It is always more fun when you bring your friends along for the adventure.
Hello Kitty certainly has plenty of them.
After bringing its “Hello Kitty and Friends” toy collection to fans across North and South America, Jazwares is expanding its partnership with Sanrio and taking the line into Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The new agreement will bring an assortment of plush, figures, playsets, vehicles and seasonal products to key markets throughout the region.
And this time, Hello Kitty is bringing quite the crowd with her.
Joining the iconic character are Cinnamoroll, Kerokerokeroppi, Pompompurin, Tuxedosam, My Melody, Kuromi, Pochacco, Bad Badtz-Maru and Little Twin Stars, giving kids and collectors plenty of familiar faces to find across the expanding collection.
That wider cast has become one of the great strengths of the world Sanrio has built. Everyone seems to have a favorite, whether that means the ever-cheerful Hello Kitty, mischievous Kuromi, fluffy Cinnamoroll or perhaps one of the characters who doesn’t always receive quite as much time in the spotlight. Expanding the assortment across plush, playsets and other toy categories gives that increasingly recognizable group another opportunity to find its way into playrooms and collections.
The EMEA expansion builds on Jazwares’ “Hello Kitty and Friends” toy range that first debuted across North and South America in 2024. Designed for both kids and collectors, the products bring Sanrio’s familiar kawaii style into everything from cuddly plush to more play-focused toys.
It is also another sign of just how comfortably Hello Kitty has crossed generations. More than 50 years after her debut, the character isn’t simply being rediscovered as a nostalgic favorite by adults who grew up with her. Children continue to discover Hello Kitty and her increasingly popular group of friends for themselves, allowing Sanrio to exist somewhere between childhood favorite, collectible obsession and lifestyle brand.
Jazwares pointed toward that multigenerational appeal when announcing the expanded partnership, with Senior Vice President of EMEA and APAC Jonny Taylor describing “Hello Kitty and Friends” as having a global fanbase and noting plans to continue growing the toy offering throughout the region.
Sanrio similarly sees the partnership as an opportunity to strengthen its presence in toys while reaching even more fans across EMEA, with the company emphasizing the long-lasting connections between its characters and generations of fans.
For those fans, however, the important part is considerably simpler: there are about to be a lot more Sanrio toys to find.
The expanded Jazwares “Hello Kitty and Friends” collection will be available across key markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with plush, figures, playsets, vehicles and seasonal offerings featuring characters from throughout the Sanrio family.
Now comes the difficult part.
Picking a favorite.