For some toy sellers, packing shelves with nostalgia pays off

Tom Schaller first began selling antiques and collectibles on eBay in 2005 when he was 18 and his antiques dealer dad retired. 

He continued to dabble in sales but realized during the pandemic that he could turn his business of buying and selling toys that conjure people’s nostalgia for their childhood into a full-time job. Schaller, now 38, quit his job as a restaurant server and now makes more than $100,000 a year selling vintage toys on eBay. 

Schaller exclusively buys and sells nostalgia toy items: “Anything that just reminds people of better times when they were younger or of Grandma’s house,'' he said. "It could be anything from a knickknack to toys ... and their parents sold it at a yard sale when they went off to school.” 

Nostalgic toys for adults are big business 

Toys aren’t just for kids. In fact, this year, for the first time, consumers age 18 and over surpassed toddlers to become the biggest demographic for toy purchases, buying more than $1.53 billion in toys, according to a study by Circana.

That topped the $1.51 billion in toys purchased for 3 to 5 year olds, the study said,  Additionally, according to Circana, 43% of adults purchased a toy for themselves in the past year, with the top reasons being for socialization, enjoyment, and collecting.

Nostalgia for toys has always been around and there have always been people who collect them, but things have exploded in the last 10 years as retailers sell new versions of old toys and resellers on sites like eBay sell vintage toys, James Zahn, Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a trade publication for the toy industry, told USA TODAY. 

“For years, ‘retro’ was a consistent trend within the toy industry that, like most trends, was cyclical — it came, it went, it came back a few years later. Eventually, it stuck around,” he said.  

It turned a corner when toy manufacturers started creating products specifically for a nostalgia market, Zahn said. 

There have always been adult collectors, Zahn said, referring to the 1990s when he worked for Walmart and people would line up outside the door to race for the toy department to buy collectible Hot Wheels, action figures and other items to resell before the word “flipper” existed. 

“Now, members of the adult collector market are largely dubbed as ‘kidults,’ an increasingly polarizing term that’s been used in toy industry back channels for years,” Zahn said.

That adult toy buying market is why many toy makers are making and stocking store shelves with remakes of popular play items from decades past, Zahn said. Some manufacturers also offer nostalgic toys targeted to adults online since the toy aisles have shrunk and shelf space is competitive, he said. 

Zahn said hot categories for new nostalgic toys include Lego, action figures, and trading cards, – a market that “went soft for many years but roared back with a vengeance and shows no signs of slowing down.” Die-cast vehicles like Hot Wheels are also popular, and Barbie is always “the Queen of the (toy shopping) aisle,” he said.

Nostalgia marketing banks on emotions, memories

Adult consumers are drawn to nostalgic toys because it reminds them of simpler times, Ross Steinman, a professor of consumer psychology at Widener University outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY. 

"Even though the past is often romanticized, nostalgia allows us to temporarily escape from the constant stressors that surround us,'' said Steinman, whose research specializes in consumer decision making and indulgence and consumer happiness. "This need is especially magnified for those who work remotely because for many the separation between work and home life has blurred.”

Post-pandemic, consumers “are much more willing to spend,'' he said. "There were many missed opportunities during this time and people are unwilling to let potential experiences pass by again.”   

 Marketers and retailers understand that and are being creative in their approach, Steinman said.  

“They understand that nostalgia strategies elicit ... an emotional attachment to the brand for both older and younger consumers,” said Steinman. 

Connecting the generations

That can also serve as a connector between parents and their children, though interestingly, “adult purchasers are willing to spend more on themselves because the items might be collectible, have monetary value, or even be used in a novel way such as being repurposed as a conversational display piece in their home," Steinman said.

That's also a reason why many toy manufacturers make more expensive toys, like Lego replica sets that cost several hundred dollars, specifically for an adult toy buyer, he said. 

What are some of the hot nostalgic toys?  

Nostalgia has always sold well on eBay, Schaller said, and as each generation grows into their 20s, 30s and older, they are looking for their toys of childhood. 

The 90s and early 2000’s are very hot right now, said Schaller.

Popular items include Polly Pockets, Hot Wheels, 1980s GI Joe figurines – specifically the 3 ¾ size – and Transformer action figures. 

In a recent interview, Schaller said he'd sold $4,500 worth of Polly Pocket toys in the last week alone. He also once sold just the figurines for a Polly Pocket Alice in Wonderland set for $489.

He now has the complete set of figurines and house listed for $549.99, though he has seen competitors listing the item at $800. And that same item, if still in the original unopened packaging, can go for $3,000, he said. Schaller said he prices his items competitively, using data from the last year of sales from eBay and the current market. 

His average price for items is anywhere from $50 to $60 and higher.

Schaller said his buyers range in age from the late 20s to early 50s, but he thinks his sweet spot is people in their 30s and 40s. 

Many, he thinks, are buying the vintage toys to display and not play with, but some, like a buyer he heard from recently is buying the toys she used to play with for her kids for Christmas. 

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A potential danger with banking on nostalgia and toys

There is a potential pitfall to the toy industry putting too many of its eggs in the adult nostalgia basket, Zahn said. 

“Chasing sales from aging brands being sold back to the kids who grew up on them is dangerous in the long haul if toymakers take their eye of the true key to long-term success: kids,” Zahn said. 

Kids of today are the “kidults” of tomorrow, he said. 

Still, “the business is going to continue to evolve and we’re not done with this nostalgia wave,” he said. 

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays,here.