Adults are the world’s fastest-growing group of toy buyers. In the US alone, they’re spending over $7 billion a year on toys for themselves, like Lego, plush toys, Hot Wheels, Barbie dolls, and Sonny Angel figurines. The world’s biggest toy producers, like Mattel, are taking notice, and have released entire product lines for adult fans. We went to Mattel’s design center in California to see how it makes prototypes for Barbies and Hot Wheels. We also met adult toy collectors around America, from the Maryland man with the world’s most valuable Hot Wheels collection to a New York entrepreneur who buys and sells Sonny Angel figurines.
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00:00Every Barbie doll starts as a handmade prototype at Mattel's Design Center.
00:10And styling hair is one of the most important steps.
00:13I was working in a salon as a hairstylist before I worked here.
00:18But adults aren't just making toys these days, they've become a target audience.
00:27Like 63-year-old Bruce Paschal, who owns the world's most valuable Hot Wheels collection,
00:32worth about $2 million.
00:34It's going to cost you $50,000 to buy a lowrider that's painted beautifully.
00:41But for a Hot Wheel, you can have it on your desk for $35.
00:45U.S. adults spent $7.6 billion on toys for themselves in 2024, up over 10% from the previous
00:52year.
00:54They're lining up around the block to get rare figurines, and turning plush toys from
00:59claw machines into side hustles.
01:00I'm guessing I could probably sell this one for $150 or $200.
01:05So how did adult collectors take over the toy industry?
01:08And how are the world's biggest toy companies cashing in?
01:15Bruce started collecting Hot Wheels over 25 years ago.
01:19Welcome to my Hot Wheels museum.
01:22Today he owns 10,000 cars and another 3,000 pieces of rare memorabilia.
01:28This is the actual store display.
01:30This is the original artwork.
01:32It was a special bingo set they did in the 1971 era.
01:37And one of the reasons I have this warehouse is my wife didn't really enjoy having so many
01:42visitors come by to see my collection at the house.
01:46I have about 200 different prototypes.
01:49It's amazing what employees just kept in their garage.
01:55So the first one I'll pull out.
01:58There was a car that came out in 1969 called the Torero.
02:02This is what the car looked like, but if you look at it, it's not a Hot Wheel.
02:07It's actually a hand carved piece of resin and then hand painted.
02:13Apparently there was a dinner in 1969 at Mattel and everybody that showed up got this
02:21chromed car.
02:22There's less than 10 of these known in the world.
02:25It makes this car worth at least $5,000.
02:29One of my favorite cars is this Mustang.
02:33Only the first cars of production actually had what we called open hood scoop.
02:39Then they realized that extra step of process to punching out the metal slowed down production.
02:44So almost every other Mustang sold is covered.
02:47But what's different about this car is if you turn it over, you'll see it has one of
02:53the most shiny bases you can get.
02:55One of the rarest cars I have.
02:57This car is probably worth $30,000.
03:03This customized hot rod inspired one of the first Hot Wheels.
03:06I think I got it at a bargain, $75,000, and I wouldn't sell it for even double that today
03:12because to me it's the centerpiece of my Hot Wheels collection.
03:17These are original mockups of a car released in 1980.
03:21And one of the things they had to do as a designer is they would draw up a concept for
03:26a future car.
03:27Here's an example of one of those cars they created.
03:32There's the actual product and it all started with a drawing.
03:35Is that amazing?
03:39But his most prized possession?
03:41This is the car.
03:45It's the king of the hobby.
03:47It's the rear load beach bomb.
03:51It's the rarest Hot Wheel in the world.
03:53Only two of these were ever created.
03:55Every car Mattel made had to go through the tracks and the curves.
04:00The problem is when this car went around the track too fast, it turned to its side.
04:06No good for production.
04:07So this is the prototype of the transition between the model they didn't want to make
04:14and the future model they were going to make.
04:16I paid over $50,000, less than $100,000.
04:19That's my range I'll just say.
04:21I always keep it kind of secret.
04:22It will take a million dollars to pry this car off my collection.
04:27It is by far my favorite Hot Wheel.
04:32When Hot Wheels came out in 1968, Mattel handmade its prototypes out of wood or by customizing
04:38model kits.
04:40A single one could take two months to build.
04:43Somebody had to hand carve the car to exact specifications.
04:50Mattel doesn't make wood prototypes anymore, but designing new models can take over a year.
04:56It all starts with an idea from designers like Charlie Angelo.
04:59My family didn't have much money and so for me to dream to own a certain car was my biggest
05:05dream.
05:06But a lot of the times too I would look at a car and be like, you know, I think I can
05:09do maybe a better job than that.
05:12Maybe I would modify it this way and I think it would look better.
05:15One thing I really like here is this reflection right here.
05:18See that?
05:19And it actually helps accent this fender right there and it makes it a little bit more aggressive,
05:25a little bit more speed to it.
05:27One of his most popular creations is this donut drifter.
05:31My mom used to have a catering business and I thought would it be cool if I made her a
05:35little character and we called it Sweetie's Donuts after her.
05:39We had a box of donuts and I was really hungry and I thought, hey, would it be funny if we
05:44made it into a donut car?
05:47Maybe this little guy is trying to escape whatever environment he's in.
05:51Maybe he's stuck in the donut and maybe the donut box becomes all the aero effects.
05:57The designs eventually go to Mattel's 3D printing lab, where they'll become physical prototypes.
06:03With this machine we're able to print good resolution, good surface finish parts in over
06:09a half million different colors all at once.
06:13Toys like dollhouses can take up to a week to print, while Hot Wheels can be done in
06:17a few hours.
06:19We're working with play, right?
06:21It's definitely important to know how a kid or a doll is going to interact with a toy.
06:29After that, they get a pressure wash to remove the support gel from the 3D printer.
06:33And it is, for the most part, water soluble.
06:36So we have these pressure washer stations, just warm tap water with high pressure to
06:40remove that support.
06:42Chrome engines, red stripe racing slicks, new Hot Wheels.
06:48Mattel launched Hot Wheels in 1968 with the idea of designing realistic cars that were
06:54faster and flashier than its competitors.
06:57In its first year, Hot Wheels outsold the number one toy company at the time, Matchbox.
07:04I have an old Matchbox vehicle here.
07:07It's just enamel paint, has these rubber tires, there's nothing special about it.
07:12Brendan Vitusky has been working as a lead designer at Hot Wheels for over 20 years.
07:18We hired real car designers.
07:20They came from Detroit and worked here.
07:22Most of them had moving parts or a feature.
07:25So this had an opening engine hood so you could see the engine detail.
07:29In the 1980s, as the first waves of fans were getting older, Mattel started to launch limited
07:34edition designs, targeting adults.
07:38This is the first product that Hot Wheels offered with a collector in mind.
07:42They made this 15th anniversary product.
07:47Today, Mattel has a whole line of collectible cars called the Redline.
07:52These have up to 30 parts and sell for as much as $37 each.
07:57Compare that to Mattel's cheapest cars, which typically have four parts and sell for just
08:01a couple dollars.
08:03All the parts just almost literally fall into place.
08:06The body, the window, the interior, the chassis.
08:09Redline cars are only sold online and to people who paid $10 a year to be in the Redline club.
08:15So you won't find this at your major retailers or anything like that.
08:19Brendan leads the team that designs these cars, like this Mercedes they've been working
08:23on for over a year.
08:25Our manufacturing team told us no at first.
08:28And it took a few rounds of debugging just because of complexities of manufacturing it,
08:33making sure that all four doors open.
08:36Redline cars like this Lowrider are produced in limited quantities.
08:40All of our Redline club cars have that kind of intricate detail.
08:44That Lowrider is one of Bruce's favorites.
08:48And the paint job is beyond spectacular.
08:52And the wheels, just like a real Lowrider, they pop out.
08:58Is that amazing?
08:59So look at this car.
09:02I mean, this is awesome.
09:05A Hot Wheel for $35.
09:08And it's a piece of art.
09:10Redline cars can sell for double on eBay right after they're released.
09:14The general rule is the less production volume, the more collectors who want it.
09:21But Bruce mostly buys cars for his personal collection, with a few exceptions.
09:26So I do hoard some cars that I think in the future will go up in value.
09:30I look for all the Ferraris I can buy, and then I kind of stick them away as investments.
09:36This is sort of like my bank vault.
09:39So for example, here's some Ferraris.
09:41I have some Porsches that I'm sticking away.
09:44But the Japanese cars are very hot right now.
09:47Everybody likes the Nissans, the Toyotas, the Datsuns.
09:53Adult collectors like Bruce are part of the reason Hot Wheel sales are booming today.
09:58They reached $1.4 billion in gross sales in 2023, up 14% from the previous year.
10:08The most common question I get as a Hot Wheels collector is, do you play with your Hot Wheels?
10:14I open up my museum four times a year.
10:16And yes, I get on the ground with the kids, and I reenact my childhood when I was eight
10:22or nine or ten years old playing with Hot Wheels back then.
10:32Always happens.
10:47Bruce buys discontinued cars at conventions like the York Toy Extravaganza in Pennsylvania.
10:54One of his favorite trading partners is Randy Blake, who's had a booth here for 25 years.
11:00He has over 300,000 cars in his collection.
11:03What's up, Randy?
11:04Hey, Bruce.
11:05How's it going, man?
11:06Nice to see you.
11:07I got some carded red lines.
11:08I got some nice higher-end convention cars.
11:11Do you have the Fairlady Z, the new NFT?
11:15I do.
11:17I have one of those.
11:18That's my last one left right there.
11:19Yeah.
11:20I just got these.
11:21These are the newest ones that just came out from the club.
11:23Oh, most definitely.
11:24Both nice cars.
11:25Of course.
11:26Yeah, both of those are the two hottest ones.
11:27Both nice cars.
11:28Yep.
11:29What do you think of an even trade?
11:33I could do that for you, Bruce.
11:34We could work that out.
11:35Another deal?
11:36Absolutely.
11:37Hey, Jerry.
11:38What's up, Bruce?
11:39You tell me.
11:40What's going on?
11:41How's it going?
11:43I know you're the man that has everything except this.
11:44Okay.
11:45Something I don't have.
11:46Wow.
11:47How long has it been since you've seen one of those?
11:48I saw one on eBay in my life.
11:49That's it.
11:50Two cars.
11:51Made only one year.
11:52Yeah.
11:53Great condition, too.
11:54What are you asking for it?
11:55$1,800.
11:56That's high.
11:57How about $1,200?
11:58$1,200.
11:59That's high.
12:00How about $1,200?
12:01That's high.
12:02How about $1,200?
12:03That's high.
12:04How about $1,200?
12:05That's high.
12:06How about $1,200?
12:07That's high.
12:08How about $1,200?
12:09That's high.
12:10How about $1,200?
12:12Life's not always about making money.
12:14I'll give you $1,500 for it and I'll give you cash.
12:17You got it.
12:19Sold.
12:20Okay.
12:21$1,300, $1,400, $1,500.
12:23Thank you, sir.
12:24You got a deal?
12:25Thank you very much.
12:26I appreciate you saving that for me.
12:27I'll give you back.
12:28So this may be the only one existing in the world today.
12:30This type of package.
12:32And when you're a collector,
12:34you want to try to find stuff that nobody else has,
12:37this falls in the category.
12:39in the category.
12:40I paid a little bit more than I wanted to pay,
12:42but I guarantee if I came back here for the next 10 years,
12:45I wouldn't find it.
12:48While Bruce snatches up anything rare or historic,
12:51some have a niche,
12:52like building complete color sets of one type of car,
12:55what collectors call a rainbow.
12:58Hey, Bruce.
12:59What's up, guys?
13:00How are you, Bruce?
13:01I'm doing okay.
13:02My man.
13:03Cosmo Kogan is trying to build a complete set
13:05of the 1968 Mustang.
13:07I've always been a big Mustang guy.
13:09I actually had a Mustang when I met my wife.
13:11And for me personally, I just love that.
13:14I call it like a lavender, just beautiful color.
13:17And like, this is a thousand dollar car,
13:20you know, in this condition.
13:22When Hot Wheels first came out,
13:24they painted cars for the first time, a toy car,
13:27the same way a real automobile was painted,
13:29electrostatic paint,
13:31which nobody had ever done that before.
13:34The gem-like sparkly quality really appealed.
13:38Everybody likes shiny.
13:39Women like shiny, the men like shiny.
13:41This is our shiny, right?
13:43I mean, my wife's shiny is a little different than mine.
13:48Many credit Elliot Handler, Mattel's co-founder,
13:50as the mastermind behind Hot Wheels.
13:53Elliot Handler told me one day
13:54that his greatest inventions
13:56were taking something already invented,
13:58but just making it better.
14:02That's what his wife, Ruth Handler, did in 1959,
14:05when she helped create the Barbie doll.
14:06So think about this.
14:08A husband and wife invented the number one boys
14:11and girls toy in the history of the world.
14:15Back then, most dolls were babies.
14:18Ruth wanted to create something
14:19that kids could see as a role model.
14:22Girls could fantasize about being bigger.
14:25They could fantasize about being teenagers or young adults.
14:29They did not have to fantasize about being moms or wives.
14:34Mattel was also one of the first toy companies
14:36to market straight to kids on TV,
14:39which helped it sell over 300,000 Barbies in 1959.
14:45For decades, Barbie dominated the fashion doll industry
14:48without major rivals.
14:51In 1991, Mattel reported that 95% of American girls
14:55between ages three and 11 owned multiple Barbies.
15:00But Barbie's reign was threatened in the early 2000s,
15:03when Bratz dolls first hit shelves.
15:06Designed as a direct challenge to the blonde,
15:08slim Barbie doll, Bratz featured a diverse cast
15:11with more skin tones, different hairstyles,
15:13and edgier fashion that resonated with tweens.
15:17By the mid-2000s, the Bratz doll
15:19had hit an estimated $1 billion in annual sales
15:22and gobbled up about 40% of the fashion doll market.
15:26In 2015, Barbie sales reached a 25-year low
15:29of $900 million, down over 50% from their peak in 1997.
15:36That same year, Mattel launched dozens of new Barbies
15:39with different body shapes, hairstyles, and skin tones.
15:42But it would take a few more years
15:44for the iconic doll to regain its former glory.
15:47Today, Barbie dolls come in over 30 skin tones,
15:50and Brian Maldonado creates them from scratch.
15:54The biggest challenge I have,
15:56every Barbie character, Monster High character,
15:59everybody has their own different kind of skin tone.
16:02Actually just finished cooking one,
16:04and we're gonna go ahead and pull one out.
16:06You just get your trusty wrench,
16:10unlatch everything here, grab it, twist it,
16:13pop it right there.
16:15You got yourself a fresh Barbie head.
16:21That doll head is the canvas
16:23for Barbie's hairstylists like Shirley Fujisaki.
16:27She used to work in a salon
16:29and has been the key lead hair designer at Mattel
16:31for 19 years.
16:34Part of the interview process
16:35was actually getting on this machine
16:36that I've never touched before and rooting doll hair.
16:38If somebody's told me that,
16:39that I was gonna be doing Barbie's hair
16:41when I'm older, I'd be like, oh, you're crazy.
16:46Our favorite and best tool that we use every day
16:48is this pet brush, which is amazing.
16:51You would think a pet brush wouldn't smooth out the hair,
16:54but it does an amazing job.
16:59Mattel's hair team has developed
17:01over 100 hairstyles in the last decade.
17:03This one was kind of popular with adults
17:06just because of the tampoing that we did on the hair,
17:09the style that we did on it,
17:10and just how creative it was
17:12to do the kitty ears with hair.
17:16One of the ones that took, I would say,
17:19probably up to about eight or 10 iterations was this one.
17:22It's one of our Fashionista Extra dolls.
17:25It took us a few different trials
17:27to figure out the exact color placement
17:29to get the combination coming to down here
17:33so that it can show that ombre color from the front of it.
17:37Adults have played a critical role in Barbie's comeback.
17:40During the pandemic, millennial parents
17:42started buying dolls for their kids
17:44to try to cut down their screen time.
17:47Nostalgic millennials also showed up in mass
17:49for the Barbie movie in 2023,
17:52a blockbuster hit that grossed roughly $1.4 billion.
17:56The movie helped reignite the collector's market, too.
17:59Mark Lear, a longtime collector,
18:01has taken advantage of this comeback,
18:03selling his own line of custom outfits online.
18:06So I bought these two fabrics in Japan,
18:10and I got this online.
18:11The shipping's not cheap, and I have to buy more.
18:15He says he could sell this kimono for about $85,
18:19but he treats his business as a compliment to his hobby.
18:22Today, he has hundreds of vintage dolls
18:24worth tens of thousands of dollars
18:26in his home in Queens, New York.
18:28One of his most valuable items is this European doll,
18:31which helped inspire the first Barbie.
18:34So this is called Lily, and this is from Germany.
18:37And this was from 1955.
18:40She was about maybe $3,000 to $4,000.
18:43Ruth went to Switzerland with her family,
18:46and she saw this doll on the window display.
18:52Each Barbie cost $3 in the first Barbie,
18:56Each Barbie cost $3 in the early days,
18:58and accessories cost extra.
19:01Today, Mark buys most of his new items on Etsy or eBay,
19:05like these $20 shoes.
19:08Mark isn't alone.
19:10Mattel says about 13% of its U.S. sales come from adults.
19:14And when you get older, you want to have something
19:17to feel like your childhood feels.
19:26That's one of the reasons Dave Coletta
19:28has been collecting LEGO for over 40 years.
19:32It's probably somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000
19:37just individual LEGO elements in this room.
19:40Even in college, my friends were going out to the bars,
19:43and I was like, well, but I could buy
19:44some more LEGO with that money.
19:47LEGO's adult community is so big
19:50that it has a nickname, AFOLs, or Adult Fans of LEGO.
19:54It's a term that we use somewhat endearingly,
19:57but, you know, it's also a little cheeky.
20:01He buys and customizes sets without using instructions.
20:05I am at a point where I kind of build in my mind all the time.
20:10Like, when I see something, I'm like,
20:11oh, I would use that piece to build that.
20:14Dave's work got him featured on the TV show LEGO Masters,
20:17where mostly adults compete in brick-building challenges.
20:20This is a version of one of the things
20:23that I built when I was on LEGO Masters.
20:25It was one of our winning builds,
20:28and I was building a miniature version of it
20:30because I just wanted to keep that memory.
20:32He's currently constructing a model of his bathroom.
20:35I'm using these pieces,
20:38which originally were lightsaber rods,
20:42but I'm putting them on their ends
20:45and putting them all so close together
20:48that they make that hexagonal tile.
20:50I had to use tweezers to, like,
20:52get each one in where it went.
20:55I probably ordered, like, 2,000 lightsaber rods
20:59just to make this floor.
21:05I don't ever really think about how many pieces go into it
21:08because it's like you're a painter.
21:09Do you, like, count how many brush strokes
21:11that you put into your painting?
21:13I don't think so.
21:15What Dave does think about is the cost.
21:18He guesses his collection has set him back about $50,000.
21:23I try to set a budget of, like, $200 a month per LEGO,
21:27and, you know, sometimes I'll need more
21:29if I'm, like, working on a commission
21:31or, like, that helps supplement,
21:33you know, what I'm spending on LEGO.
21:35A minifigure like this could go for $200
21:38because it's a very rare minifigure
21:40that only appeared in one set ever.
21:44I'm trying to be budget-conscious,
21:46but it's fun.
21:49To save money, he buys pieces off resale sites
21:52like BrickLink, which LEGO acquired in 2019.
21:55The site has over a million adult members.
21:58If I'm working on a project and I need 1,000
22:03three-length white rods,
22:05I can source them from anywhere in the world
22:06and find the cheapest price.
22:08One downside to his passion?
22:10He's often modeling alone.
22:13The Internet was pivotal in my journey in LEGO,
22:17so I was, like, you know,
22:19younger, building by myself in my apartment,
22:23and I discovered that there was a whole,
22:25like, online community of other people like me,
22:27and we started coming together in person.
22:31LEGO conventions like Brick Fair in Virginia
22:34took off among grown-ups in the 2000s.
22:37Over 22,000 visitors stop by every year
22:40to see fans display their creations.
22:44This is the biggest crane I've made up to date.
22:46Aiden Hurst spent roughly $1,500
22:48to build this 15-foot crane.
22:50I work construction, so my inspiration was actually,
22:53on my last project, we worked around one of them,
22:55and I was like, oh, I want to build that one day.
23:00John Peter Zapp spent over a decade
23:02and thousands of dollars
23:03building this miniature of Middle Earth
23:05from Lord of the Rings.
23:07A lot of stuff broke on the way down,
23:09so all day yesterday,
23:11me and my two helpers were just fixing,
23:13so it was a long day yesterday.
23:15I think I'll take it to one or two more shows,
23:17and then it's meant to break apart
23:19and build something new out of it.
23:21It's LEGO.
23:21It's not, like, meant to last forever.
23:25But LEGO didn't always prioritize
23:27the buying power of these adult collectors.
23:29LEGO started out really designed to be educational
23:33and to have a rich and fulfilling
23:35play experience for children.
23:40LEGO was founded in Denmark in the 1930s
23:43and only made wooden toys at first.
23:45The first plastic bricks came out in 1949
23:48and were called automatic binding bricks.
23:52In 1958, LEGO patented the stud and tube design,
23:56which allowed for large and stable builds.
24:00By the 60s, LEGO's plastic brick sets
24:02were taking off in Western Europe,
24:05so the company decided to focus exclusively on bricks.
24:09LEGO debuted the iconic minifigure in 1978.
24:14By 1987, LEGO sets were sold in nearly 120 countries,
24:18and US sales soared to an estimated $115 million.
24:23In 1999, LEGO released its first successful set
24:26tied to a movie franchise, Star Wars.
24:30And adults loved it, too.
24:32They were actually building a model
24:34and being engaged in the Star Wars narrative,
24:36and that really had a much older appeal
24:39than just stacking blocks.
24:42But in the 90s and early 2000s,
24:44LEGO took its eye off the ball,
24:46spending hundreds of millions of dollars
24:48on theme parks, digital projects, and merchandise.
24:52Meanwhile, video game sales were growing,
24:54cutting into the toy market.
24:57There was much more emphasis on TV
24:58and less emphasis on sort of construction play.
25:02In 2003, sales tanked 35% in the US.
25:08LEGO named a new CEO in 2004,
25:11who cut costs, sold the theme parks,
25:15and refocused the company on its core product,
25:18the plastic brick.
25:21It also started focusing more on its adult fan base.
25:25In 2007, LEGO launched
25:27a revamped Star Wars Millennium Falcon,
25:29which retailed for more than $500
25:32and was recommended for ages 16 and up.
25:35In 2014, it launched LEGO Ideas.
25:38Fans could submit their own plans for sets,
25:41and if they got enough votes,
25:42watch their ideas go into production.
25:44They'd even get a 1% cut of the royalties.
25:48They're saying, hey, if you make that, I will buy it.
25:52People don't want to just passively consume brands.
25:55They really want to interact with them.
25:57Then in 2020, LEGO released its first set
26:00themed at ages 18 and up.
26:03LEGO kept its momentum over the next few years,
26:06setting a revenue record in 2024.
26:10Today, LEGO's adult line, called Icons,
26:13is among its top-selling themes.
26:15If I go to Target,
26:17I'll see a boyfriend and girlfriend
26:20going to buy sets for each other.
26:22They're like, oh, we should get this set.
26:23And in the same spot next to me,
26:25there'll be a kid, be like, I really want that set.
26:28I feel like that's a success for the company,
26:30but also a success in lots of ways for our culture.
26:38Plush toys are a $10 billion industry,
26:41and some of the main people scooping these up are adults.
26:45Mike Ney has figured out how to make
26:46a little money from his hobby.
26:49He's sold over $40,000 worth of plush toys online,
26:54and he wins all of them himself
26:55out of an arcade claw machine near his home in Utah.
26:58I'm guessing I could probably sell this one
27:00for $150 or $200,
27:02and there was only 25 of these made and available.
27:05My girlfriend's not entirely convinced
27:07that we need an entire room of the house
27:09dedicated just to plushies,
27:11but I enjoy it, so, you know, she supports me.
27:15In 2020, he bought a hobby machine from Alibaba
27:18and started studying how claws behave.
27:21There is a lot of strategy that goes into it,
27:22more so than the average person might realize,
27:25you know, looking for the geometry of the plush
27:27and the specific way that the claw moves around it.
27:33He gets most of his plush toys from Round One,
27:35an arcade with over 100 claw machines.
27:40Today, he's given himself a budget of $160.
27:43His goal is to fill up two laundry bags.
27:46Mike starts by inspecting every machine
27:48to look for easy wins.
27:51I love coming to Round One in the morning
27:52after fresh restocks because they pile the toys
27:55high up above the chute here,
27:57so it makes it a lot easier to win,
27:59just being able to pick them up
28:01and kind of tumble the plush into the prize chute.
28:07Each play costs roughly $1 to $3.
28:12It took him 12 plays and $15
28:14to win all four colors of these Pac-Man toys.
28:17I'm guessing as a set,
28:18I could probably sell all of them for about $20.
28:21Machines full of rare toys,
28:23like this Pachita character from a Japanese anime,
28:25cost more to play.
28:27So I'm really trying to aim right around,
28:30grab where at least one claw
28:32gets under the actual chainsaw part.
28:37Use that double tap,
28:38and hopefully the chainsaw will actually hold it
28:40in the claw.
28:41It's kind of hooked on there, you can see it.
28:43Perfect one-shot win.
28:45So that's less than $2 that we spend on it.
28:48We should be able to sell this one for $15 to $20,
28:50so it's a really solid 10x on that.
28:54But most of the time, it takes him at least a few tries.
28:58This Hello Kitty, they're really popular.
29:01I do have a couple already,
29:03so I'm not gonna invest a lot into this one,
29:05but I'm gonna give it a couple plays
29:07and see how we can do.
29:19These failed attempts are what make claw machines
29:21so profitable for arcades.
29:24Claw machines are just another form of gambling.
29:27It's just a cuddly, fluffy, colorful form of gambling.
29:32Very similar to a slot machine in Las Vegas,
29:35where you can program the payout.
29:38But instead, arcades can program the claw
29:40to have a stronger grip after a certain amount of plays.
29:43It's a really delicate balance between making a profit
29:46and rewarding your player so that they keep coming back.
29:50♪♪♪
29:56Mike is aware of this and has a couple of tricks
29:59and personal rules for himself.
30:01First, knowing when to stop.
30:05We're just gonna skip it and move on.
30:07You can tell it doesn't even really lift up the plush at all.
30:09Second, picking the right toy to go for.
30:12So one thing I'm looking for with plush that I'm trying to win
30:14is plush that have, you know, long arms and legs
30:17that the claw can grab onto.
30:19And third, double-tapping the button
30:21lets him instantly stop the claw, giving him more precision.
30:24♪♪♪
30:30And we got a nice, good grab there, actually.
30:32Perfect by the head.
30:34So that was just a couple of plays to win that one.
30:38This is one of the most popular machines here,
30:40filled with Japanese Hololive plush toys,
30:43which are exclusive to round one.
30:45So right now, my general technique is just go for things
30:48that are close to the chute
30:50and just try and get one or two arms of the claw around it
30:53just to be able to lift it up and over,
30:55not really trying to pick anything up necessarily.
31:00Just tumble it in like that.
31:02We ended up spending about $15,
31:05and each one will sell for about $15 on its own.
31:09And they're all different.
31:10After a full day, Mike has filled both of his laundry bags
31:13with plush toys and still had $10 left.
31:17So this was our haul for today.
31:21Got two nice, full bags.
31:23Overall, it's a pretty successful day.
31:27Everything together, I could sell for about $400.
31:33Mike's most valuable prize was this Kiromi plush from Japan,
31:36created by the same company that made the Kiromi plush.
31:39Created by the same company as Hello Kitty.
31:42He can resell this for about $30
31:45because it's exclusive to round one.
31:48I think that a lot of the popularity
31:51of Japanese toys came from,
31:53they were really one of the pioneers in discontinuing toys
31:57and in creating different hierarchies of toys
32:00so that they really created the idea
32:02of what we call the chase toy.
32:05One of these chase toys is Sunny Angel,
32:08minifigurines released by the company Dreams, Inc. in 2005.
32:12They were created with the goal
32:13of easing the stress of working women in Japan.
32:16It's the Japanese concept of kawaii, super cute.
32:20They're supposed to embody innocence
32:22and cuteness and sweetness,
32:24and they're designed to be comforting.
32:26Part of the appeal is that you don't know
32:28which ones you're gonna get when you buy it,
32:30similar to Pokemon cards.
32:32These blind boxes typically sell for $10 to $15.
32:38Unboxing videos on social media helped Sunny Angel spread,
32:42and by 2024, there was a worldwide shortage.
32:45Stop!
32:46I got the shot.
32:47Stop!
32:48Is that the first one you got?
32:49It's all about the thrill of discovering
32:51what you're going to get,
32:52so it's kind of magical, you never know.
32:55Buyers have tiny odds, less than 1%
32:58of finding one of the rarest types of toys.
33:01They're finding one of the rarest types of Sunny Angel,
33:03known as Secrets.
33:04Ah, I forgot about this one.
33:07That's why they can fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay.
33:11Annie Chung has been collecting them since they came out
33:14and has over 50 Secret Angels.
33:16These were the Secrets that I pulled
33:18from the Circus series.
33:21It's hard to go into the real world,
33:23and you need something comforting
33:26that you can take to your office with you.
33:29Annie co-founded the toy store, An-Mei,
33:31in New York City in 2014,
33:33and keeps some of her rarest items on display.
33:36Everything behind the register here,
33:39this whole wall, is all limited edition.
33:41It's like a one-hit wonder,
33:43they don't reproduce it again.
33:45I'm just really looking at my 401k right now.
33:50How many Sunny Angels do you have total?
33:52I refuse to count,
33:55so I can keep going.
33:59I love my babies so much.
34:02I mean, in the span of 20 years,
34:04I think I'm being a good girl.
34:11Back in December 2024,
34:13people lined up around the block
34:15for a holiday promotion at An-Mei.
34:20Jesse Angel waited for three hours
34:22to score some Sunny Angel characters for his wife.
34:25She's staying at home right now
34:27and taking care of our son for,
34:29you know, nonstop.
34:31You know, that's like a 24-hour job,
34:33can't really take any breaks.
34:35Some collectors traded to pass the time.
34:41I kind of feel crazy that I'm standing here,
34:43but it's for the vibe, I guess.
34:45So I think it just brings a sense of community,
34:49especially in New York,
34:49where it's kind of hard to make friends, too.
34:51Like, you can interact with people and be like,
34:53oh, hey, you have this, we can trade.
34:57Yeah, I'm only telling my girl I got, like,
34:58three, maybe five,
35:00and then I'll be like, I couldn't get any more.
35:02The rest is gonna be a surprise.
35:04How many did you end up getting?
35:06It didn't count.
35:07I just kept grabbing them.
35:09I just kept grabbing them.
35:12Despite spiking demand for Sunny Angel blind boxes,
35:16An-Mei refuses to raise prices.
35:19If the community cannot afford it,
35:21there's no way to do it.
35:22It's just, you know,
35:24If the community cannot afford it,
35:26there is no future for the certain product.
35:29To us, it's not just a blind box.
35:33It's to be able to create a community.
35:42And that's a feeling many collectors share,
35:45no matter the toy they're playing with.
35:47Collecting touches something very elemental
35:49inside each of us.
35:52And it's a form of self-expression, really,
35:54to align yourself with a certain figure,
35:57with a certain character,
35:58and to express yourself and your affinity for that.
36:04My advice is, buy what you like.
36:07This is not stock picking,
36:10to buy cars to think you could just buy
36:12and sell them to make money.
36:14Buy what you have a passion for,
36:15because if you buy what you love,
36:18you'll always love it.
36:21God forbid I pass away tomorrow,
36:23I don't know what my wife would do.
36:24So I am working on a list with instructions myself
36:27of what to do in case I pass.
36:29And I have some friends that would help her.
36:31But it's a Herculean task for a lot of collectors
36:34that collected for 25 years and have thousands of items.
36:39Remember, each item was bought one or two at a time
36:41and enjoyed.
36:42And to get rid of 15,000 items at one time,
36:46it's difficult.