Pokemon turns 30 this year, and between Lego and a residency at the Natural History Museum, a lot of the official plans to mark the occasion are already in place. There are still a lot more reveals to come, though, the latest of which is a life-size plush based on Pikachu’s original design.
Pikachu is one of the most famous fictional characters on the planet, and when you hear the Pokemon mascot’s name, a certain image will appear in your head. The thing is, that’s not what Pikachu looked like 30 years ago. The Electric-type’s original design was chubbier, rounder, more rotund, and Pokemon clearly hasn’t forgotten Pikachu’s roots.
OG Pikachu Is Back In Plush Form For Pokemon’s 30th Birthday
To celebrate Pikachu’s chonkier roots 30 years on from its introduction, Pokemon has turned it into a life-size plush. Promotional images for the Pikachu plush were shared by Pokemon (thanks, Pokejungle), along with details revealing where and when the little fella will be available to buy.
This original Pikachu design can be found on trading cards and in Pokemon games from the late 1990s. A few years later, The Pokemon Company would opt for the more slimmed-down Pikachu we’re familiar with to this day, seemingly because that was the version of Pikachu fans became most familiar with thanks to the anime.
Uniqlo Is Putting Pokemon’s Original Artwork On A New Line Of Merch To Celebrate The Series’ 30th Anniversary
Make 2026 the year of Chonky Pikachu.
The exact dimensions of Pokemon’s chonky Pikachu plush haven’t been revealed, but we can make an educated guess on how big it will be for a few reasons. It’s described as life-size, it’s shown alongside people in some of the promotional images, and we know how tall he was in the original games – 16 inches.
Chonky Pikachu Returns The Day After Pokemon Day
The 30th anniversary Pikachu plush will be released at the Pokemon Center on February 28, 2026, so the day after Pokemon Day. As is typically the case, it will be exclusively available in Japan, but it will hopefully get a worldwide release later in the year. If not, there will be ways to have it shipped, the best way being to buy it through Mecca Japan.
Pikachu’s new plush was one part of a wider 30th anniversary merch announcement courtesy of Pokemon toymakers, Takara Tomy. The company also revealed a collection of partner Pokemon figures, all in sets of three with each of the nine generations represented.
Only a little more than two weeks into the year, and the Pokemon plush mill is already working overtime. The reveal of what is bound to be a very popular Pikachu plush follows in the footsteps of the rollout of a Mega Dragonite plush. Mega Dragonite is the first newly introduced Mega Evolution from Pokemon Legends: Z-A to be turned into a plush.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2023
- Network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- Directors
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Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Ooga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makoto Sokuza, Bjarne Heuser, Naoki Murata, Kenichi Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano
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Rica Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
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Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
