The Pokemon Company is well known for its marketing partnerships, with Pikachu and dozens of other Pokemon being featured in product tie-ins over the years. ThePokemonplushie business, however, has largely been done in-house. The official Pokemon Center website features hundreds of differentPokemonplushies of every size. But The Pokemon Company isn’t going to let that stop it from joining in on a trend. A new partnership betweenPokemonand the incredibly popular Jazwares Squishmallows line of plushes has been announced.The partnership betweenPokemonand Squishmallows was officially announced byJazwaresbrand manager Aaron Margolin as part of the Squishmallows booth at San Diego Comic-Con. A photo of the booth revealed two display pedestals with the newPokemonSquishmallows under glass cases. The first Pokemon to get a Squishmallow is, of course, Pikachu. The second Pokemon and a big surprise choice is the spooky Ghost-type Pokemon Gengar.RELATED:Pokemon Fan Shows Off Impressive Plush CollectionThe Squishmallows are a line of plushies with an egg-like shape that pitch themselves as “super soft” that are perfect for comfort and cuddling. The Pikachu plush will remindPokemonfans of the early games when it was especially chubby and cute. Pikachu’s ears and tail still stand out, as fans would expect.Gengarmay be surprising, but it is a great pick due to its already rotund form. Its spiky ears and hair help give the plushie some character, too.
Margolin describes this as “Wave 1” of thePokemonand Squishmallows partnership. It may be somewhat disappointing that the collaboration is kicking off with just two plushies given the near certainty of their popularity, but making clear that this is just the start of the partnership should assuage some worries. A Wave 2 certainly seems to be planned, though when it would arrive and how many newPokemonplushiesit’d include will be announced at a later date.
With only twoPokemonSquishmallows announced, somePokemonfans might worry that they’ll only be available in a limited capacity. Margolin made a follow-up post tellingPokemonfans not to worry and that the team is planning to ensure that “e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e” that wants aPokemonSquishmallows plushieis able to acquire one. It isn’t clear if that means these plushies will be widely available at launch or restocked frequently, but it should mean that this won’t be a limited run.
ThePokemonand Squishmallows collaboration will officially launch this fall. A more specific date has yet to be announced, but fans can expect more information soon. The plushies aren’t available yet and won’t be exclusive toSDCCor anything of the like. Like otherPokemonplushies, when thePokemonSquishmallows launch they’ll be sold on the Pokemon Center website.
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