As a child, you may have sung along to Toys R Us' iconic jingle about not wanting to grow up. Decades later, many millennial and Gen Z adults are taking that motto seriously.

Adults are rediscovering how Lego, stuffed animals, and other toys brought them joy. Now that they're earning their own money, they can afford the things they once played with or circled in catalogs. Hobby spending — which includes hobby shops, arts and crafts stores, and outdoor recreation providers — rose 7.9% year over year in August, according to an analysis by the Bank of America Institute.

Devin Byron, 25, had a collection of American Girl dolls growing up, but her interest in playing with them fizzled out around middle school. However, her love for them never really went away. And now, working an office job, she can buy her own.

In February, she and her friend went to the American Girl store in New York. Byron purchased the historical doll representing the '60s, Melody, which cost $135 with the book, plus $34 for accessories.

"I feel like a lot of collectors now are, I would say, healing their inner child because some people couldn't get maybe American Girl dolls growing up, but now they can," Byron said. "And it's an adrenaline rush too."

She's not the only adult contributing to the toy economy. Market research company Circana found that adult-only households made up over half of toy sales in the first half of this year, and that overall toy sales for adults increased 25%. Some adults may buy toys to bring nostalgia back into their lives or to avoid doomscrolling. For others, it's to make a profit.

"We're seeing toys increasingly function as hobbies, fandom ecosystems, and social experiences rather than traditional children's products," said Kristen McLean, vice president of client insights for Circana's Entertainment Knowledge Group. "That's expanding the consumer base and creating new opportunities for manufacturers and retailers that understand how to engage collectors, enthusiasts, gifters, and self-purchasers."

The rise of 'kidulting'

Jay Berino, store manager at the Lowry Town Center Timbuk Toys in Denver, pointed to "kidulting," the trend in which adults engage with childlike toys and hobbies, as coming from adults seeking distractions and nostalgia — from buying Pokémon cards to lava lamps.

"As much as we're a toy store and people hear toy store and think of kids, we sell to a lot to full-blown adults, and that drives a huge chunk of our business," he said.

Syls Farmer, 32, runs a vintage online store specializing in toys marketed to girls. Her store, Mema's Doll Shop, was inspired by her grandmother, who ran a couple of toy stores back in the day. Farmer said adults buy from her for themselves or for their kids so they can experience their past.

"A lot of people are dealing with a lot of pressure in this general economy and the world in general," Farmer said. "And I think that these items of childhood are bringing back feelings of comfort and peace that I think a lot of us need right now."

Farmer also buys toys for herself, including her first American Girl doll through Facebook Marketplace — Nicki, one of the '90s-inspired dolls.

Even crafters are getting in on the toy craze: Abby Glassenberg, the president of the Craft Industry Alliance, said that homemade Labubu-esque bag charms have taken off, with crafters making their own customizable charms from crochet or felt.

"People are definitely still spending. I think craft in some ways is resistant to market up and down," Glassenberg said. When the market is up, people pour more money into their hobbies, whether that's getting premium materials or even traveling to somewhere catered to their favorite crafts.

"When the market is down, and people's budgets are tighter, they want to make something for a gift rather than buy it," Glassenberg said.

Collecting toys

Emma Wynn, 28, has 120 Jellycat items, a popular stuffed-toy brand that includes animals, food, and more. Wynn's collection began when she bought a scuba diver egg while browsing at a garden center with her family, sparking a feeling of childlike happiness.

Prices range on the Jellycat site; for instance, a heart dragon is priced at $80, a carrot cake is priced at $45, and bear winter decorations are priced at $28. Wynn funds her collection with money she earns from content creation, rather than from her corporate job.

Wynn thinks adults buy toys because they bring back happy childhood memories, can provide a dopamine hit when someone finds something they've been searching for a while, and can connect them with others who are building similar collections.

"It feels very empowering to be unapologetic about the things that bring us joy and happiness, whereas before maybe I would've been embarrassed about it," she said.

It can also be a tangible way to remember a memory. For instance, Wynn's soon-to-be mother-in-law bought her a Jellycat flower bouquet to celebrate her new engagement.

Fueling an income

Harrison Woodward, 28, said building and playing with Lego sets was a large part of his childhood. For one birthday in his early 20s, his aunt bought him a Lego Porsche car model, reigniting his passion for Lego sets. He put on a streaming show after a long day of work and started to build the over 1,000-piece product.

"It was just the most therapeutic, peaceful activity," he said. "You could sit there for a few hours, a few days in a row, and complete a set and see it come together and marvel at all the different engineering things that they put into these sets now."

He left his job in insurance to focus on content creation full time. He posts about his Lego collection and passion for cars; he recently started collecting Hot Wheels, another childhood favorite. He has spent thousands on Lego and is running out of space in a room that's filled with his collections. He still tries to find a balance so that building isn't just for content, such as taking his time to build a CaDA car set in the evening.

Woodward thinks adults might be purchasing toys to invest some time in their hobbies and take care of their mental health.

"I think the stigma has kind of lifted over collecting and everything," he said. "I think that for a long time people thought any of this stuff was strictly for kids, but as the years have gone on and adults have continued to adopt it, the stigma continues to go further and further away."

Trading cards have also become a major area of interest for some adults. Kian Golshan previously told Business Insider that Pokémon is a lucrative side hustle. For instance, he sold a Japanese-edition Charmander for $750 that he bought for $59.26. As Business Insider's Samuel O'Brient previously reported, Golshan was able to put the analytical skills that he developed while working in finance to work.

"It helps me kind of think through the risks and when to take profits, when to sell, what to hold, what's my like risk profile, what's tracking the market," Golshan said.

Byron, the Gen Zer who bought an American doll, still has her collection of dolls from her childhood. Plus, she has her most recent addition displayed in her room.

"I'm actually thinking about going back to the store again," she said. "Maybe I'll walk out with another doll. I guess we'll see."

• Toy prices have gone up 8.3% since February due to tariffs, geopolitics, and supply chain issues.
• Local mom-and-pop toy stores across the US spoke to the rise and its impact on their businesses.
• Legacy toymakers also grapple with the impacts, looking toward tariff refunds.

Toy prices are rising fast across the country— and local toy stores are struggling to play along.

At Clever Monsters, a toy store in NYC, co-owner Daniel Orlov said he has to recalculate prices order by order, at times cutting into his own profits to keep them at a reasonable level for his customers. Sometimes, he knows before putting some toys on the shelves that he won't make anything off them.

The struggle results from higher shipping fees, tariffs, and customs charges and reflects a broader inflationary moment in the economy.

Toys have historically gotten less expensive over time, but have seen a spike in prices this year, rising 8.3% in the US between February and September. Year-over-year, toy prices were up 6.6% in September, the highest annualized growth rate since 1988.

Orlov said smaller toy stores like his could be particularly affected by these sharp price spikes. "It especially hurts for small businesses like us because we don't really have a pocket; we had to open up credit lines and take loans — bigger companies have a little pocket of collateral that they can use for a bit."

Tariffs, fuel prices, and supply chain woes

Big geopolitical swings are one factor putting pressure on toy sellers. President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs have added extra costs, and smaller retailers don't have the financial flexibility to wait for refunds like those from the Supreme Court's invalidation of the "Liberation Day" levies. Meanwhile, the ongoing war in Iran has driven up fuel prices and shipping costs for all manner of goods.

Small toy stores, confronting those problems, are facing smaller profit margins.

Helen Dean, owner and operator of Toy Safari in California for 34 years, said her usual 7 to 8% profit margin has fallen to around 5% in the past year. She cut into her own salary and skipped on hiring the two or three college students she brings on during vacation season to cut costs.

"It was summer by the time I started to see that I was going to have to pay more for the items, and that it was going to come out of my bottom line," Dean said. "For a long time, mass market has gotten favorable pricing from major toy companies, and this problem has only been exacerbated by the tariffs and fuel prices and supply chain issues; everywhere we lose."

It's not just specialty mom-and-pop stores; toymaking giants are also dealing with the tariff back-and-forth and broader inflationary issues. An AlphaSense analysis of company filings and earnings transcripts over the last six months found that legacy toymakers such as Hasbro and Mattel have alluded to cost inflation caused by "tariffs, oil-linked resin and freight, packaging, labor," while also discussing the impact of tariff refunds. However, those large toymakers haven't disclosed any major increases in toy prices over that period.

Hasbro's Q2 earnings report highlighted an $8 million adjusted operating loss in consumer products — its physical toy sector — due to "incremental tariff expense, entertainment-related mix shifts, and normal seasonality." Yet its Q3 earnings report highlighted $55 million in relief from tariff refunds; $48 million of this was attributed to the core toy sector.

The Q3 report also noted that tariffs could "increase our product costs and other costs of doing business, result in higher prices of our products, impact consumer spending," and hurt business revenue.

Mattel's gross margin is still under pressure due to tariffs and inflation. The toy company has also received about $90 million in tariff refunds, said Paul Ruh, Mattel's former chief financial officer, at a conference in September.

Scalpers, TikTok and squishy NeeDohs

High operating costs are not the only thing changing the toy market. First, more adults are participating in "Kidulting," said Jay Berino, store manager at the Lowry Town Center Timbuk Toys in Denver, meaning toys are being bought by older demographics who buy into nostalgia.

"As much as we're a toy store and people hear toy store and think of kids, we sell to a lot to full-blown adults, and that drives a huge chunk of our business," he said. At the same time, viral toys such as NeeDohs, which are sensory fidget and stress-relief toys, have helped bring more people into stores.

Sylvia Edwards, co-owner and CEO of Terra Toys in Austin, said that scalpers try to buy up stock from toy shops to resell it at higher prices — fueling the perception of product scarcity and price gouging.

"We're in a crisis where there's way more demand than there is product available, and so when that happens, people will naturally get greedy and increase the price," Edwards said. To manage the issue, stores like Terra Toys limit bulk purchases.

Orlov from Clever Monsters in NYC said they have also placed a limit on scalpers. "I'm only limiting it because this is the kids' store, and the kids are really excited to get that stuff," he said.

The virality of products such as NeeDohs on TikTok and other platforms helps these stores boost demand at a time when the high cost of living means buyers are not looking to spend much on other classic toys. Parents and kids are willing to spend on hyped products — but for much else, they keep their wallets shut.

"Honestly, the trends have been really saving us in that it drives not just sales, but just foot traffic through the store," Orlov said. "The only thing we can do is just stay on the trends, on what people want, make sure customers are happy, build up relationships with our customers, and sort of have a little monopoly on our area on parents who think toys — 'Oh, we gotta come to Clever Monsters. That's just where you go.'"