Build-A-Bear announces ‘Animal Crossing’ collaboration

The popular “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” character, Maple.

Margaret Troup

Build-A-Bear Workshop announced an official collaboration with Nintendo’s “Animal Crossing” series Wednesday.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is a popular retailer that’s been operating since 1997. The company’s unique method of production allows for customers to “build” their own stuffed animal of their choice. There are classic options such as teddy bears, but brand collaborations with Build-A-Bear have occurred in the past, such as with “Pokémon” and “The Mandalorian.

With the vast amount of cute characters in the “Animal Crossing” games, the crossover between Build-A-Bear and “Animal Crossing” has been highly anticipated and teased since the release of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” in 2020.

Much to both Build-A-Bear and “Animal Crossing” fans’ delight, the official Build-A-Bear Twitter announced Wednesday that an “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” collection will be coming soon to stores.

No set date or list of available characters in the collection have been announced yet. Fans speculate that new characters, such as Raymond, Judy, Audie and Sherb, are guaranteed to be a part of the collection due to their status as new “Animal Crossing” characters and their visually appealing designs. 

On the other end of this speculation, some fans are disappointed by the announcement, as they also believe only the new and “popular” characters, such as those previously mentioned, will be the only ones available while there are over 400 characters in the “Animal Crossing” games, including villagers and non-playable characters.

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” recently announced another collaboration with Sanrio, a Japanese company that’s responsible for making some well-known characters such as Hello Kitty and Tuxedosam. 

Characters and items from the “Animal Crossing” and Sanrio collection from “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” will be making their way to “New Horizons” on March 26. Due to these two brand collaboration announcements happening so close together, it is entirely possible the Sanrio, Build-A-Bear and “Animal Crossing” collaborations will all be involved with one another.