Nintendo Should Make Animal Crossing Plushies

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the self-care we all needed in 2020. Museums used it for digital tours, drag performers put on full performances in Animal Crossing, and the average person took some time to relax and decompress on an island paradise. Because of its massive success and cultural impact, I’ve realized that there is one major question mark in terms of Animal Crossing merchandise. Why are there no officially licensed plushies?

Hear me out here. Amiibo are all well and good, and amiibo cards are fine, but plushie Animal Crossing characters would sell like crazy. This thought process came over the holidays when I doing Christmas shopping for some family and friends. My best friend and some of my family have been big into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so I thought it only made sense to give them something related to their favorite villager or character.

Etsy was full of people making their own Animal Crossing merch but officially licensed merch was practically non-existent. I had hoped there would be something related to some of my favorites like Chester or Pascal but nothing really came up from Nintendo themselves. Now don’t get me wrong here, people doing it themselves is great, make the merch you’d want to buy and all of that.

However, the fact that Nintendo hasn’t realized how much of a gold mine this would be puzzles me. I mean not only would kids love to have their favorite Animal Crossing characters in stuffed plushie form, but collectors would go absolutely nuts over them! Also, if Animal Crossing didn’t want to go the full “plushie” route, they could do something similar to the Yoshi’s Crafted World amiibo for yarn Yoshi.

Make an actual amiibo figure for the characters, in a soft fabric that would be different from the standard plastic. Let’s be honest here, Nintendo has the resources to do either of these options, so why haven’t they? As successful as Animal Crossing is, I can’t imagine that more and more Animal Crossing: New Horizons merchandise hasn’t crossed their mind.

Also, I know that it sounds like I am trying to encourage Nintendo to make a cash grab and I suppose I am, but wouldn’t it be awesome to have stuffed versions of your favorite villagers or characters? It would be something parents could bond with their kids over, collectors could build up a collection of the harder to get characters, and it would drum up even more hype!

The Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack comes to the US for the first time on 3/26, exclusively at @Target! You’ll be able to use these vibrantly designed amiibo cards in compatible games. @Sanrio #ACNH pic.twitter.com/SVqQSekQTj

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 26, 2021

Some of us have already fallen in love with our island-dwelling friends, so why not make that more tangible? I hesitate to say this, but Nintendo would make a killing with a collaboration with someone like Build-A-Bear, even if they are overpriced. Regardless, I think with Nintendo’s insistence on a quality product, licensed merchandise for Animal Crossing: New Horizons would be a wonderful thing.

They could even launch holiday-specific things, or do like the recent Sanrio tie-in amiibo cards and include a QR code or something on the tag to enable you to get specific furniture or in-game perks with certain plushies. All I’m saying is that this is a huge missed opportunity for Nintendo, and they should consider the success of New Horizons moving forward.