Buying stuffed animals isn’t a hassle; usually, you go in and out in a matter of minutes with the plush toy in hand. Lately, that’s been a different story; parents and adults are saying that in a matter of moments, these toys are already gone, which is causing frustration amongst the customers across the nation. Retail workers are coming out with stories of being the victims of emotional outbursts by angry parents, and they’re being flooded with constant calls with questions. This is all because of stuffed animals.
Jellycat is a British toy company known for its high-quality plush toys that come in all shapes and sizes, including a huge dragon, a baguette, and even hard-boiled eggs. Their plush line has gained fame on social media, and now they’re known for having anticipated releases with long lines outside their stores and items selling out within a day. A few years ago, Kellytoy had its most popular release, Squishmallows, with several products going out of stock the moment they hit the shelves. This booming market might sound strange to some because the US birth rate is lower in 2025, meaning fewer children who might want a soft friend, so who is buying all the plushies? The answer is adults.
Young adults are buying plushies; we know this because Cirana, a research company, has found that toy sales decreased by 1% in early 2024, compared to 8% in 2023. The research company attributes this improvement to adults purchasing toys for themselves. The report found that people 18 and over accounted for sales worth more than $1.5 billion in the last three months, making the older folk the industry’s most important market ahead of the toddlers. (Dodgson,2024).
The collecting trend today is different from other toy collecting; these plushies aren’t being bought as investment opportunities by adults, the adults are buying and collecting plushies for their own enjoyment. Lise Howen, a content creator, says, “I spend so much money on them because growing up, we didn’t have much, and as a kid, it’s like all the stuff you always wanted. Now, as an adult, I can actually buy it-it’s like healing my inner child at one jellycat at a time.”
Debbie Keenan, a counseling directory member, said that “Jellycats are becoming a frequent companion in the therapy room, especially amongst my teenage clients.” She also believes that the reason why these plushies are so popular now is because of the ‘nostalgia, comfort, and safety’ that were provided to us by childhood plushies. (McDonald, 2025).
Plushies are being bought everywhere; you may even see some children and adults with an emotional support, often called ESSA, a plush that’s being used as a regulator for anxiety. Usually, these plushies accompany their owners wherever they go. It’s a new phenomenon emerging online among the younger generation. To further show the mental positives plushies have, Build-a-Bear is even being used as a strategy to help clients’ inner child, Dr. Jessica Lamar has a unique practice that she has her clients do, she has her clients to go to Build-a-Bear to make bears that represent their inner child to try and heal from trauma by being kind to the bear which is something they may not have during their childhood. (Holcombe, 2025)
While plush collecting can be a fun, exciting thing to do, it comes with some drawbacks; an example would be Build-a-Bear’s Halloween collection, which contained a bat. I personally recall seeing the bat in a bin full of them. I had gone there for the newest Spooky Kitty but ended up returning the next day to get the bat, only to find the bins were being emptied out. Within five days, the bat was sold out in stores and on their website. Later listings on eBay, Walmart, and Mercari of the bat came up, and all of these were scams that had a fake bat. Not only that, but the bat is now a victim of resellers listing the bat up to $100. On the employees’ side, it’s hard to work when there are high-selling releases like this. Many of them had told me that they’ve been screamed at and had to deal with angry customers. Build-a-Bear workers reported that after the Shadow plush came out of stock, they were being hounded with call after call of questions about the plush. One employee told me about someone snagging half of the Pumpkin Kitties on the day of her early 2024 vault re-release. She believed that it was a reseller, but couldn’t do anything about it, even if it was upsetting to her and the other customers.
While plush collecting may seem childish, it provides people with a great sense of comfort and provides a bit of fun and escape from the world. Maybe on your next outing, you may see a soft friend to bring home!
