Pokemon generated $2.5 billion in US toy sales in 2025, up 87% year over year, becoming the first property in at least 20 years to cross the $2 billion mark (Circana, 2026). After three straight years of decline, global toy sales rose 7% in value across 12 major markets, the first time every tracked country grew in one year (Circana, 2026). In the US, retail toy sales reached $30.3 billion, up 6% (Circana, 2026), while LEGO posted record revenue of DKK 83.5 billion, up 12% (LEGO, 2025 Annual Report). The comeback was collectible, licensed, and increasingly bought by grown-ups. This analysis consolidates data from Circana, The Toy Association, LEGO, Mattel, Hasbro, Pop Mart, and 5 other primary sources into 50-plus figures across market size, categories, top brands, kidults, tariffs, and retail channels.
TL;DR
- US retail toy sales hit $30.3 billion in 2025, up 6%, with the full market projected near $45.6 billion (Circana, 2026).
- Global toy sales rose 7% in value across the 12 tracked markets, the first year every country grew (Circana, 2026).
- Pokemon was the top US toy property at $2.5 billion, up 87%, the first property past $2 billion in 20 years (Circana, 2026).
- Games and Puzzles, Building Sets, and Explorative toys delivered 92% of all US toy growth (Circana, 2026).
- Adults 18 and older bought about $9.1 billion of toys, roughly one-fifth of US sales, up about 18% (Circana, 2026).
- Collectibles grew 32% globally and now make up nearly 19% of worldwide toy dollars (Circana, 2026).
- LEGO revenue rose 12% to DKK 83.5 billion with net profit up 21% to DKK 16.7 billion (LEGO, 2025 Annual Report).
- Hasbro net revenue climbed 13.7% to $4.70 billion, led by a 44.7% jump in Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming (Hasbro, FY2025).
- Pop Mart revenue soared 184.7% to 37.12 billion yuan, about $5.1 billion, on the Labubu craze (Pop Mart, 2025).
- US tariffs on Chinese goods peaked at 145% in 2025; about 75% of US toy imports come from China (CNN Business, 2025).
- Licensed toys grew 15% and hit a record 37% of the global toy market (Circana, 2026).
1. Market Size and Growth
The toy industry rebounded hard in 2025 after two flat-to-down years, but the headline number you cite depends on who is counting and what they include. Circana’s US retail tracking covers about 68% of the market and logged $30.3 billion; projected to full coverage that becomes roughly $45.6 billion. Market-research firms that fold in every retail channel, like Grand View Research, land far higher. The clearest signal was breadth: for the first time in Circana’s tracking history, all 12 of the major global markets it follows grew in the same year.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US retail toy sales, 2025 (68% coverage) | $30.3 billion, +6% | Circana, 2026 |
| US total toy market, projected to 100% | ~$45.6 billion | Circana (Checkout), 2026 |
| US dollar / unit / price growth | +6% / +3% / +4% ASP | Circana, 2026 |
| Global toy sales, 12 markets | +7% value, +3% units, +3% ASP | Circana, 2026 |
| Fastest / slowest of the 12 markets | Netherlands +15% / Brazil +2% | Circana, 2026 |
| US 5-year change vs 2020 | +16% (about 3% CAGR) | Circana, 2026 |
| Global toys and games market (all channels) | $357.6 billion (2025) | Grand View Research, 2026 |
Scope note: Grand View Research projects the all-channel global market at $374.0 billion in 2026 and $489.3 billion by 2033 (3.9% CAGR), a far broader definition than Circana’s point-of-sale tracking of traditional toys.
2. What Sold: Categories and Supercategories
Growth was narrow, not broad. Six of the 11 US supercategories Circana tracks grew, but three of them did almost all the heavy lifting. Games and Puzzles, Building Sets, and Explorative and Other Toys together accounted for 92% of the entire US toy industry’s growth in 2025 - and Games and Puzzles is now the single largest supercategory at $4.9 billion, powered mostly by Pokemon trading cards. On the other side, three classic aisles went backward.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Games and Puzzles (US) | +37%, largest supercategory | Circana, 2026 |
| Explorative and Other Toys (US) | +20% | Circana, 2026 |
| Building Sets (US) | +15% | Circana, 2026 |
| Games and Puzzles category size | $4.9 billion | The Toy Association / Circana, 2026 |
| Building Sets (global) | +18%, sixth straight year of growth | Circana, 2026 |
| Top three supercategories’ share of US growth | 92% | Circana, 2026 |
| US supercategories in growth | 6 of 11 | Circana, 2026 |
| Steepest US declines | Outdoor and Sports Toys, Plush, Dolls | Circana, 2026 |
Outlier: the same collectible surge lifting Games and Puzzles is why the classic Dolls and Plush aisles shrank as spending shifted toward cards and figures. See the trading-card angle in our trading card statistics for 2026.
3. Top Properties and Licensing
Licensing has never mattered more. Licensed toys grew 15% and reached a record 37% of the global toy market, and the property mix at the top tells the story of pop-culture-driven demand. Pokemon’s $2.5 billion in US toy sales made it the first property in at least two decades to clear $2 billion in a single year, up a staggering 87%. Six of the top 10 US properties grew. Beyond the tracked toy data, individual brands showed the same split-screen: Magic: The Gathering revenue jumped 59% while doll franchises softened.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pokemon US toy sales | $2.5 billion, +87% | Circana, 2026 |
| Licensed toy global share | 37% (record), +15% | Circana, 2026 |
| Magic: The Gathering revenue growth | +59% | Hasbro, FY2025 |
| Hot Wheels / vehicles growth | +11%, eighth straight record year | Mattel, FY2025 |
| Top 10 US properties that grew | 6 of 10 | Circana, 2026 |
| Squishmallows units sold, lifetime | 485 million, 125-plus licensees | Jazwares, 2025 |
| Pokemon cards produced, FY2024-25 | 10.2 billion (75 billion-plus lifetime) | The Pokemon Company, 2025 |
The top global licensed properties in 2025 were Pokemon, Hot Wheels, Marvel Universe, Barbie, and Star Wars (Circana, 2026). For the collectible-card side of Pokemon’s boom, see our Pokemon statistics for 2026.
4. The Kidult and Collectibles Boom
The demographic story is the industry’s most important structural shift. Adults are no longer a niche buying for kids - they are buying for themselves, and they spend more per purchase. US shoppers bought about $9.1 billion of toys for adults aged 18 and older in 2025, roughly one-fifth of the entire market, and that cohort grew about 18%. Collectibles were the single fastest-growing category worldwide, and premium price bands outran cheap impulse toys across the board.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US toys bought for adults 18+ | ~$9.1 billion (about 1/5 of sales), +~18% | Circana, 2026 |
| US adult spending, Q1 2025 | $1.8 billion, +12% (fastest-growing cohort) | Circana, 2026 |
| Kidult share of global toy sales | 28% (up 2.5 points since 2022) | Circana, 2026 |
| Collectibles growth, global | +32% (about 19% of global dollars) | Circana, 2026 |
| European shoppers buying toys for an adult | nearly 40% | Circana, 2026 |
| Fastest-growing US price band | $30-$69.99, +18% | Circana, 2026 |
| Higher-priced toys ($20+) | gained nearly 4 points of US dollar share | Circana, 2026 |
Outlier: items under $5 and the $15-$19.99 band saw the sharpest pullbacks, confirming that shoppers traded up rather than down (Circana, 2026).
5. The Company Scoreboard
The public toymakers split into two camps in 2025: brands riding collectibles and building sets soared, while traditional doll-and-mass-market players treaded water. Pop Mart, the Chinese maker of Labubu, nearly tripled its bottom line, with revenue up 184.7% to 37.12 billion yuan (about $5.1 billion) and adjusted net profit up 284.5%. LEGO delivered its most profitable year ever, and Hasbro’s tabletop and digital-gaming engine outran its consumer-products drag.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| LEGO revenue | DKK 83.5 billion, +12% | LEGO, 2025 Annual Report |
| LEGO net profit | DKK 16.7 billion, +21% | LEGO, 2025 |
| Mattel net sales | $5.35 billion, -1% | Mattel, FY2025 |
| Hasbro net revenue | $4.70 billion, +13.7% | Hasbro, FY2025 |
| Hasbro Wizards / Digital Gaming segment | +44.7% (+$675.6 million) | Hasbro, FY2025 |
| Pop Mart revenue | 37.12 billion yuan (~$5.1B), +184.7% | Pop Mart, 2025 |
| Pop Mart Labubu (The Monsters) series | 14.16 billion yuan, +365.7% (about 38% of revenue) | Pop Mart, 2025 |
| The Pokemon Company net sales | 411 billion yen (~$2.9B), +38% | The Pokemon Company, 2025 |
Context: Mattel’s revenue dipped as North America fell 5% (offset by +6% internationally) and Dolls gross billings fell 7% on Barbie softness, even as vehicles hit their eighth consecutive record year (Mattel, FY2025). Hasbro’s adjusted operating profit rose 36% to $1,140 million despite a 4.2% decline in Consumer Products (Hasbro, FY2025). For the tabletop side of Hasbro’s surge, see our board game statistics for 2026.
6. Tariffs and Supply-Chain Pressure
The rebound happened despite, not because of, trade policy. The US toy business is structurally dependent on Chinese manufacturing, so the 2025 tariff spike hit costs, prices, and payrolls almost immediately. About 75% of US toy imports come from China - roughly $13.4 billion of the $17.7 billion imported in 2024 - so a 145% peak tariff landed squarely on the industry’s cost base. A Toy Association survey of more than 400 member companies captured the strain among smaller firms.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US toy imports, 2024 | $17.7 billion | CNN Business, 2025 |
| Share of US toy imports from China | 75% ($13.4 billion) | CNN Business, 2025 |
| Peak US tariff on Chinese goods, 2025 | 145% | The Toy Association, 2025 |
| SMEs fearing closure | nearly half of 400+ surveyed | The Toy Association, 2025 |
| Projected price increase by back-to-school | 35% or higher | CNBC, 2025 |
| Toymakers cutting staff, May-June 2025 | about 60% (Hasbro 3%, Lovevery 20%) | Yahoo Finance, 2025 |
Outlier: US toy and game prices posted a record monthly jump in May 2025 as tariffs flowed through to shelves (The Washington Post, 2025). The China share held because labor costs there remain far below most alternatives (CNN Business, 2025).
7. Retail Channels and Market Structure
Where and by whom toys get bought is shifting as fast as what gets bought. Physical stores still dominate globally, but the US checkout preference reordered sharply in a single year. Shoppers’ preferred US toy checkout flipped from Amazon in 2024 to Walmart in 2025, with Amazon dropping from 44.3% to 25%. Older buyers now account for nearly half of global toy dollars, a direct read-through of the kidult trend into channel data.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Offline channel share, global | 54.11% of revenue (2025) | Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Buyers aged 15+, global revenue share | 48.56% (2025) | Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Asia Pacific market share | 40.03% (largest region) | Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Preferred US toy checkout: Walmart | 37.9% (2025) | MikMak, 2025 |
| Preferred US toy checkout: Target | 33.7% (2025) | MikMak, 2025 |
| Preferred US toy checkout: Amazon | 25% (down from 44.3% in 2024) | MikMak, 2025 |
| Projected online channel growth | 4.5% CAGR (2026-2033) | Grand View Research, 2026 |
Context: as toys skew older and more collectible, they compete for the same wallets and hours as screens. See the tension in our children’s screen time statistics for 2026.
Summary: Toy Industry by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US retail toy sales, 2025 | $30.3 billion, +6% | Circana, 2026 |
| US total toy market, projected | ~$45.6 billion | Circana, 2026 |
| Global toy sales growth, 12 markets | +7% value | Circana, 2026 |
| Global toys and games (all channels) | $357.6 billion | Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Pokemon US toy sales | $2.5 billion, +87% | Circana, 2026 |
| Licensed toy global share | 37% (record), +15% | Circana, 2026 |
| Games and Puzzles supercategory (US) | $4.9 billion, +37% | Circana, 2026 |
| Top 3 supercategories’ share of US growth | 92% | Circana, 2026 |
| US toys bought for adults 18+ | ~$9.1 billion (~1/5 of sales) | Circana, 2026 |
| Collectibles growth, global | +32% (~19% of dollars) | Circana, 2026 |
| Kidult share of global sales | 28% | Circana, 2026 |
| LEGO revenue | DKK 83.5 billion, +12% | LEGO, 2025 |
| Mattel net sales | $5.35 billion, -1% | Mattel, FY2025 |
| Hasbro net revenue | $4.70 billion, +13.7% | Hasbro, FY2025 |
| Pop Mart revenue | ~$5.1 billion, +184.7% | Pop Mart, 2025 |
| Pop Mart Labubu series sales | 14.16 billion yuan, +365.7% | Pop Mart, 2025 |
| The Pokemon Company net sales | ~$2.9 billion, +38% | The Pokemon Company, 2025 |
| Share of US toy imports from China | 75% ($13.4 billion) | CNN Business, 2025 |
| Peak US tariff on Chinese goods | 145% | The Toy Association, 2025 |
| Preferred US toy checkout, Walmart | 37.9% | MikMak, 2025 |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered from primary corporate disclosures, industry-body reports, and market-tracking firms published in 2025 and H1 2026, cross-referencing overlapping market and property figures across at least two sources where possible.
- Circana - U.S. Toy Industry Returns to Growth in 2025 (2026): circana.com
- Circana - Global Toy Industry Rebounds in 2025 as Sales Rise 7% (2026): circana.com
- The Toy Association - Member Survey on 145% Tariffs (2025) and U.S. Sales Data: toyassociation.org
- The LEGO Group - 2025 Full-Year Results and Annual Report (2026): lego.com
- Mattel, Inc. - Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (2026): investors.mattel.com
- Hasbro, Inc. - Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results / FY2025 10-K: sec.gov
- Pop Mart International - 2025 Annual Results (2026)
- The Pokemon Company - Corporate Financial Figures, FY2024-25 (2025): corporate.pokemon.co.jp
- Grand View Research - Toys and Games Market Report (2026): grandviewresearch.com
- MikMak - 2025 Toys and Games Commerce Trends: mikmak.com
- CNN Business / CNBC / The Washington Post / Yahoo Finance - 2025 tariff reporting: cnn.com
- Jazwares / Squishmallows - lifetime unit and licensee disclosures (2025)
Data watch: Circana’s next full-year US and global toy readouts are expected in late January and early February 2027; LEGO, Mattel, Hasbro, and Pop Mart will publish FY2026 results in Q1 2027; The Pokemon Company reports annual figures mid-2026; Grand View Research and MikMak refresh their toy market data on rolling annual cycles. We will fold in each as it lands.
Last updated: July 14, 2026. We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.