashed some corporate staff last year and eliminated nearly 800 jobs at distribution centers in January.
“You never want to have to go through any sort of layoffs, but to re-center the company, we’re doing some of that,” Mr. Hill said in an interview earlier this year.
Mr. Alagirisamy told employees that Nike was reshaping its technology team and centering employees at its headquarters and a tech center in Bengaluru, India. The layoffs will affect workers across North America, Europe and Asia.
The cuts will also affect staffing in Nike’s factories for Air, the company’s proprietary cushioning system. Employees who work on the supply chain for raw materials will also experience changes as staff is integrated into footwear and apparel teams.
Nike’s Converse brand, which has struggled for years to revive sales, will move some of its engineering resources closer to the factories they support, the company said.
Mr. Alagirisamy said the moves were necessary to optimize Nike’s supply chain, deploy technology faster and bolster relationships with suppliers.
A bill that would have required insurers to offer coverage to homeowners who take steps to reduce wildfire risk on their property died in the Legislature.
The Senate Insurance Committee on Monday voted down the measure, SB 1076, one of the most ambitious bills spurred by the devastating January 2025 wildfires.
The vote came despite fire victims and others rallying at the state Capitol in support of the measure, authored by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena), whose district includes the Eaton fire zone.
The Insurance Coverage for Fire-Safe Homes Act originally would have required insurers to offer and renew coverage for any home that meets wildfire-safety standards adopted by the insurance commissioner starting Jan. 1, 2028.
It also threatened insurers with a five-year ban from the sale of home or auto insurance if they did not comply, though it allowed for exceptions.
However, faced with strong opposition from the insurance industry, Pérez had agreed to amend the bill so it would have established community-wide pilot projects across the state to better understand the most effective way to limit property and insurance losses from wildfires.
Insurers would have had to offer four years of coverage to homeowners in successful pilot projects.
Denni Ritter, a vice president of the American Property Casualty Insurance Assn., told the committee that her trade group opposed the bill.
“While we appreciate the intent behind those conversations, those concepts do not remove our opposition, because they retain the same core flaw — substituting underwriting judgment and solvency safeguards with a statutory mandate to accept risk,” she said.
In voting against the bill Sen. Laura Richardson, (D-San Pedro), said: “Last I heard, in the United States, we don’t require any company to do anything. That’s the difference between capitalism and communism, frankly.”
The remarks against the measure prompted committee Chair Sen. Steve Padilla, (D-Chula Vista), to chastise committee members in opposition.
“I’m a little perturbed, and I’m a little disappointed, because you have someone who is trying to work with industry, who is trying to get facts and data,” he said.
Monday’s vote was the fourth time a bill that would have required insurers to offer coverage to so-called “fire hardened” homes failed in the Legislature since 2020, according to an analysis by insurance committee staff.
Fire hardening includes measures such as cutting back brush, installing fire resistant roofs and closing eaves to resist fire embers.
Pérez’s legislation was thought to have a better chance of passage because it followed the most catastrophic wildfires in U.S. history, which damaged or destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed 31 people.
The bill was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and Every Fire Survivor’s Network, a community group founded in Altadena after the fires formerly called the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.
But it also had broad support from groups such as the California Apartment Association, the California Nurses Association and California Environmental Voters.
Leading up to the fires, many insurers, citing heightened fire risk, had dropped policyholders in fire-prone neighorhoods. That forced them onto the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, which offers limited but costly policies.
A Times analysis found that that in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones, the FAIR Plan’s rolls from 2020 to 2024 nearly doubled from 14,272 to 28,440. Mandating coverage has been seen as a way of reducing FAIR Plan enrollment.
“I’m disappointed this bill died in committee. Fire survivors deserved better,” Pérez said in a statement .
Also failing Monday in the committee was SB 982, a bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, (D-San Francisco). It would have authorized California’s attorney general to sue fossil fuel companies to recover losses from climate-induced disasters. It was opposed by the oil and gas industry.
Passing the committee were two other Pérez bills. SB 877 requires insurers to provide more transparency in the claims process. SB 878 imposes a penalty on insurers who don’t make claims payments on time.
Another bill, SB 1301, authored by insurance commissioner candidate Sen. Ben Allen, (D-Pacific Palisades), also passed. It protects policyholders from unexplained and abrupt policy non-renewals.
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Politicians in Washington and the reporters who cover them have an often adversarial relationship.
But on the last Saturday in April, they gather for an irreverent celebration of press freedom and the First Amendment at the Washington Hilton Hotel: The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Hosted by the association, an organization that helps ensure access for media outlets covering the presidency, the dinner attracts Hollywood stars; politicians from both parties; and representatives of more than 100 networks, newspapers, magazines and wire services.
While The Times will have two reporters in the ballroom covering the event, the company no longer buys seats at the party, said Richard W. Stevenson, the Washington bureau chief. The decision goes back almost two decades; the last dinner The Times attended as an organization was in 2007.
“We made a judgment back then that the event had become too celebrity-focused and was undercutting our need to demonstrate to readers that we always seek to maintain a proper distance from the people we cover, many of whom attend as guests,” he said.
It’s a decision, he added, that “we have stuck by through both Republican and Democratic administrations, although we support the work of the White House Correspondents’ Association.”
Susan Wessling, The Times’s Standards editor, said the policy is a product of the organization’s desire to maintain editorial independence.
“We don’t want to leave readers with any questions about our independence and credibility by seeming to be overly friendly with people whose words and actions we need to report on,” she said.
The celebrity mentalist Oz Pearlman is headlining the evening, in lieu of the usual comedy set by the likes of Stephen Colbert and Hasan Minhaj, but all eyes will be on President Trump, who will make his first appearance at the dinner as president.
Mr. Trump has boycotted the event since 2011, when he was the butt of punchlines delivered by President Barack Obama and the talk show host Seth Meyers mocking his hair, his reality TV show and his preoccupation with the “birther” movement.
Last month, though, Mr. Trump, who has a contentious relationship with the media, announced his intention to attend this year’s dinner, where he will speak to a room full of the same reporters he often derides as “enemies of the people.”
Times reporters will be there to document the highs, the lows and the reactions in the room. A reporter for the Styles desk has also been assigned to cover the robust roster of after-parties around Washington.
Some off-duty reporters from The Times will also be present at this late-night circuit, though everyone remains cognizant of their roles, said Patrick Healy, The Times’s assistant managing editor for Standards and Trust.
“If they’re reporting, there’s a notebook or recorder out as usual,” he said. “If they’re not, they’re pros who know they’re always identifiable as Times journalists.”
For most of The Times’s reporters and editors, though, the evening will be experienced from home.
“The rest of us will be able to follow the coverage,” Mr. Stevenson said, “without having to don our tuxes or gowns.”
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