Fans of fat Pikachu rejoice! The classic designs from the original Pokémon games star in this reprint of an old line. Gotta catch ’em all!

Pokémon has already proven it can stand the test of time, with Pikachu and friends battling their way through two decades of colorful critters, gorgeous locations and friendly rivalry. Nowadays you can step into almost any grocery store (or heck, even the streets of Yokohama) and catch a glimpse of Pikachu, and the arrival of Pokémon escape rooms and refreshing Pokémon beverages means that Pokémon fever shows no signs of breaking any time soon.

But while we can hit up any local Pokémon Center for a variety of modern-day monster merchandise, it can be easy to forget the humble roots of the franchise: Pokémon Red and Green (known as Blue in the West).

▼ The games were re-released on the Nintendo virtual console in 2016 if you fancy a trip down memory lane.

If you were around for the Pokémania of the mid-’90s, you might remember coveting recreations of your favorite ‘mons in colorful plastic. Those classic toys are hard to come by these days, and even the designs of the monsters themselves have changed – Pikachu got seriously svelte over the last 20 years! It’s great to hear, then, that the Pokémon company is re-relasing its very first line of Pokémon Kids figures – tiny colorful plastic toys, with chunky designs and a hole at the base so you can put them on your stubby little fingers.

▼ Here are the classic designs for Charizard, Metapod, Pikachu and Raichu

▼ And here’s roly-poly diva Jigglypuff, eyeball magnet Magnemite and popular Ghost-type Gengar

▼ Lastly there’s marine mobile Lapras; evergreen fave Eevee and the tragic legendary Mewtwo – plus a secret bonus design

The characters are still perfectly recognizable as their modern-day counterparts but are notably chubbier, with Charizard in particular being super stylized in contrast to its newer toys. Newer figurines keep the fiery lizard proportional, while this original model is pratically all jaws!

https://twitter.com/Chalizardon/status/1006430452817657856

The re-releases of the figures will be sold in randomized boxes at convenience stores for 194 yen (US$1.75) including tax. The boxes come with an added bonus too, in that they recreate the art from the original games overlaid on a chunky, colorful GameBoy! Each box contains one of the figures and a random card, as well as a small chewable ramune candy.

▼ The boxes make great keepsakes too!

Maybe if these cute little pieces of nostalgia sell well enough, the Pokémon Company might be convinced to sell other toys from the ’90s? The Internet is certainly clamoring for more of those feel-good memories.

▼ How about these vintage dice?

https://twitter.com/matome_pokemon/status/890230881738043392

▼ Let’s bring Pokémon back in pog form!

https://twitter.com/unmai_milk/status/804683285628452864

▼ And of course, it wouldn’t be the ’90s without some good old Polly Pocket…Monsters.

The Pokemon Kids re-release will hit stores in December, but if you want to guarantee your success as a Pokémon master you can pre-order a box of 12 from AmiAmi. While you’re there, why not grab some cute merch from the upcoming Let’s Go! games? Nostalgia is great, but the future is brighter than a shiny Pikachu!

Source: Kinisoku, AmiAmi
Featured image: AmiAmi