By Sibylle Dorndorf

Go on, admit it: you also have a secret passion. A well-worn, grubby Smurf figurine as a lucky charm on your desk, the tatty game of Ludo on the shelf, the well-loved and battered teddy bear on the passenger seat, your first Tamagotchi in your holdall, the Masters of the Universe keyring... Congratulations – you are part of a movement. And the best thing about it is that you can expand on your passion!

You will discover just how this came about on this virtual trip around the world, which will also be a journey through time – back to your childhood, to hidden dreams, secret desires and long-cherished wishes. In your luggage, you have curiosity, a thirst for adventure, imagination, creativity, a passion for playing and collecting. The travel guide? Your “inner child”. And the best thing about it is that this journey will never end, because there are endless new things to discover and almost forgotten things to rediscover. Let’s kidult together!

Grown-ups generate growing sales figures

There are increasing numbers of people who are bringing hobbies from their childhood back into their adulthood, cultivating a passion for collecting, and discovering new playful passions in their later years. Retro products, fantasy, science fiction and even action and strategy games exert a fascination on a constantly growing target group. These so-called “kidults” are now generating the greatest growth in the toy industry. The figures speak for themselves: sales in the children’s toy sector in Europe fell by 200 million euros between 2019 and 2022. In the kidult sector, in contrast, they rose by one billion euros. While kidults were responsible for 23.4% of sales in 2019, this figure had risen to 28% by 2022. This was reported by the American market research institute Npdgroup in May 2023 in a report. In Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, the kidult segment even attained a market volume of 4.6 billion euros in 2022.

Where do the secret or self-confessed kidsters, kidults or AFOLS, as the adult Lego fans call themselves (Adult Fan of Lego), i.e. all playing adults or all those who want to become one, fulfil their heart’s desires? Where do they indulge their passions and satisfy their yens? Where and what do they spend their money on? This adventure trip through the trendy addresses of the global kidult retail landscape will reveal the answers, while always keeping an eye on the “homo ludens”. Have a nice trip!

Playing in Europe

As diverse as their countries are, what actually unites Europeans? A deeply rooted culture of play that is also more or less evident among adults for one thing. And the trend is rising.

Velkommen til Danmark!

The Danes like it “hyggelig”, meaning cosy and snug. Perhaps that’s why the kingdom came second in the World Happiness Report 2023. Only the Finns are happier. Danes also learn in a “hyggelig” way – even in schools, where the emphasis is on fun. And the Danes take this early childhood experience with them when they enter adulthood. Playing takes high priority, preferably in a cross-generational community – simply hyggelig. That attitude is an ideal breeding ground for store concepts such as Faraos Cigarer (Pharaoh’s Cigars). Their motto: everything a nerd could wish for. And the Danes love it. A look at the Google reviews of Faraos Cigarer says it all: “This place is fantastic. They have literally everything here. Role-playing games, manga, graphic novels, figurines, costumes and a whole range of Tintin items. We spent almost two hours at Faraos and did some serious shopping..." The concept is obviously working. Faraos Cigarer is expanding: it currently has 11 branches in Denmark. There are six shops in Copenhagen alone, one in Odense, two in Aarhus and two in Lyngby. Each shop focusses on one theme, such as card and figurine games, role-playing games and dressing up, board games, manga and a lot more. Events and tournaments are organised regularly and attract new customers. It’s definitely worth taking a look at the place!

Bienvenido a España!

From the far north to the far south, the final destination is Reino de Juguetes (English: Kingdom of Toys). This is the name of the first concept store for kids in Spain that is definitely worth a visit. Inspired by Harry Potter, Pokémon, Funko, Dragon Ball, Disney and One Piece, the shop can be found in great cities such as Barcelona (Galeries Maldà) and Madrid (X-Madrid).

It’s open every day except Sundays. And although their country is one of the most Catholic in the world, many Spaniards find it more than annoying that shops are closed on Sundays. Reino de Juguetes would certainly be busy on Sundays too. However, when it comes to the topic of playing, Spaniards tend to think of football first. But the younger generations, i.e. Gen Z and their predecessors, are just as passionate about pop culture and hip brands as any fan in a football stadium. In the stylish Reino de Juguetes, kidsters will find a carefully selected range of collectibles and merchandise and they will encounter good old friends there, too: Harry Potter, anime, Funko Games, Disney Stitch and Willy Wonka. The motto is “Back to the past”. A paradise for the ageless!

Witamy w Polsce!

Family above all else, then friends, career, church – and the state last: these are favourite core values of the Poles. Ninety-two per cent of Poles believe that you need to create your own family to be happy. Before that, though, they let it rip: young people in Poland focus on lifestyle and celebrate life. The Warsaw Comic Con is an annual pop culture fan convention and the largest festival of its kind in Poland. Fans attend in imaginative costumes. Computer games are also popular, and, of course, the well-known bestsellers such as Minecraft, Fortnight and League of Legends. It turns out that it’s not just young people who have mastered modern gaming; more and more 30- to 50-year-olds and even silver surfers are getting into it. The good thing is that nobody has to play alone. People from all over the world come together virtually and form a huge community. If you want to discover new things and be inspired, go to Rebel. The store’s selection of board games, books, comics, tabletops and collectibles and the beautiful way they are displayed is just as remarkable as the story of how it all began: two board game fans turned their hobby into a profession. Rebel started out in 2003 as a small shop in a basement in Gdańsk. The two founders imported the most popular games and sold them. These days, Rebel has almost 600 titles in its range and regularly organises “heavy games” for fans of elaborate strategy games, RPG sessions as well as competitions and tournaments. From offline to online, Rebel Gdansk is Poland’s largest online shop for board games and has a brick-and-mortar location in Galeria Metropolia, in the centre of Wrzeszcz, a district of Gdansk. The beautiful city of Gdansk and the incomparable Rebel are well worth a visit.

America, the land of unlimited play

On the other side of the pond, the land of opportunity awaits – as do kidults and their passions!

Welcome to New York! In one of the five boroughs, in Brooklyn to be precise, is where you’ll find the cool shop that is “Geek Forest”. Welcome to Geek Forest, a fascinating place for all things imaginative! Geek Forest is not just a shop, but also a trendy meeting place that caters to a wide range of interests and passions. The assortment includes a treasure chest that’s full to bursting with unique, curated items. From board games and collectible figures to tricky puzzles, the shop is a paradise for geeks and fans of pop culture. The large selection of items from the realms of fantasy, science fiction, games and comics will delight die-hard fans, as well as everyone who’s trying to track down an original gift for the person who already has everything. Geek Forest is pure New York: the Big Apple is a city of individualists who are, to put it mildly, considered a bit special in the rest of America. NY is an urban jungle, after all. The people here need to be tough; many live in the most cramped conditions because they can (just barely) afford the extremely high rents. Many New Yorkers moonlight by developing software, proofreading for the New York Times and showing customers to their seats in posh restaurants. They go out in the evening and have precisely enough money for three drinks. New Yorkers come in all skin colours, are of all denominations and boast every ethnic background you can think of. And they all love their city, the city that never sleeps. Fancy a bit of “forest bathing”? Then head over to Geek Forest!

Planet Kidultia in the village next door

There’s another shop in New York that’s worth seeing and experiencing for everyone who likes to take their inner child for a walk once in a while. We have to change the neighbourhood, or rather the planet. The “Forbidden Planet” is located in the middle of Greenwich Village, the birthplace of the 1960s counterculture, a place that’s simply called “the Village” by native New Yorkers. It’s a lively, diverse neighbourhood where students from New York University meet street artists, skateboarders, children playing and locals enjoying a relaxed game of chess. After sunset, insiders change location and visit one of the trendy jazz and comedy clubs – or as an appetiser, the Forbidden Planet, which is open until 8 p.m. A wonderful world opens up there: comics, graphic novels, science fiction, manga, anime, T-shirts, statues, art books, posters, games and film memorabilia. Forbidden Planet NYC is a legend. If you're looking for Magic: The Gathering cards, Star Wars toys, the latest issue of Fangoria or the new Saga graphic novel, you’ll find it here. This is what travellers say about the Forbidden Planet: “Those wonderful toys” – “Everything the game and comic heart desires. Huge selection of things that are otherwise hard to get hold of (figures, limited editions etc.)...” or “This is a fantastic place to immerse yourself in other worlds: the shop is really well stocked, from models to masks and costumes to graphic novels! And you can also find the weirdest guys in the scene here...”. And because it’s so beautiful on this colourful planet, Forbidden Planet stores are also available in the UK, namely in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Croydon, Liverpool, Newcastle and Southampton. Off to distant galaxies ...

... and to the Far East!

It’s high time to drop in on X11. Does that sound Chinese to you? It is. X11 is considered the absolute in thing in China – and the concept lives up to its promise. The owner is the KK Group, a retail company whose stores are aimed primarily at young consumers. The focus is on staging and shopping experiences. The KK Group includes the lifestyle specialist retail brand KKV, the beauty specialist shops The Colorist, the pop culture specialist shops X11 and the lifestyle mini-markets KK Guan. The X11 concept was geared towards expansion right from the start. The first shop flung open its doors in Shanghai in July 2020; this was soon followed by a 1,000 m² flagship store in Guangzhou in October. In May 2021, new X11 flagship shops were opened in Shanghai, Chengdu, Dongguan, Wuhan and Shenyang. Over 4,000 items in 13 sub-categories – an incredible range! – form the ideal playground, particularly for people hunting down lost treasures. X11 has firmly established itself in South China, East China, Central China, Southwest China and Northeast China and has become the largest and most popular destination for trendy collectibles. 欢迎访问 X11!

日本へようこそ! Welcome to Japan!

Talking toilets, sleeping in plastic tubes and violent action films – so much for the clichéd image of the Land of the Rising Sun. The reality is much more exciting: modern, prosperous, democratic and at the forefront of technological progress – that’s Japan. Nevertheless, the Japanese are different – and that’s what makes this country and this cool kidult location so unique.

Toy Sapiens is located in the centre of Tokyo. Toy Sapiens is all about toys and design: “high-end” toys, high-quality (and high-priced!) figures, and fine designer fashion. In short, it’s a genuine Hot Toys flagship store and so the ultimate destination for all lovers of extraordinary “play” goods. Toy Sapiens is operated by Hot Toys Japan Co, Inc, the sister company of Hong Kong-based high-end toy manufacturer Hot Toys Ltd. And, obviously, you can find the best items from the Hot Toys brand here, as well as those from other selected manufacturers. Toy Sapiens sets the bar high. It even sees itself as an “ambassador for special toys” – and lives up to its claim. This shop is an experience. And because you can’t just jet off to Tokyo, we went online to find out what people think. The reviews speak for themselves: “The unrivalled quality and incredible attention to detail is what makes every otaku (Japanese for a geek with consuming interests) want to give their credit card a good workout. The characters are pretty impressive. If you like sci-fi, you have to check this place out.” And one avid fan even says: “Toy Sapiens is a geek’s wet dream!” No comment. The answer to everything:

Life’s a playground

The virtual journey is over for today. The next trip and article in “Spirit of Play” – please make a note of that – will take us to Ultra Comix in Germany, an institution with an appeal that goes far beyond Nuremberg. Speaking of Nuremberg... Anyone among the specialist retailers and buyers who has developed a taste for kidulting will find everything they need to know about the adult target group at the Spielwarenmesse 2024 under the motto Life's a Playground – Toys for Kidsters, Kidults & Co. A 400 m² special area in Hall 3A has been developed together with selected cooperation partners. There will be a wealth of accompanying activities and six presentations in the Toy Business Forum to illustrate and consolidate people’s knowledge of the topic. 

Kidulting – the path to good mental health

We leave the final word to Lifestyle Asia magazine. Here’s an excerpt from an article by Kriti Nayyar entitled Kidulting: Rediscover your inner child with this fascinating mental health trend. As Olly Murs sang in 2016: Know you gotta grow up, but what if we don’t actually want to? “We’ve all heard (and brutally dismissed) this saying growing up, only to realise that adulthood indeed isn’t as liberating as we’d glorified it to be. Remember how you yearned to be this ‘mature, independent, I’m my own boss’ person in your early teens and then adulthood hit like a (powerfully loaded) truck. Don’t get us wrong, adulthood does have a lot of perks, but does it offer those carefree and innocent moments of binge-watching your favourite cartoon on the weekends, playing with your neighbourhood pals every evening in the park or just popping bubbles and creating imaginary castles without worrying about the future? While we don’t have ‘Doraemon’s Anywhere Door’ to teleport you back, there’s another way to unleash your inner child. Let us familiarise you with ‘kidulting’ – the viral mental health trend that millennials are finding respite in!”

Let’s kidult together! See you in Nuremberg 2024!

Author profile

Sibylle Dorndorf has been writing about the toy industry for almost 30 years, most recently as editor-in-chief of the TOYS magazine family at Göller Verlag, Baden-Baden. Her passion: companies that reinvent themselves, brands that position themselves credibly, people who have something to say and products with a future.