Target started selling The Pokémon Company and toymaker Jazwares’ 20-inch Pokémon Squishmallows on Jan. 29 to little fanfare. The retailer quietly put a release date on its website, listing most stores as having two to four of each — Pikachu and Gengar — in stock. It was an easy drop to miss — except for those who’ve been watching the site intently, like me.
That’s why I arrived at Target around 15 minutes before it opened, expecting there may be a small group of people looking to buy one of the new Squishmallows. (There are a lot of Squishmallow fans, but also a lot of resellers who’ve benefited from early drops.) No one else was there looking for Squishmallows, and a Target employee grabbed one of each for me from the back. It was easy, and the culmination of a month of seeking out Targets and Walmarts for the odd store out that may have put out the plush toys early, like I saw online.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24398954/FnpmadkXEAE88hu.jpg)
The guy came back with two massive boxes and another worker in tow. Surely, I thought, there were more than two Squishmallow in each box, but I was wrong. The 20-inch Pokémon Squishmallows are absolutely massive. I’m sure that if I curled up small enough, I could fit inside the skin of one of them. My dog can lay comfortably on top of one like it’s a bed. I have a 10-inch Squishmallow, so I figured a 20-inch would just be double the size. It’s not — it’s roughly four times as big as the 10-inch one.
Of course, there are no complaints here. They’re perfect, and have joined me in every meeting I’ve had since I got them. If you want your own, there’s good news and bad news: They’re definitely out at Target, but they’re very hard to find. Most stores near me sold out within a day, according to the Target website. But others on social media and Reddit have seen restocks and rogue Pokémon Squishmallows — you’ll want to check online. You can’t order online for delivery, but they are available to pay for online and pick up in-store. Target is the only store selling the 20-inch Squishmallows right now, and it’s not clear if they’ll be sold elsewhere. Target’s selling them at $44.99.
Ten-inch versions of the Pikachu and Gengar Squishmallows are expected to go on sale at Walmart in early February, too — as early as Wednesday. (Some folks online reported buying them in early January, due to stores putting them out early. Walmart then recalled them to ensure they couldn’t be sold before the release date.) Other sizes will be available, too. The only ones expected to be limited are the ones from The Pokémon Center, which sold out instantly in November. The 10-inch Pokémon Squishmallows cost around $15.
GameStop will also sell 10-inch and 14-inch Pokémon Squishmallows. The listing suggests they’ll be out in May. Hot Topic and others are expected to have them later, too.
These are Jazwares and The Pokémon Company’s first two Pokémon Squishmallows, as the company’s confirmed it’s going to make more. It’s unconfirmed which Pokémon will get Squishified, but Squishmallow restocking app SquishAlert suggested that Snorlax and Togepi are two of the next ones, posting photos of the purported plushes. The Pokémon Company declined to comment.