As a never-ending stream of collectibles enters the market there has been a broadening of their definition and heightened competition for ever-tighter placement at retail.

And while collectibles aren’t a newcomer to the toy category – Hallmark’s Rainbow Brite brand has been relaunched with multiple licensees in its 39-year history and is returning to the market for the first time since 2015 with The Loyal Subjects – the slicing and dicing of them to meet targeted fans has gained traction.

Part of the trend is tied to the so-called kidults who are less sensitive to prices as they round out collections, industry executives said at the recent New York Toy Fair. But the expanded use of social media with the backing of its personalities and game developers has enabled companies to target audiences that once might have been out of reach.

Jazwares, for example, is expanding its long-running agreement with the Roblox platform to work with its game developers, who in turn promote collectibles tied to their titles to their audiences via social media. About 10 developers are involved including Wolfpaq Games(Brookhaven role playing game); Revolve (Arsenal Reloaded) and Century Makers (Livetopia the Mad Science Lab).

“If you have a million people playing that game and covert five percent of them and sell 50,000 units it isn’t all that different from one sale to a mass retailer,” said Brian Flynn, CEO at collectibles company Super 7, which unveiled its first licenses for Sesame Street with 15.5- and 17-inch Count von count and Grover vinyl figures, respectively. “It is microtargeting and more and more people understand that it is a viable business and are willing to take a risk at it. It can be very difficult because there are a finite number of units you can move so you must understand you have a limited space and it’s not scalable in the same way other toys are.”

Yet many companies are partly offsetting the by producing collectibles in limited quantities and launching with an exclusive at the start. Loyal Subjects, for example, is introducing Rainbow Brite dolls and figurines at Five Below this fall before moving to expand distribution. And it’s releasing an exclusive “classic” Strawberry Shortcake doll at the Cracker Barrell restaurant chain this fall before broadening to playsets and other products. And some companies are taking licenses with built in fan bases. Just Play with broaden the line of Hasbro-licensed FurReal pets when it launches them in 2024. And its readying collectibles under a license for Netflix’s “Wednesday” series.

“There is room for more collectibles, but they aren’t something that you sell like a game or a toy,” Loyal Subjects CEO Jonathan Cathey. “You aren’t selling millions or thousands, so you need to be specific to a very specific collector. If you are accurate in what you are making, then you define your audience.”

In developing a collectibles line, defining an audience will be key. This is especially true in a market filled with competitors and where sales are expected to decline from a year ago, but remain ahead of pre-pandemic levels, industry executives said.

“There really isn’t enough room for all the collectibles out there and that’s being proven this year,” said Lizzy Newsome, CEO at toy retailer Kappa Toys, which has been a long-time seller of Sonny Angel, three-inch angel-themed collectibles. “I think the market is getting oversaturated and you will see some collections disappear when they aren’t purchased. I would like to see the industry go back to toys” that are played with. “There was a lot of excitement around Funko,” [and its Pop! Collectibles] which has been struggling and “they were hot for so long that every company was trying to reinvent the wheel. We want something that is approachable enough through either price or durability that you could give it to a kid.”