Kidult Exhibition in Korea
How grown-ups are finally getting the toys their parents would never buy them
Remember as a child, there was always that one toy you wanted but never had. Or there was never enough toys to make your grand Lego city work. There was that one collection that was never quite finished. As children we are at the mercy of what our parents can and are willing to buy us. Once we start earning pocket money, we can save up for that one thing special but we never had that extra money to really go all out and get what we want. And then we grow up, led to believe toys are just for kids and that we are no longer meant to believe in such childish things, or to let our minds dream and wonder.
This was the way of things when my parents were my age, however, this is the year 2017 and my how things have changed. Toys have gone from childhood playthings to collectibles that everyone wants from all ages and walks of life. Games, toys and activities that were once classed as nerdy and juvenile are now not only accepted in mainstream society, they are the new ‘in’ and the new definition of cool. People play video games for a living, game cafes are everywhere, people prefer to spend a weekend night staying home and playing Catan rather than hitting the pubs. Instead of buying cars, people are buying toys and re-living their childhood, and you know what? This is AWESOME!
As someone who has an impressive figurine and Halo Mega Blok collection, I love living in this day and age. And I am not alone. There has even been a term coined for it — Kidult: an adult with childish tastes. However that doesn’t sound quite right as now the perception of what is childish and was isn’t is extremely blurred and definitions from our parents childhood do not really apply anymore. The best example of this is cartoons and animation. Anything animated use to mean it was for children, these days however you just need to look at the most popular Japanese anime series or even some American shows and you can see they are clearly not meant for children.
The toy industry has really caught on to this as well. Adults have the money, they are the ones with the disposable income. And there is big money to be made as the Kidult trend grows bigger and bigger. You only need to look at events like Comic Con to see how big this is getting. So it comes as no surprise that toy exhibitions have also become common around the world. Korea is no different and in a few days time the Kidult Exhibition will be back at Coex Mall.
Korea has really embraced this movement which isn’t surprising. Korean children often barely enjoy or even experience a childhood; instead they have to deal with the insanity of the education system here. It is no wonder that adults in Korea these days are wanting to enjoy some of those things that they missed out on while young. The Kidult exhibition not only allows adults in Korea to experience this it also provides a platform to see just how toys and crafts have evolved and to see what is available these days.
I went last year and it was well worth the visit. The venue was full of Korean vendors that you would normally never see, showing off and selling all kinds of boutique style toys and crafts. From metal car-building kits to paper crafts of Gundam, there is a lot to take in. Toy drones, model cars and other popular franchises like Marvel and other movie toys are also on display. There are some impressive custom Lego builds that must have cost a small fortune in bricks!
Usually held twice a year, the Kidult exhibition has a steady stream of visitors for both days it’s open. While there are a few families and children who attend, the majority of the crowd is young (and older) adults. And with the Soju (Korean rice alcohol) stall clearly placed at the front entrance, the intended market is obvious.
As the kidult trend continues, it is likely we will see more and more of these type of exhibitions take place and hopefully market areas dedicated to toys as well. There is already a large toy street market in Korea as well as other toy focused markets throughout Asia too. These smaller market stalls or one off exhibitions are more practical especially with the trend of online shopping continuing to grow and big physical stores becoming less viable. The recent shift in game and electronic areas that are now shifting to anime merchandise as mentioned in our fading frontier articles atests to this. It is through these that we can continue to live out our childhood dreams well into adulthood and beyond.
