94% of Gen Z and millennials say they collect or want to, the highest interest of any age group. Gen Z now puts 26% of its wealth into art and collectibles, more than any other generation. This report covers how much Gen Z spends, what it buys, and why resale platforms are posting triple- and quadruple-digit growth, using 2025 data from Art Basel, UBS, StockX, Bank of America and Circana.

Gen Z Collectibles – TL;DR

94% of Gen Z and millennials are interested in collectibles, against 57% of Baby Boomers (Bank of America).
Gen Z allocates 26% of its wealth to art and collectibles, up from 15% a year earlier (Art Basel & UBS).
Adult Lego sets top Gen Z wish lists at 34%, ahead of sneakers at 30% (CouponFollow).
Magic: The Gathering sales rose more than 700% year-over-year on StockX in 2025.
The global collectibles market sits near $293 billion and is projected to reach $422 billion within five years.

Gen Z collectibles spending now reads like portfolio behavior. The cohort buys sneakers, trading cards, blind-box figures and Lego, treats resale value as a metric, and outpaces older buyers on willingness to spend per item. The same digital-first habit shows up in how younger users dominate language learning apps, where the 18-to-24 group records the highest engagement.

How Interested Is Gen Z in Collectibles vs Other Generations?

A Bank of America survey of wealthy Americans found interest in collectibles falls with age. Gen Z and millennials sit at the top at 94%, against 55% for the Silent Generation.

Generation	Interested in collectibles
Gen Z & Millennials	94%
Gen X	80%
Baby Boomers	57%
Silent Generation	55%

Source: cllct

The same dataset put interest among everyone under 44 at 94%, against 65% of respondents overall. The 39-point gap between the youngest and oldest cohorts is the clearest sign that collecting is now a young person’s market.

How Much of Their Wealth Does Gen Z Put Into Collectibles?

The 2025 Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting polled 3,100 high-net-worth collectors across 10 markets, 76% of them Gen Z or millennial. Gen Z allocated 26% of total wealth to art and collectibles, the highest of any generation and above the 20% average.

Metric	Gen Z	All HNW collectors
Wealth allocated to art & collectibles	26%	20%
Share of that spending going to collectibles, not fine art	56%	41%

Source: Art Basel & UBS

Gen Z’s allocation rose from 15% the year before to 26% in 2025. Within the category, the cohort sent 56% of spending toward collectibles rather than traditional fine art, against a 41% average. When Gen Z spends here, sneakers, cards and figures beat paintings.

What Collectibles Does Gen Z Buy in 2025?

A November 2025 CouponFollow survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers ranked the most sought-after items. Adult Lego sets led at 34%, followed by sneakers and streetwear at 30% and Pokémon or trading cards at 29%.

Collectible	Share seeking it
Adult Lego sets	34%
Sneakers / streetwear	30%
Pokémon / trading cards	29%
Tech gadgets	27%
Squishmallows	23%
Labubu figurines	20%
Funko Pop / Sanrio	19%
Stanley cups	17%
Vinyl records	16%

Source: Chain Store Age

Labubu figurines, barely known a year earlier, already drew 20% of collectors. Gen Z collecting runs across a wide set of pop-culture objects, not one product.

How Much Does Gen Z Spend on Collectibles?

The CouponFollow data split spending intent and collection worth by generation. Gen Z said it would spend the most to secure the year’s hottest item at $270, against $235 for millennials and about $185 for older buyers.

Generation	Willing to spend on top item	Collection value
Gen Z	$270	$1,500
Millennials	$235	$2,400
Gen X & older	$185	$2,700

Source: Chain Store Age

Gen Z collections were worth less overall at about $1,500, against $2,400 for millennials and $2,700 for Gen X and older. The pattern fits the life stage: high spend per item, smaller accumulated holdings.

Social pressure adds to it. 71% of Gen Z reported pressure to buy the year’s hot item, against 67% of millennials and 57% of older generations, and 51% of Gen Z said rare items made them feel more socially connected. That community pull mirrors how Gen Z treats online education platforms, which are self-directed and peer-driven by default.

Why Are Trading Cards Booming Among Gen Z?

Trading cards are where the “collectible as asset” view is sharpest. StockX recorded steep year-over-year sales growth across card categories in 2025.

Category	Year-over-year sales growth on StockX (2025)
Magic: The Gathering	700%+
Pokémon	339%
Topps	127%

Source: StockX

Beyond StockX, Walmart Marketplace reported a 200% jump in trading card sales from February 2024 to June 2025, with Pokémon up more than tenfold. Individual Pokémon cards gained 42% year-over-year between 2022 and 2025, and sealed products rose 27% on average. Much of this card demand comes from gaming communities, the same audience tracked in Steam language statistics.

How Big Is the Labubu Collectibles Trend Among Gen Z?

Pop Mart’s Labubu became the fastest-rising collectible of the cycle, driven heavily by Gen Z. StockX reported a 748% jump in Labubu sales in the first half of 2025 compared with all of 2024.

Labubu metric	Figure
StockX sales growth, H1 2025 vs all of 2024	748%
StockX sales growth, March 2024 to March 2025	7,000%
Units sold on StockX, March 2025	25,000
Pop Mart H1 2025 revenue	13.88 billion yuan

Source: StockX, Pop Mart

Pop Mart’s first-half 2025 revenue rose to 13.88 billion yuan, with net profit up nearly 400% year-over-year. Adults are the fastest-growing toy demographic at $1.8 billion in Q1 2025 sales, up 12% (Circana). Labubu also shows the risk: secondary prices fell as much as 50% from their mid-2025 peak after Pop Mart raised supply.

Are Gen Z Collectibles a Good Investment?

The investment framing rests on long-run appreciation from the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index. Pokémon cards posted the largest long-term gain of any card category at 3,261% over 20 years.

Asset	10-year appreciation	2024 change
Watches	125%	+1.7%
Handbags	85%	+2.8%
Fine wine	37%+	correction
Pokémon cards	3,261% (20-yr)	+46% (1-yr)

Source: Knight Frank, Card Ladder

The average Pokémon card rose about 46% in a single year, ahead of the S&P 500’s typical 12% annual return. The overall luxury index returned 72.6% over the past decade despite a 3.3% dip in 2024.

The Bottom Line on Gen Z Collectibles in 2026

The global collectibles market stood near $293 billion and is projected to reach $422 billion within five years. With 94% of Gen Z interested, 26% of their wealth committed, and resale platforms posting triple- and quadruple-digit growth, the demographic driving that expansion is clear.

The Labubu and sneaker corrections are a real counterweight. Even so, the spending data and value trends explain why so many of these items keep climbing. For more on this generation’s digital habits, see LingoBright’s most common languages report and its English language statistics.

FAQ

How interested is Gen Z in collectibles?

94% of Gen Z and millennials are interested in collectibles, the highest of any age group, according to a Bank of America survey. Interest falls to 57% for Baby Boomers and 55% for the Silent Generation.

How much of their wealth does Gen Z spend on collectibles?

Gen Z allocated 26% of total wealth to art and collectibles in 2025, up from 15% a year earlier and above the 20% average for all high-net-worth collectors, per the Art Basel and UBS survey.

What collectibles are most popular with Gen Z in 2025?

Adult Lego sets lead at 34%, followed by sneakers and streetwear at 30% and Pokémon or trading cards at 29%, based on a CouponFollow survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers.

How fast are trading cards growing?

On StockX in 2025, Magic: The Gathering sales rose more than 700% year-over-year, Pokémon climbed 339%, and Topps gained 127%. Walmart Marketplace reported a 200% jump over the same period.

How big is the global collectibles market?

The global collectibles market sits near $293 billion and is projected to reach $422 billion within five years, driven heavily by Gen Z and millennial buyers and growth on resale platforms.