Nintendo unveils My Mario playline for U.S. retail and stores

Nintendo announced in a Jan. 8, 2026 press release that it will bring My Mario, a product and experience collection for very young children and caregivers, to U.S. stores starting later this winter. The collection will officially launch at Nintendo NEW YORK and Nintendo SAN FRANCISCO on Feb. 19, 2026, and will roll out to select retailers across the U.S. during spring 2026.

The My Mario line is broad in scope, spanning wooden block sets (a three-piece Mario set and a 30-piece Mario & Friends set), soft toys and rattles, infant and toddler apparel, a bath and toy range from TOMY, and an interactive Hello, Mario! board book published by Penguin Random House. Nintendo also announced a free Hello, Mario! companion app available on the Apple App Store, Google Play and as a Switch download via Nintendo eShop, with support noted for Nintendo Switch 2. A stop-motion animation series titled "It's Me, Mario!" will accompany the launch on the My Mario site and the Play Nintendo YouTube channel.

For employees, partners and contractors, the announcement carries immediate operational implications. Nintendo store teams in New York and San Francisco must staff and train for a family-focused launch event, prepare point-of-sale displays and ensure product safety messaging is clear for caregivers. Retail partner planning will drive spring hiring spikes at big-box and specialty retailers that carry the line, increasing demands on store managers, human resources and seasonal recruiting teams.

Manufacturing and supply chain staff will need to coordinate with licensees and vendors named in the release, including Mattel Fisher-Price and TOMY, to meet production schedules and quality controls for infant and toddler goods. That work touches product safety, compliance and testing functions more intensively than typical gamer merchandise because of age-specific regulations. Logistics and warehouse teams should expect a phased distribution cadence as the collection moves from flagship stores to broader retail channels.

On the digital side, app development, platform compatibility and QA teams will be responsible for ensuring the Hello, Mario! app works across mobile stores and Nintendo Switch platforms, including Switch 2. Marketing, content and PR functions will coordinate launch assets and the stop-motion series rollout; the release listed partner licensees and provided PR contact information for Golin.

This is fundamentally a retail and merchandising play rather than a labor announcement, but it will shape near-term workload across multiple functions: store operations, recruiting, supply chain, compliance, digital product teams and licensing management. For employees and managers, the immediate next steps will be staffing and training for the Feb. 19 launch, aligning inventory plans for the spring roll out and confirming production timelines with manufacturing partners. Long term, the My Mario push will test cross-functional coordination between Nintendo and outside licensees as the company extends its franchise into early childhood products.