Official Pokemon Center Pokemon Holiday Collection 2019 hands-on

The folks at the Pokemon Center have a bunch of seasonally-cute Pokemon products appearing in their store this season, and we've got our hands on a few of those bits involved. In the mix this year you'll find holiday-themed Pokemon plush toys, hats, socks, PokeBall-themed items, and some String Lights. There are crew neck sweatshirts, Pikachu and Eevee Pokemon Holiday 2019 Pins and Greeting Cards, a Pokemon TCG: Pokemon Holiday Lights Playmat, and a big ol' coffee cup.

If you're looking for a win after finding out that Baby Yoda plush toys weren't going to be ready for Christmas, here's that win. As we've found in the past, more than once, official Pokemon plush toys are pretty gosh-darned well made. That's true of this latest holiday collection in the official Pokemon Center store.

You'll see a Pokemon Holiday Lights Poke Plush set above (and below) with Pikachu, Sylveon, and Charmander. Look at that little detachable beard on that Pikachu! The Sylveon is extravagant, the Pikachu could not possibly be cuter, and the Charmander is dressed up like a reindeer.

Also amongst the high-quality plush collection here is a Eevee Pokémon Holiday Plush Stocking and a Eevee Pokémon Holiday Plush Hat. The stocking is very cute – to the point where it's difficult to recommend due to the lack of another Pokemon holiday stocking with which to match – there's only ONE stocking in this collection in 2019. If you've already got a stocking that needs replacing, this $20 Eevee Pokemon Holiday Plush Stocking is probably a good investment – like the rest of the plush, it's made to last.

The hat is completely amazing and over-the-top silly. There's a Pikachu Holiday Plush Hat as well – both have big ears that pop out the sides of the hat for around $20 apiece.

The Pokemon Holiday Lights Postcards (10-pack) are everything you'd expect from postcards – well printed on decent-weight stock. If you want holiday-themed Pokemon Postcards, this is probably $13 well spent.

The ONLY item I'd recommend you skip is the Poké Ball String Lights set, and even THEN, it's difficult to say no. They're relatively thin plastic, and they're powered with a pair of batteries that are not included in the box. If they were powered via a wall port, so they could be daisy-chained with other traditional tree lights, I'd be much more onboard.

The Eevee Pokémon Holiday Ornament is also sort of delicate – and with very long ears, very easy to accidentally break. But if you're not worried about dropping, this ornament is a winner! Also in the winner column is the coffee cup which, as I update this article here on December 11, 2019, seems to have sold out completely. Check the Pokemon Center now and tap the "Holiday Exclusives" button to see the rest!

In a nutshell: official Pokemon plush toys are, as far as we've seen, ALWAYS winners. If you remember that one thing, you're in for a decent buy. Or you could just wait for that Baby Yoda plush, or buy some LEGO bricks, or go wild on some Star Wars toys – but do it quick, it's almost time to open presents!