Americans explaining to Brits how 26 °C (79 °F) isn’t hot while living in air conditioned detached houses made of wood. https://t.co/3CB8lV42Dh pic.twitter.com/zVxW7XCc2B

— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) June 15, 2024

Jay Glatfelter spends about $4,800 a year on toys – $2,400 for himself and $2,400 combined on his six- and 10-year-old sons' birthday and Christmas presents.

The 39-year-old tech sales rep, who moonlights as a toy influencer under the moniker Geek.Dad.Life, is among a booming group of grown-ups who are shelling out big bucks to collect action figures, trading cards and Lego sets that harken back to their youth in the 1980s and 1990s.

Their love of all things Star Wars, Marvel, Ghostbusters and Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles is a bright patch in an otherwise bleak outlook for the toy industry.

For the first time ever, toy demand from preschoolers was surpassed by demand from toy enthusiasts over the age of 18, with the latter accounting for $1.5 billion in sales from January to April, according to data from Circana.

“The reality is that most kids today are not connecting with physical toys the way previous generations did,” toy influencer Dan Larson told The Post, explaining that he's “a big fan of G.I. Joe.”

Circana, which tracks consumer trends, described 18 and over “as the most important age group for the toy industry,” pointing to a recent survey showing that 43% of adults purchased a toy for themselves during the past year.

The toy industry has been struggling to recover from a bust that followed a wild boom during the pandemic, when families were holed up at home stocking up on Barbies, Hot Wheels and board games.

US toy sales tumbled 8% to $28 billion last year after rising 1% from a year earlier, according to Circana data.

That's after historic surges in 2020 and 2021, when industrywide revenue surged 17% and 16%, respectively.

This year's numbers still look weak: Toy sales dropped 1% through April compared to a year ago while the number of units sold dipped by 2%, according to Circana.

It's no wonder that toy makers including Mattel, Hasbro and Lego are wooing drinking-age consumers.

“Lego has someone on staff whose job is outreach to ‘AFOLs' [or adult fans of Lego], who are buying $200 sets,” explained James Zahn, editor of Toy Insider.

Ineeed, Lego sells sets for adults that are far pricier, including a Titanic set that sells for $679.99 and a Star Wars Millennium Falcon priced at $849.99.

In another key trend, grown-ups are buying collectible plush toys reminiscent of the Beanie Babies and Cabbage Patch Dolls that sparked frenzies in the 1980s and 1990s.

Eight-inch Squishmallows, collectibles that look like Humpty Dumpty with various faces including cats, pandas, clowns and bananas, were the top-selling toy in the first quarter, thanks in large part to adult collectors, according to Zahn.

But the majority of grown-up toy buyers are so-called “kidults” like Larson and Glatfelter – who tend to be men who are into action figures, trading cards and model sets, say experts.

“The fandom skews more male and more millennial and Gen X,” said Glatfelter, who sees the trend as an evolution from previous generations who collected knickknacks.

“It's the modern day version of when our grandparents collected Hummel figures,” he explained.

Some collectors are sensitive about being described as “kidults.” The issue inspired Larson to devote an entire segment on his YouTube channel SecretGalaxy to discuss whether “Action Figure Collecting is an Embarassing Hobby.”

The answer, he concluded, is yes and no.

A “societal perception” that all toys are made for children feeds into the embarrassment, he said. On the other hand, collecting toys has “become more acceptable because companies are making lot of things for adults,” according to Larson.

“If tiny plastic people brighten your world a little,” Larson said in the segment, “then don't let anyone take that away from you.”

It can be a pricey hobby, with the average collector spending between $300 to $400 a month, according to Larson, who keeps some of his collection on display on a wall in the house he shares with his wife. Other items are stored in closets, the basement and in various bins, he said.

Toy industry honchos welcome the kidults to their toy chests, but insist that kids will always rule in the toy aisle.

For one thing, the first quarter is typically the slowest time of year for the industry, suggesting that adults' buying power stood out because there were fewer purchases for kids after families binged on the holidays, Greg Ahearn, president of the Toy Association told the Post.

“The primary consumer is always going to be children,” Ahearn insisted. “But we are finding that the adult market is flexing its muscle and has reached that tipping point.”

texas lmfao

hearsay but apparently he got into a fistfight with a mtf guy who was heckling him on stage pic.twitter.com/PRYLExhLWo

— sólsvvirl🇸🇪🗡️🌿 (@solswirl) June 15, 2024

!bookworms share your comedy kinos

Please remember to be kind IRL to LGBT this pride month. People might be struggling: being a chud online is fine. Jesus wants you to love and be nice.

!football

!eurochads

https://www.edsupportforum.com/threads/recovery-destroyed-my-body-my-life-is-finished-tw-suicidal.4548034/

Hello :)

I'm not new to EDSF - for years, I have viewed the site, reading posts for advice and support - but I have never posted. To be honest, sharing my ED journey is embarrassing.

I live in England, in the countryside, with my mum and dad. Before I struggled with my mental health, I was a high-achiever and a perfectionist. I attended a selective all-girls school, played musical instruments, acted, participated in orchestras, volunteered and was in the top team for every sport. I worked 24/7; education was my life. I had ambitions and aspirations. I was determined and resilient to reach them. Typical story - a perfectionist struggles with mental health… My life began to fall apart in 2021. First, I developed anxiety, then, OCD and depression and lastly, my ED.

I have Binge Eating Disorder. I will not lie, writing that is humiliating and mortifying. I am so ashamed. Pre-ED, I was naturally underweight and had no interest in food - I ate healthily, skipped meals and hated junk food. In 2022, I had urges to eat food I did not want, then eating when I was anxious/stressed/depressed became a habit. The binges started small and grew. I gained a lot of weight and felt suicidal because of my body. I began therapy to recover from Binge Eating Disorder. I learnt to control myself around food 60% of the time, the other 40%, I binged. Thankfully, I over-exercised, so I managed to lose weight. I was proud of my body and the happiest I'd ever been in my life. I was confident, determined and 1000x better than the ‘normal' me. Then, my life began to fall apart again. Long-story-short, I was incorrectly diagnosed with Anorexia (I binged weekly on 10,000+ calories and had binge urges everyday) and forced into recovery. A lot happened. It was traumatic and the medical professionals and CAMHS were AWFUL. They made me gain weight without providing any therapy or even advice/support. CAMHS think eating disorders are weight disorders and do not care about what you are struggling with mentally. They encouraged me to binge (I had BED!) and told me to eat junk food. I lost my willpower and control over food that I had learnt in BED therapy, I lost my motivation and I began binging more. Now, I binge every single day, all day. I do nothing else. I have at least 5,000 calories each day, up to 25,000. I have gained 5st in less than 3 months. I can't exercise, I can barely walk up the stairs, my mum helps me to shower, I look disgusting and unrecognisable, I'm uncomfortable 24/7 and I pray each night that I won't wake up the next day. I attempted suicide because I hate this body. My body is ruined - my teeth, hair, skin etc, everything is ruined. I'm having private therapy to help my Binge Eating Disorder but it's not working. Anorexia recovery and all the people who forced me to gain weight have destroyed my willpower/determination and now, I have zero control over food.

I want my body back. I wish I had hidden my weight from everyone or faked weight gain and recovery. Now, I'm just waiting for my life to end.

Jimmy Carter no longer awake every day, grandson says https://t.co/Q5ttxTuf3U pic.twitter.com/ywGe0mxCUN

— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) June 11, 2024

God I wish that were me

Taking bets on my most used words