The Super Mario franchise is undoubtedly Nintendo’s most prestigious and well-known property. In fact, a recent survey from National Today polling 1,000 Americans on the top 10 most popular gaming franchises listed the Super Mario series as the most popular by a fairly wide margin.
Nintendo has branched Super Mario to a myriad of different media over the years, from TV shows to fashion. Now, Nintendo is partnering up with JAKKS Pacific to bring a brand new fully articulated Super Mario Bros. 'It’s-a Me Mario' action figure to stores like Walmart, Target, GameStop, and Amazon for $49.99.
Nintendo is no stranger to bringing Super Mario toys to stores all around the world. Just recently, Nintendo had a massive collaboration with LEGO to create an official LEGO Super Mario set, with interactivity between the Mario figure and the various set pieces. Similar to the Mario LEGO figure, this new JAKKS Pacific Mario figure has a bit of interactivity to it as well. The figure is fully articulated, meaning players can pose the Mario figure in various ways and even have Mario say various catchphrases or emit iconic sounds from Super Mario games.
According to the official JAKKS Pacific website for the Super Mario figure, “Kids of all ages will have endless fun with the 12-inch tall Mario™, packed with over 30 phrases and sound effects from the games… Trigger points on Mario’s hands, feet, and hat activate the sound effects and phrases.” Additionally, the figure has five official Super Mario video game songs, though which five songs are included with the figure remains a mystery. It seems that the way these five different Super Mario songs will play is by posing the Mario figure in distinct poses.
The JAKKS Pacific website makes note that the figure has 15 different points of articulation, meaning that owners can pose Mario in a wide array of stances and poses. Various promotional images show the Mario figure in iconic poses such as Mario jumping with one raised fist in the air. Though the Super Mario franchise has changed quite a bit over its long history, Mario himself has remained largely unchanged from his original sprite-based appearance lending to his. This only serves to help Mario maintain that iconic status that makes him so recognizable to people all over the world.
As mentioned above, JAKKS Pacific and Nintendo are bringing this Super Mario figure to a variety of different stores. The official website lists Walmart, Target, GameStop, and even Amazon as places where shoppers can place orders for the figure. Those looking for more official Super Mario merchandise like the LEGO Mario set or the Mario Kart Live toys should make sure to secure a figure as soon as possible. Though there’s no word as of yet that this Super Mario figure will be a limited release, Mario-related products have been known to sell out fast.