Collectible figures are some of the biggest sellers for the toy industry, with those based on manga, anime and video games performing particularly well. Toy Fairs in London and Nuremberg have been awash with them and expect New York to see more of the same in a few weeks. Collectibles are nothing new with many ‘traditional’ toys having been collected for decades, such as Star Wars action figures, Kinder Surprise toys, Care Bear plushes, and Hot Wheels cars.
Some collectibles were created to appeal to adults straight out the gate, and Magic: the Gathering and Warhammer saw huge growth during the Covid lockdowns. Both from existing fan buying more and new fans discovering them. These trends have continued since, Games Workshop, owner of Warhammer, is now one of the 100 biggest companies in the UK and the profitability of Magic has helped Hasbro through the past few turbulent years.
Many collectibles being purchased by adults today though are more traditional toys, often sold from vending machines or in “blind boxes” where the packaging doesn’t reveal which character you will receive. LEGO caught onto this some time ago with their Minifigure blind bags, which are popular with kids and adults alike, especially when they are tied to a popular brand like Harry Potter, Looney Tunes or Dungeons & Dragons. The genius of a lot of these collectibles is that they appeal to kids and adults alike - whether they are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mini figurines from Might Jaxx or Hello Kitty or Among Us ranges from Tokidoki.
More and more of these IPs which appeal to both kids and adults are getting into collectibles in a big way - others include Harry Potter, Marvel, DC and Disney (including their trading card game Lorcana). However it is the collectibles based on manga, anime and video games that are some of the biggest sellers currently. The manga and anime ranges are heavily influenced by China and Japan with the artists creating these collectibles being incredibly popular, and it is these artists that the big brands often seek out for their collectibles ranges.
As talked about before here, anime and manga have become particularly popular in the west over the past few years, despite being around since the 90s. The likes of CrunchyRoll and Netflix have opened up a much wider audience to anime and manga over recent years. Collectibles too have been huge in places like Japan for decades, and the combination of these brands in the form of collectibles is now reaching new heights in Europe and North America. Although nothing of the likes of Akihabara (the centre of Japanese otaku, or fandom, culture, and is a major shopping district for collectibles, video games, anime and manga) has yet materialised, western fans can get their hands on the collectibles through 100s of online stores and dedicated shops from the likes of Bandai Namco as well as MiniSo and PopMart.
So it looks like collectibles are set to continue to grow with kids and adults alike for years to come, but it's the adults that will ensure it remains a huge growth area for the toy industry. If you have a brand that appeals to adults as well as kids then getting into the collectibles space seems like a no brainer.
What do you think? Are collectibles here to stay or are they just a trend?