Tonies brings Pikachu box and also wants to put toddlers in front of it
At the Nuremberg Toy Fair, Tonies presented the new "My First Tonies" series announced last year. And there is also a special edition of the Toniebox.
The yellow special edition of the Toniebox 2 is no big surprise. In December 2025, the company announced its partnership with «The Pokémon Company». It was almost time to release a box with a Pikachu design.
Four Pokémon-Tonies are to be launched at the same time as the box this summer: Pikachu, Bisasam, Glumanda and Schiggy. However, the launch date for Germany, Austria and Switzerland has not yet been set. Tobias Wann, CEO of tonies, is already celebrating, however, because for him the box and the new Tonies «are a tribute to the creativity and spirit of discovery that characterises both brands.»
The «My First Tonies» are here and are about to win a prize
With «My First Tonies», Tonies is introducing a product category aimed specifically at one to three-year-olds. The soft figures with their characteristic googly eyes are made of silicone and differ significantly from the classic Tonies: round shapes, friendly features and slightly raised heads are specially moulded for little hands.
Source: Tonies
The figures are BPA-free and designed so that children can put them in their mouths, squeeze and cuddle them without hesitation. At the Toy Awards, the «My First Tonies» immediately won the prize in the Baby category.
Three sets with three figures each will be released for the launch on 12 February: the farm set introduces children to pigs, horses and cows, the jungle set introduces parrots, tigers and monkeys, and the travel set allows them to explore aeroplanes, cars and ships.
Each figure plays around twelve minutes of audio content when placed on the Toniebox.
Do toddlers really need to be in front of a box like this?
Despite yesterday's award, I am sceptical as to whether this step is really in the interests of small children. For Tonies, the strategy is understandable: Tying children to your brand as early as possible and creating a lock-in effect makes good business sense. But should we put one-year-olds in front of an audio box and watch them imitate animal noises? I am convinced that there is no substitute for cuddling together and discovering a picture book. Such moments, which are important for emotional and cognitive development, seem too valuable to me to delegate them to a technical device and silicone figures.
What do you think about this?
Hamburg local, bookworm, and ice hockey fan. Dad and granddad. Constantly tinkering around with my smart home setup. I love DIY, the outdoors, fashion, and cosmetics.
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