Brick by brick: How LEGO is hooking adults on its sets

Business is booming at LEGO thanks to an unexpected group of buyers.

The Danish toymaker saw global revenue soar by 21 percent from June to August after posting a 12-percent gain this year overall, and the company attributes some of that growth to adults buying LEGO sets for themselves.

The secret has been sets that touch on adult nostalgia and discovery, LEGO Global Chief Product & Marketing Officer Julia Goldin told The Wall Street Journal .

"Over the past eight years, we said there was a bigger opportunity with adults - not just people who are super-high-affinity fans, but people who maybe built a long time ago or had never built with bricks before - by giving them the things they would love to build now," she said.

LEGO now offers a wide range of adult-friendly builds , including paintings like Claude Monet's Bridge over a Pond of Water and Van Gogh's Sunflowers; Gen X's popular handheld Nintendo Gameboy, houseplants and a Polaroid camera.

Adults with LEGO habits include Hollywood stars such as Anna Kendrick and Daniel Radcliffe, as well as athletes such as NBA star Victor Wembanyama and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

Of the more than 2,700 sets and products on the company's website, 225 were in its "LEGO Gifts and Collectibles for Adults" section Monday. That's 13 more than were listed in the section in early June.

Part of what has made the company popular with adults is that it markets to people's passions, not just age and gender, Goldin said. "You might think botanicals are women and F1 cars are men," she told The Journal .

"Yes, botanicals have a huge following among women and teenage girls, but bonsai trees are one of the top 10 products for men and teen boys. Speed Champions F1 cars show up in the top 10 for teen girls."

Adults' affection for LEGO brick-building is part of a wider trend in the retail industry - grown-ups are buying toys.

Adult-only households made up 55 percent of U.S. toy sales through the first half of the year, according to a report from retail research and analysis firm Circana. Toy sales among those aged 18 and older surged 25 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2025.

"We're seeing toys increasingly function as hobbies, fandom ecosystems, and social experiences rather than traditional children's products," Circana insights boss Kristen McLean said in the study.

This summer, LEGO announced a collaboration with pop star Olivia Rodrigo - five LEGO sets have the Grammy-winning artists branding, including a guitar, flower bouquet and record player. In a July interview with Nylon , Rodrigo explained why she thinks LEGO draws in adults.

"It's really great for people to do things with their hands," she said. "We're all on our phones so much and it's really nice to just have something that's relaxing and creative that is tactile."