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A woman named Stella acquired her first Jellycat brand plush toy during a time of unemployment in the pandemic. Encouraged by an acquaintance's enthusiasm for the UK-created creatures, her curiosity was fully ignited when she saw an adorable gingerbread house plushie circulating on a popular social networking platform.

While Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, serving more as a retail occasion than a cultural tradition, the imagery of festive cottages resonated with her. "It doesn't mean a lot to me... But I have always loved the appearance of gingerbread houses," she explains. This led her to request an old friend in Guangzhou to buy it for her.

That acquisition occurred back in 2021, just as Jellycat was on the cusp of achieving enormous popularity across China and beyond. "Everyone felt uneasy, and no-one knew what was going to happen," says Stella, who picked up a routine of petting and squeezing her plushies for comfort throughout that stressful time. Living in Beijing, which experienced some of the strictest lockdowns globally, she passed a great deal of time indoors.

Now 32 with a new job in sales manager professional, Stella continues to grow her collection. Her collection has swelled to around 120 toys, with a total a cost of roughly 36,000 yuan. "At my age, there are many things you can't discuss with others... and the troubles we face are far more complicated than before," she notes reflectively. "The plushies assist me in regulate my emotions."

Originally created for children, these squishy toys have transformed into an international phenomenon, especially within China where an increasingly disenchanted younger generation has been turning to them for comfort and solace.

The Rise of Adult Toy Enthusiasts

Stella's Gingerbread house plushie is part of the "Amuseables" collection, a set of characters featuring small expressions inspired by commonplace items, ranging from toilet rolls to hard-boiled eggs. These plushies are considered the "standout products" which "resonate with a wide younger adult audience" globally, according to industry analysts.

Their growing appeal "may have something to do with wanting to feel a sense of connection," suggest experts. While it's difficult to say for sure whether the launch of the now-iconic Amuseable line back in 2018 was a deliberate move to engage the adult consumer, toy manufacturers are under pressure to must cultivate new markets amid falling fertility rates across numerous countries.

The brand entered China as early as 2015. By laying the necessary "groundwork", the toy maker was able to tap into "the tone of the pandemic"—when individuals looked for solace amid heightened anxiety—capitalizing on its early momentum there, as explained by business consultants.

Its fame was further propelled by engaging temporary events. These in-store events often featured a selection of limited-edition "culinary" products. Numerous fans would film themselves interacting and post the clips on social platforms.

Adaptation to local tastes has also been an essential approach. As an example, fans were able to buy stuffed toy interpretations of classic British fare such as fish, chips and mushy peas at a pop-up in London. Meanwhile, items like teacup and teapot toys were featured at exclusive stores in Chinese metropolises the previous year.

Last year, the UK-based firm's sales reportedly rose significantly to a substantial figure. In that period, sales of roughly $117 million in value of its products to Chinese consumers on leading e-commerce platforms, according to market intelligence estimates.

This growth parallels a broader surge in China's collectable-toy market among young adults in search of emotional comfort and connection. Total revenue from collectible items nationally are projected to top 110 billion yuan this year, according to a recent industry report.

The runaway success of other toys such as Labubu, elf-like dolls by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, highlights the market's growing appetite towards collectable toys. The so-called "adult-child" trend is not exclusive to China; young adults worldwide are starting to question "outdated notions of adulthood," note academics.

Particularly, items like the eggplant plushie—nicknamed "the boss" in China—have spawned numerous memes, where users sharing grievances about the pressures of adulthood. The "aubergine boss" tag is a space where people sketch various emotive faces on their toy, depicting it in various moods enjoying a drink to fake-smiling.

For example, a marketing professional from Hong Kong, Wendy Hui, modified her aubergine toy adding bags around its eyes and placing a pair of glasses on it. She posted a picture online with the caption: "The mood of workers on Monday." "I kept working from home even on my days off," the 30-something says. "I merely intended to express the level of exhaustion I was."

In this way, Jellycat has become an unexpected, whimsical outlet for China's youth to voice their frustrations about a slowing economy, where dedicated effort no longer guarantee comparable rewards. Despite heavy content regulation, digital spaces remains an important, if not the only, space for these types of conversations.

The brand's frequent releases of limited-edition products coupled with the retirement of older designs—an approach sometimes referred to as "hunger marketing" in China—has also fueled {