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Stella Huang purchased her initial Jellycat brand plush toy amid a period of unemployment during the global health crisis. Inspired by an acquaintance's fondness for the UK-created creatures, her interest was truly sparked when she saw a unique gingerbread house plushie circulating on a popular Chinese social media platform.

While Christmas is not traditionally observed in China, acting more as a commercial event rather than a religious festival, the sight of gingerbread houses resonated to Stella. "It doesn't hold much to me... However, I always like the look of those sweet houses," she explains. This led her to eventually request an old friend from her hometown to buy it for her.

That acquisition took place back in 2021, right as the brand was about to achieve enormous popularity across China and beyond. "Everyone felt anxious, and no-one knew what was going to happen," says Stella, who picked up a habit of petting and hugging her soft toys to cope throughout a difficult period. Living in Beijing, a city with among the most stringent restrictions globally, she passed extended periods at home.

Now aged 32 and working as a sales manager in the tourism industry, Stella continues to expand her collection. Her collection has swelled to around 120 toys, with a total an investment of about 36,000 yuan. "At my age, there are many things you can't share with others... and the troubles we face are far more complicated than before," she says with a sigh. "The plushies assist me in managing my emotions."

Initially created for children, these squishy toys have transformed into a global phenomenon, particularly within China where an somewhat disillusioned younger generation is turning to them as a source of comfort and solace.

Understanding the Adult Toy Enthusiasts

Stella's Gingerbread house toy belongs to their "Amuseables" collection, a range of characters featuring small expressions inspired by everyday inanimate objects, ranging from toilet rolls and hard-boiled eggs. These plushies are considered the "breakout success" which "appeal to a broad younger adult demographic" around the world, as noted by industry analysts.

The surge in appeal "may have something to do with wanting to feel companiable," suggest cultural commentators. It is hard to ascertain whether the launch of the now-iconic Amuseable line in 2018 was a deliberate move to engage the young adult market, toy manufacturers are under pressure to need to find alternative audiences due to falling fertility rates in many parts of the world.

The brand entered China as early as 2015. Having laid significant "foundation", the toy maker was well-positioned to tap into "the tone during Covid"—a time when people sought solace during widespread uncertainty—and built on its early success there, according to industry experts.

Jellycat's popularity was also boosted through engaging temporary events. These retail activations sometimes offered a menu of exclusive "culinary" themed items. Numerous fans record themselves interacting and share the clips on social platforms.

Localisation has also been an essential strategy. For instance, fans were able to buy stuffed toy interpretations of classic UK dishes such as fish, chips and mushy peas during a temporary shop overseas. Meanwhile, items like teapot and teacup plushies were sold at exclusive outlets in Chinese metropolises last year.

In 2024, the UK-based company's revenue is said to have increased significantly to an impressive figure. During the same timeframe, it sold roughly $117 million worth of its products in China on major e-commerce platforms, per market intelligence data.

This growth reflects a broader boom in China's collectible toy market among adult consumers seeking emotional comfort and community. Overall sales from collectible items nationally are projected to exceed 110 billion yuan annually, according to a 2024 industry report.

The remarkable popularity of other toys such as Labubu, elf-inspired figures by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, highlights the market's increasing demand for collectable toys. This "kidult" phenomenon is not unique to China; adults worldwide are starting to question "outdated notions of adulthood," observe academics.

Particularly, items like the eggplant plushie—nicknamed "the big boss" in China—have also spawned numerous memes, with many expressing grievances regarding the pressures of adulthood. On social media, the "eggplant boss" hashtag serves as a platform where fans sketch different expressions on their toy, showing it in various moods from drinking to forcing a smile.

As an illustration, a marketing professional from Hong Kong, Wendy Hui, personalized her eggplant Amuseable by drawing bags around its eyes and placing a pair of glasses on the toy. She then shared a picture on a social platform with the caption: "The mood of employees at the start of the week." "I was working at home even on time off," she explains. "I just wanted to express how exhausted I was."

In this way, the brand has emerged as an unexpected, whimsical outlet for China's youth to air their grievances over economic challenges, in which dedicated effort no longer guarantee commensurate rewards. Amid heavy content regulation, digital spaces have become an important, if not the only, arena for such discussions.

Its regular launches of exclusive designs and the discontinuation of certain lines—an approach sometimes referred to as "scarcity marketing" locally—has also fueled {