Are Adult Collectors putting off kids buying toys?

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RockyRambo

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Now I know this is a controversial subject seeing as this is a predominantly Adult Toy Collecting site but I think its a topic worth discussing.
I'm in my 30s and started buying toys again about 10 years ago when NECA started to make great figures and have been mainly buying them and Hot Toys meaning I usually either buy in comic stores or online. I buy these figures to be displayed in my entertainment room like a lot of people on here and look at them as being pieces of pop culture art rather than toys as these are aimed at Adult Collectors (Especially as I mainly collect horror). But I've took my niece to the toy store a few times recently and noticed more adults without kids buying figures than adults with kids and its a known fact that toys aren't that popular with kids anymore. There are also a lot of Youtube channels (I wont name names) but the way they treat there kids sometimes like when they come in the room while there filming like there getting in the way instead of involving them in the toys or when they take them to the store on toy hunt videos so they can buy bags filled with toys while they maybe get one for the kid I find it all a bit cringy. I mean I know this generation is a lot more pop culture orientated but just stop for a second and think back to the 70s/80s and your in the toy store with your dad and he buys you a Star Wars figure and then he buys nearly the whole collection and you cant play with it and is more enthusiastic about it than you are, would you really have found buying toys as fun?
 
To the the original poster, I definitely get it. Things have changed dramatically. For one thing, action figures have become an adult hobby in general. My 6 year old son has some but I think it's more because he thinks it's neat that I buy them for me so often. He is far more attentive to whatever nonsense people on YouTube are up to when they play Roblox(which I've grown to despise) or watching open "surprise" toys(another thing popular with youth I don't understand). Action figures are now only 1 toy aisle where before you could have up to 4 per store.

In another 10 years, I believe it will be a completely adult hobby.

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Yes. Cost. Fun-factor. And, adults picking the shelves of good stuff and leaving stuff nobody wants.

First, adult collectors want so much quality for artistic display toys that they're killing the market for inexpensive toys intended to be played with. That quality costs money to produce. So, individual figures are $15-$20, on the low end. Which means a kid can't build enough stock to actually play with them. One action figure doesn't make for much action. Gone are the days of the $3 Star Wars figures with a gun or a sword, so that every kid could have the whole cast of Star Wars. And, with that production cost and mark-up, adult figures are more profitable ... which means producers are far more interested in selling one figure for $300 than trying to sell 100 $3 figures, and enduring the complaints of adult collectors with nothing better to do.

Second, adult action figures aren't fun. They're statues, meant to sit on shelves. They don't usually have many joints or accessories. And, the few that can be manipulated still aren't actually intended to be played with ... which makes them, not only cost prohibitive, but not effective for what a kid would want to do anyway.

Third ... adults that spend hours of seek-and-destroy missions going from store to store, online retailer to online retailer, etc. leaves the kids without much to choose from, even if it were fun and cost effective. The good stuff is gone. Fast. And, parents aren't going to put in that kind of time or energy looking for one toy among many. They'll just buy what's on the shelves ... which is Legos, Nerf guns, etc.

It's the way of the world, at the moment. 1980s and 1990s kids have money, jobs and nostalgia. That's where the money is, at the moment. But, with no kid-friendly business, they're not creating new devotees ... so, as middle-aged collectors get older, it'll die off like comic books and baseball cards before it. Kids of today will have their own thing in 30 years, and it won't be action figures.

My boys have some action figures, and play with them. But, they're mostly my old stuff from when I was a kid ... not new stuff. The Jurassic Park line is the exception. They have my old stuff ... but do seek out the newer stuff for birthdays and Christmas.

SnakeDoc
 
I would argue that kids these days just aren?t interested in toys anymore because there are a million and one things out there that has their attention.

Boys rather spend an afternoon on COD or fortnight rather than have imaginary playtime with GI Joes.

Girls are all about the visual social media platform like snap chat and instagram, makeup. No time for Barbie dolls.

It’s only the old timers with disposable cash who are into a little bit of nostalgic escapism. But even this hobby is getting unsustainable.
 
Both my kids played with toys, although no where near the level I did because of digital options.

Most of their friends didnt play with toys at all, all they wanted was the Xbox.

We didnt allow our kids to be attached to screens all day, but I can tell you most parents are more than happy to have a digital babysitter.

My kids are now all upper teens and collect their own stuff.

Daughter collects POP?s
Son collects Auto Art.


Sent from the inside of a giant slug in outer space.....
 
I have little kids, 2 & 4 years old. Not too much interested in devices yet. Thankfully still interested in toys and cartoons. But they are growing fast and I know we're approaching a turning point. I have older nieces and nephews ages 9-13 who are only interested in clothes and electronics.

*sigh* I keep it to myself that when I was 9-13 I still wanted toys.
 
Sad for kids these days, they're losing their imagination. Forever thankful that I was born in the 80's and was brought up with toys, riding horses and playing on the trampoline.

I do see parents buying toys for their kids but they lose interest so quick. I mean just a few days after Christmas and I see parents buying toys for their kids because they're out shopping with them.

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Sad for kids these days, they're losing their imagination. Forever thankful that I was born in the 80's and was brought up with toys, riding horses and playing on the trampoline.

I do see parents buying toys for their kids but they lose interest so quick. I mean just a few days after Christmas and I see parents buying toys for their kids because they're out shopping with them.

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lots of imagination in video games. you can pretty much be anyone do anything in them. probably why kids no longer stick to toys which is usually one dimensional with limited articulation and can't move on it's own.
 
I for one would be an 80's kid 100x over than have to grow up in this video game and technology era.

As far as Adult Collectors affecting putting off today's kids buying toys, I would say 100% no.
If anything, the adult collectors are helping fund companies to put out more toys that give kids more options as to what
they see on shelves.
 
I?m 19 and to be honest kids nowadays want more technological related goods than figures. Also, I feel you really have to reach a certain level of maturity and self-understanding to truly buy figures.

As an example, I only just realised how much I loved video games including some old schools like resident evil and MGS and how they were so close to my heart. Seeing how much this whole aspect of my life meant to me, I wanted to capture a part of it in the form of a memorabilia. After months of searching I ended landing upon (high quality) 1/6 scale figure, that captured the essence of the characters that I loved.
Seeing how technology is something I?ll buy frequently regardless of my interest in it, I wanted to buy something for myself that I would feel happy to own for years to come and like I said, capture a certain aspect of my life.

Edit: I guess I?m not really answering your question but I just feel like older people in general know what they want, and can pursue hobbies that interest them. Young children simply buy figures for their amusements and since technology can do a better job at entertaining, a lot of them buy technology nowadays instead.



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I don't think adults buying toys as collectibles effects kids wanting to play with toys, but they do make it harder for kids to find the "cool" ones in stores. Walmart and target are very hit miss especially with action figures most of the time their pegs are empty. Also their toy sections aren't very big to begin with (outside of lego) unless a kid is in the store right when they stock the pegs there wont be much for them to even look at, which is probably when they run to the video game, lego or Ipad section of the stores.

Kids still love lego's, every time I stop into the lego store its jam packed with kids, its also way easier to find lego sets in retail stores then action figures- which might explain why kids still play with lego's a lot more then say action figures. Parents that don't collect toys (action figures) themselves wont spend the time, effort or gas money driving around "toy hunting" to find the cooler figs their kids might actually be interested in (such as Marvel legends). Moreover, kids themselves don't like driving around all day, stopping at every (target, walmart or walgreens) store in a 50 mile radius only to find empty pegs or crap at every stop (its just not fun for them nor for us). My son hates toy hunting, mainly because we go for hours only to come home empty handed. He won't even go with me anymore lol.



The other issue, like many have pointed out, a lot of kids these days tend to be hooked into the Matrix 24-7 they don't have time to play with toys in the "real world".
 
I agree with all the previous comments about the current state of todays current market of adult collectors pushing out what are meant to be toys for kids and the shift in the younger generation towards tech and other pastime hobbies.

But I do not think it will always necessarily be like this - like most things in life, fads and trends come in cycles and what is true today may not be in the future.

Another factor affecting the toy market is how the major vehicle used to peddle toys to a mass market and generation of children was effectively killed by the government - Saturday Morning cartoons.

To be frank, most of the programming from our generation were basically toy commercials (Transformers, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Power Rangers, etc).

But if I recall correctly, adults and politicians were concerned about this and legislation required tv channels to broadcast a certain number of hours of educational children programming and the Saturday morning cartoon format got replaced - by this time in the 90s, I was outgrowing cartoons and I remember tuning into Saturday morning and not liking this new educational format anyway.

So the market today is much more fragmented (like tv shows, movies, sports) because there are so many options. But I believe toys will always be culturally relevant.
 
I agree with all the previous comments about the current state of todays current market of adult collectors pushing out what are meant to be toys for kids and the shift in the younger generation towards tech and other pastime hobbies.

But I do not think it will always necessarily be like this - like most things in life, fads and trends come in cycles and what is true today may not be in the future.

Another factor affecting the toy market is how the major vehicle used to peddle toys to a mass market and generation of children was effectively killed by the government - Saturday Morning cartoons.

To be frank, most of the programming from our generation were basically toy commercials (Transformers, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Power Rangers, etc).

But if I recall correctly, adults and politicians were concerned about this and legislation required tv channels to broadcast a certain number of hours of educational children programming and the Saturday morning cartoon format got replaced - by this time in the 90s, I was outgrowing cartoons and I remember tuning into Saturday morning and not liking this new educational format anyway.

So the market today is much more fragmented (like tv shows, movies, sports) because there are so many options. But I believe toys will always be culturally relevant.

This is a really great post, because it's true the medium for kids entertainment has changed since that time. I would be curious to know how well some of those fortnight or minecraft action figures are selling, because I'm assuming most adult collectors couldn't be bothered with them.
 
Not sure if educational TV is much of a factor. I grew up in the late '90s and early '00s. Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing on channels like WB and 4Kids. The only educational shows on basic cable were on PBS and they'd air weekday mornings and afternoons. Much of what I played with as a youngster was based on pure entertainment shows like Yu-Gi-Oh and the 2002 MOTU reboot. Bionicles were also a blast, probably the last great original toyline in the sense that the movies and games came after the toys and were only used to bolster their popularity.

I'll ditto the notion that kids became more interested in tech as the years went by. I also doubt it's a passing fad; those industries have only grown since the '80s to be more immersive, portable, and affordable. While toys haven't completely lost their zest, most kids trade them in for games sooner. I enjoyed both growing up, but was in the minority even then.



I would be curious to know how well some of those fortnight or minecraft action figures are selling, because I'm assuming most adult collectors couldn't be bothered with them.

Figures from digital IP like Minecraft and Fortnite may still sell, but the games remain the primary moneymakers.
 
I have watched kids for the past 20 years and what they play with, after all I am a Dad , uncle and grand uncle.

Kids stop playing with physical toys very early , sometimes are early as 5.

All they want is digital after that.

Sole kids as they grow up begin collecting more , but usually high end for display. Seems the bug hits them around 16 (LEGO) to 19 (cars/figures:pop)


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