According to findings from a survey released today (28th August 2018), 57% of adult males between 25 and 45 still buy children’s toys for themselves, with 49% admitting they will ask for toys this Christmas.
The UK toy industry is worth a massive £3.4billion with more innovative toys than ever before on the market, with legions of Generation X-ers (35-54 year olds) and Millennials (18-34 year olds) clamouring for must-have toys.
However, the survey found that it’s not only people treating themselves to toys, with many questioned admitting to buying kids toys for the older males in their family. While most wives will immediately think of game consoles, other kids toys are actually popular too.
In fact, 45% say that they always buy kids toys for the adults in their family and of that 45% the majority plumped for remote-controlled toys or action figures.
The survey which questioned 500 adults aged between 25-65 was commissioned by HEXBUG to celebrate the launch of the new HEXBUG Robot Wars range. The research looked at the motivation behind these purchases and found that while 36% of those surveyed were collectors and had been since childhood, the majority just want to get to grips with the latest toy innovations. Six out of 10 people surveyed admitted to often buying their children toys at Christmas just so they can play with them regardless if it’s on their Christmas list.
Men are more likely than women to hold on to toys as seen on TV presenter Paddy McGuinness’ Instagram channel – the Bolton-born star recently documented an array of toys stored in his garage including He-Man figures and a retro Nintendo Donkey Kong console.
In fact, of those surveyed over 60% of men still regularly played with toys or had them on display at home. One respondent said:
‘My husband has all his old Star Wars Toys and sometimes brings them down from the loft but the kids are only allowed to look, not touch!’
Heather Corbett, Marketing Manager for HEXBUG comments:
‘Our survey found that many toy purchases particularly at Christmas are made by adults due to lack of inspiration. Rather than opening socks and underwear, adults are dumbing down their purchases and buying novelty presents which are in fact some of the most sought-after toys on the market. Keeping and playing with your favourite toys into adulthood is not unusual and the majority of people we surveyed were more likely to hang on to or purchase toys that were attached to their favourite TV show or film as a child. These nostalgic pop-culture type toys represent a simpler more care-free time and in today’s fast-paced world, adults want to hang on to those great memories and of course have fun’
*Kidult – An Adult doing or buying things that are intended for children (Source: Cambridge English Dictionary)
