Under threat from the global trade war, toymakers are looking for a tariff-proof consumer. Adult collectors with deep pockets may be the answer.
To attract them, companies are teaming up with artists to create exclusive, expensive toys like $350 Barbie dolls and $8,000 Lego sets. These are generally pitched as works of art intended for display rather than mass-produced products designed for children’s play. Hasbro, Lego, Mattel and others have created dedicated sites to sell these higher-end toys to collectors.
Tariffs loom over the toy industry. Nearly 80 percent of toys sold in the United States are made in China, which faces the steepest potential tariffs threatened by President Trump. The president has played down the potential effect of tariffs, saying that children “will have two dolls instead of 30,” adding that those two dolls would “cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
Global toy sales fell 0.6 percent last year, a second consecutive annual decline, according to the market research firm Circana. And that was before Mr. Trump’s tariffs, which industry sources predict may lead to product shortages and higher prices during the crucial holiday season.
But toys that appeal to adult buyers — or “kidults,” as Circana describes some of them — have been a bright spot: Sales of franchises like Barbie and Lego and collectibles like trading cards are growing much faster than the market overall.
“This really started to accelerate during Covid when we were stuck at home,” said Frédérique Tutt, an analyst at Circana. “This is a different type of consumer.”
And toymakers know that adult collectors who are willing to pay, say, $70 for a Hot Wheels car are less sensitive to changes in prices caused by tariffs. “They are trying to find those niche consumers who are prepared to pay a lot of money for their passion,” Ms. Tutt said.
Teddy Biaselli, a producer at Netflix in Los Angeles, is a longtime fan of Masters of the Universe. So when Mattel introduced toys designed by Madsaki, a Japanese artist known for his acrylic and spray paint works, Mr. Biaselli 49, readily paid $400 for a Day-Glo He-Man astride his armored tiger, Battle Cat.
“I wanted a piece of artwork,” he said, adding that he was looking for something that represented his love of those characters but in “an elevated way.”
The Madsaki piece, which is about a foot-and-a-half tall, sits on a pedestal in his living room. “You want it to be like a conversation piece,” he said. “People are like, what is that?”
The collaboration was one of the first for the toymaker after it started a site in 2020 called Mattel Creations aimed at adult collectors. Chris Down, Mattel’s chief design officer, called it an “experimentation platform” intended to stoke creativity.
The company has worked with a range of artists, including Virgil Abloh for Masters of the Universe; Daniel Arsham and Kenny Scharf for Hot Wheels; and Mark Ryden, who created a collection of surreal Barbie dolls that ranged from $150 to $500 and sold out in seconds.
One of the biggest draws has been the Uno card game, which has attracted a wide range of artists, including Gary Baseman, Shantell Martin and Takashi Murakami. “Every card is a little, tiny canvas,” said Mr. Down.
“I’m not shy to work in any possible medium,” said Mr. Baseman, who added that the project gave him a chance to design a plush doll based on a vintage Mattel mascot. “It was like my way to give a nod back to the work of the past and creating art in the future, but between commercial art and fine art,” he said.
The collaboration helped mark Mattel’s 80th anniversary at an exhibition at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, with interpretations of Mattel’s toys by dozens of artists.
Michael Lacerte, a 50-year-old paralegal from Costa Mesa, Calif., attended the show and bought a deck of Uno cards designed and signed by Mr. Baseman.
For him, it was a way to relive “precious childhood memories growing up with these toys,” he said. “You get to revisit them in a different aesthetic.”
Hasbro has also made inroads on small-batch “collabs” with artists like Mr. Baseman, Peach Momoko and Jay Howell for its Magic the Gathering card game, creating a site called Secret Lair to sell the cards to collectors. Another benefit for the company is that Magic cards are made primarily made in the United States, avoiding tariffs.
For its part, Lego has teamed up with artists like Ekow Nimako, who explores African identity through sculpture. Mr. Nimako’s wall-mounted art built from Lego bricks sells for up to $8,000. And Lego’s more affordable “Botanicals” line, which includes elaborate floral arrangements made from the toy bricks, has proved popular among older buyers, according to Circana.
“One of the big drivers for us,” said Julia Goldin, Lego’s chief product and marketing officer, “was expanding the portfolio to include more products for adults.”
Gregory Schmidt is a Times business editor overseeing coverage of the European economy. He is based in London.
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