Nintendo’s Adorable Wooden Amiibos Will Hook Kids on Mario Even Earlier

My childhood was spent hovering above wooden train sets. Specifically, I would throw Thomas the Tank Engine toys down their tracks, huffing them up bridges and letting them careen into other trains—the usual sort of pre-pubescent mayhem. As soon as I set my hands on the wooden blocks of Nintendo’s new My Mario sets, I was catapulted back to those childhood moments. I had to stop myself from having Mario relentlessly stomp on a Koopa shell while screaming “bonk.”

After launching a slew of kids-centric toys and apps in Japan last year, Nintendo is bringing its My Mario lineup to the U.S. and Europe starting Thursday, Feb. 19. Just like its recent Alarmo alarm clock and talking Wonder Flower, the entire suite is a strange mix of tech and non-tech. And still, I immediately gravitated to the wood block set. These come in either 30-piece or 3-piece sets, though spending more will grant you four wooden figurines of Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Luigi, plus a backdrop reminiscent of the green field and blue sky of the first Super Mario Bros. game.

Each block is made out of sturdy beech wood, and Nintendo told me they’re sized just right so as to be easy to grasp by pubescent hands without becoming a choking hazard. That would be enough for some, but Nintendo decided that each of these character figures should also work as an Amiibo compatible with either the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2. Each figure doesn’t unlock some all-new secret costume or feature for existing games. For instance, wooden Mario will unlock the same outfits and abilities in all the various Switch titles that support the original Mario figure. Same goes for Peach, Yoshi, and Luigi.

All the My Mario products are available in the physical Nintendo stores in both New York and San Francisco. It’s unclear if Nintendo will ever release these online, though it may be trying to avoid scalpers getting their grubby claws on these blocks. Nintendo confirmed with Gizmodo the 3-piece set is $30 and the 30-piece kit will demand a whopping $150.

Nintendo’s free app harkens back to Super Mario 64

I wrote before that since players may still be holding onto their original Switch, that could become the perfect console to hand off to the next generation. That seems doubly true with the new Hello, Mario app. If you remember the rubbery, squashable Mario face made famous in Super Mario 64, that’s essentially what the app provides. Using the touchscreen, you can pinch, drag, and spin Mario’s floating noggin. Nintendo’s favorite plumber will react to your touches as his mouth gets contorted and his head is thrown from one side of the screen to the other.

There are additional icons on the top of the app that add special effects to his head, such as the mega mushroom that you can drag onto Mario to make him grow large, past the Switch’s own screen bezels. The warp pipe will suck Mario’s mug down into another dimension, while the music blocks will let you sound out a tune. Nintendo told Gizmodo that parents can set an option to have Mario “go to sleep” after too much playtime. Mario will even intone he’s feeling tired in his sweet faux-Italian drawl. Parents can’t set a specific sleep time. Instead, users have the choice of turning the feature on or off.

The app is also available on Android and iOS/iPadOS and is free to download. Taken together, the toys and the software are supposed to offer enough interactivity to keep the young’uns engaged. Of course, Nintendo isn’t going to miss a merchandising opportunity with a whole slew of new sweaters, overalls, and jammies for infants and young children. Nintendo is also trying to get kids hooked at an early age with Super Mario-themed rattles and a security blanket that looks more like Nintendo’s prized mascot has turned into a bat.

If you’re an Amiibo hound, I don’t suggest you buy up wood block stock just because you’re missing a Luigi figure (besides, you can get each one for far cheaper individually). The wood set’s Amiibo functionality mainly exists to entice children to use all the lingering Switch games you’ve already finished. That doesn’t mean you won’t occasionally steal one of your kids’ toys to train up your characters in Super Smash Bros. I won’t judge you… much.

This post was updated 2/19/26 at 1:11 p.m. ET to include a comment from Nintendo about U.S. prices for the wood sets.