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Guide To The Best Pokémon Toys – 2022 Edition

Pokémon is one of the most popular and longest-standing franchises that has captured multiple generations of children’s imaginations. But you probably haven’t touched Pokémon figures for years yourself, if at all.

So, how are you supposed to know which are the best Pokemon toys? In this article, we’ll dive deeply into the world of Pokémon and discuss a few of the products on the market.

By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be fully qualified to purchase Pokémon toys for your child, and you’ll have a few good ideas about where to look.

2022 Pokémon Toy Reviews

Our #1 Choice – Mega Construx Pokémon Charizard

The best Pokémon toys don’t offer that much creative potential in comparison to other types of Pokemon figures (like poke balls) because they don’t let your child create their play environment. This Charizard toy refutes that trend by offering your child a 4.5 inch-tall opportunity to build one of the most fearsome Pokémon.

Thanks to this toy’s posable limbs, your child will be able to put their Charizard into whatever situations they can think of. If they have other similar assembly kits, they can even make Pokémon hybrids or make a go at producing one of Charizard’s less evolved forms.

The only real downside of this set is that there isn’t much in the way of the surrounding environment.

Our #2 Choice – Throw ‘N’ Pop Pikachu and Poké Ball

Like Charmander, Pikachu is one of the most popular Pokémon as a result of the long-running TV series. Pikachu’s electric abilities are captured in numerous sets, but few genuinely “capture” Pikachu and put it inside of a Poke ball.

Given that the famous Pikachu of the Pokémon collection refuses to live in the Poke ball, your child may realize that the Pikachu they’ve “captured” isn’t the same — but they’ll love it nonetheless.

This set of Pokemon toys works well when your child is playing with other children and pretending to have Pokémon battles. There isn’t very much that you can do with this toy when you are sitting alone, although the Pikachu inside of the Poke ball may be somewhat entertaining.

Our #3 Choice – Pokémon Battle Academy

Whether you and your child are new to the Pokémon universe or you’re an experienced player looking to introduce your child to the Pokémon trading card game, Pokémon Battle Academy board game is a great introduction to the basics of the game.

The set comes with two stacked decks and a walkthrough to guide new players through a simulated game to help them understand the flow of gameplay. Because the cards are already set up, players don’t have to think about strategy as much and can just focus on the rules. The two beginner decks feature two of the franchise’s most beloved characters, Pikachu and Charmander.

Once players have mastered the basics with the stacked decks, they can move onto advanced play. They can shuffle the cards to make the game more strategy-based. There’s also an advanced deck featuring MewTwo and an advanced guide for players as they gain experience.

Our #4 Choice – Basic Fun Pokémon Trainer Guess: Kanto Edition Electronic Game

Guessing the Pokémon based on the outline or other Pokémon facts is a tradition among Pokémon enthusiasts, and this set is no exception.

With this set, your child can read through a manual of the original 150 Pokémon, then play an electronic game which allows them to guess which Pokémon has certain features. For Pokémon enthusiasts who want to push their knowledge to the limit, this is the set.

While this product can be played with small groups of people, it shines the most on its own. There aren’t a lot of fun multiplayer features, though it is technically possible for more than one person to read the trainer field guide at a time.

Our #5 Choice – Mega Construx Pokémon Gyarados

Like Charmander, Gyarados is a strange Pokémon. As a massive sea lizard with tremendous water-type powers, it seems that it would be evolved from a Pokémon which hinted at the greatness to come. Not quite. As your child probably knows, Gyarados is evolved from Magikarp, a wet fish of a Pokémon.

This toy collection captures the might of Gyarados rather than the weakness of Magikarp. Each of the joints on the toy is articulated, and constructed with your child’s careful attention. The creative potential for this toy is limited, as all of the pieces only go together in one way.

Nonetheless, there is something very fun and satisfying about assembling a mighty Pokémon from scratch. Like other self-assembly figures, the emphasis is on the high-quality final product rather than the intermediate steps.

Our #6 Choice – Super Deluxe Essential Handbook (Pokémon): The Need-to-Know Stats and Facts on Over 800 Characters

Catching and categorizing the best Pokemon toys to learn more about their properties is one of the main draws of the Pokemon franchise, and most Pokemon lovers aspire to pack in as much knowledge about the crazy critters as they can.

So, this Pokemon handbook is a great gift for Pokemon lovers because it will deepen their level of play with their other Pokemon figures. But, because it’s a book, they won’t be playing with it while running around outside anytime soon.

Our #7 Choice – Itazura New Pokemon-Go inspired Electronic Coin Money Piggy Bank box Limited Edition

Every time your child makes a deposit into their Pikachu piggy bank, Pikachu will give them a delightfully enthusiastic approval that’s guaranteed to make at least a few of the adults in the area swoon too.

By making repeated deposits into their Pikachu piggy bank, your child will learn how to pack cash away for a rainy day. But, they may find themselves wishing that they could combine their Pikachu bank with their other play items — or to play with it actively rather than passively.

You may also be interested in: The Best Piggy Banks for Kids (2022 Edition)

Our #8 Choice – bioWorld Pokémon Pikachu Big Face with Ears Hat

This Pikachu hat has all of the cheer of Pikachu itself. As with other Pokemon collections, this Pikachu hat will make your young trainer feel good about representing their favorite Pokemon in style.

Unfortunately, because it’s a piece of apparel, there aren’t too many ways to play with the Pikachu hat.

What To Look For In Pokémon Toys

The best Pokémon toys come in many different flavors, as you have seen. Nonetheless, Pokémon figures are far from equal. Some involve self-assembly, whereas others are electronic. Others still are complete out of the box.

So, what are the best Pokémon toys for your child? The answer is that it depends on the generation of Pokémon that your child prefers in addition to the kind of playthings that they prefer to use.

Most children will enjoy Pokémon figures, like Charmander, which allow them to be active, regardless of the generation they come from. The most active Pokémon figures typically involve tossing Pokeballs or hunting for Pokémon to catch in the environment.

Keep this in mind when you shop for Pokémon toys: your child almost certainly has a roster of Pokémon in their Pokémon game. They would love to have copies of these Pokémon in the physical world because it would help them to connect to the story.

Ask your child what their favorite Pokémon figures are, and you’ll have a leg up on picking out the perfect Pokémon toys. Is it Charmander, Pikachu, or another?

Most Pokémon toys are of similar quality. This quality level is average, and there are few exceptions. Even the best Pokémon toys probably won’t last an eternity, but they should easily last for more than the amount of time that your child would like to play with them. Don’t worry about buying a lemon.

Worry about buying the Pokémon toys from the correct generation of Pokémon. Your child will probably only be familiar with the major Pokémon from the most recent generation of games and a few of the most notable Pokémon from the prior generations.

At this point, there are dozens of Pokémon sets and over a thousand Pokémon. So, you will need to pick a grouping of Pokémon figures which your child will be familiar with.

Unfortunately, your child may not be able to describe the generation that they prefer in terms which are intelligible to you. You may need to look up the region name for the Pokémon that your child prefers.

As an example, if your child says “I like Pokémon from Kanto” what they mean is that they prefer Pokémon figures from the very first generation of Pokémon games. It’s usually a safe bet that the region is associated with the television media and other entries in the franchise from the same time period.

A simpler way to go about purchasing the correct generation of figures is looking at the mascots pictured on the games that your child plays. These mascot Pokémon are usually not the most loved of all Pokémon, but they are a good start to any collection.

Your child will probably prefer the mascot Pokémon which they picked when they played for the first time.

FAQ

Is There A Best Pokémon Toy?

The single best Pokémon toy is the game of Pokémon itself — without the game itself, your child will probably never care much for Pokémon toys.

Even if your child already has the core Pokémon game of their generation, they could still probably be pleased by another game from the same generation because of the way that the Pokémon are distributed across the games.

Not every Pokémon is in every game, so there’s a lot of utility to be gained by having two variations of the game from the same series.

What Are The Best Pokémon Toys For Creative Play?

The best Pokémon figures tend to be somewhat weak in the creative play department. While there are numerous reasons for this, the bottom line is that Pokémon takes place in a well-defined universe that is not up for negotiation from the perspective of your child.

When your child plays with Pokémon toys like Charmander, they are accustomed to having to follow a certain set of rules: the rules of the game world. In the game world, their opportunity for creativity is extremely limited.

So, it follows that when they play with Pokémon figures, they will re-experience that limited number of creative avenues. You can somewhat get around this property of the series by purchasing building sets, but these are not as involved as they might be with other toy franchises.

What Pokémon Toy Generation Is The Best?

The answer is that it is either the first generation of Pokémon toys or the current generation of Pokémon figures will be the generation which your child will enjoy the most. The first generation of Pokémon toys had many of the most memorable Pokémon, including Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo, and others.

These Pokémon made appearances in other generations, too. The same is not always true of Pokémon from the latter generations. The main issue to attend to is that your child needs to recognize and enjoy the Pokémon generation of their toy.

If your child is predominantly involved in the cutting edge of Pokémon, they’ll still know about the throwbacks because the throwbacks never truly fade away. From the second generation onward, however, the field of Pokémon is much larger, and there are far fewer stars.

If you do decide to delve into Pokémon toys which are neither very old nor very new, you should try to stick to the most recognizable Pokémon from the era. That means the mascots of each generation of Pokémon toy will be a good guide to the most acceptable Pokémon that you could purchase as a toy.

In other words, go old, or go new. Picking out the newest and best Pokemon toys may be easier because the more obscure figures will still be more recognizable to your child than the more obscure figures of a prior generation. The newer Pokémon toys are the most prevalent in the stores, too.

The other important thing to note is that the generations of Pokémon toys are not necessarily created equal with regard to their depth or build quality. The earlier generations of Pokémon figures were more limited in the span of possible toys, and tended to be high quality.

On the other hand, later generations got much more creative with the types of play that were offered. A few of these advancements made it back to the older generations, but most did not.

This is again an issue of which generations made the biggest impact. You will find it easy to fetch all sorts of Pikachu gear ranging from costumes to plushies.

You will have a much harder time finding similar items produced for less memorable characters from the subsequent generations.