Animal Crossing Keychains Are Coming in August 2026 — But There’s a Catch

TL;DR — Animal Crossing Tomy Keychains August 2026

• Takara Tomy is releasing a new set of eight Animal Crossing character keychains in Japan in August 2026
• Each keychain costs approximately $2 (300 yen) but is sold as a random mystery pull — you don’t get to choose your character
• The lineup includes Isabelle, K.K. Slider, Timmy, Rosie, Hamlet, Sally, Snowman, and Gyroid
• Each figure stands approximately 2.5cm tall and can be chained together using a built-in hoop system
• Currently Japan-exclusive with no confirmed international release yet

Animal Crossing Is Getting New Merch in August 2026

For Animal Crossing fans who have been waiting on any kind of new content from Nintendo — and that wait has now stretched past six years since New Horizons launched in March 2020 — here’s something to hold you over. Japanese toy manufacturer Takara Tomy has announced a brand-new set of Animal Crossing character keychains landing in August 2026, and they’re genuinely adorable.

The collection features eight characters pulled from across the Animal Crossing series, covering some of the most beloved names the franchise has produced. These aren’t just flat rubber tags either — they’re small sculpted figures with a lobster claw hook at the top and a metal hoop at the base, meaning you can link multiple characters together into a chain if you want to build out the full collection on one keyring. For fans who want to clip their favourite villagers onto a water bottle, phone case, bag zip, or house keys, the design is genuinely practical as well as cute.

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All Eight Animal Crossing Keychains in the Collection

• Isabelle — the ever-cheerful town hall secretary and Animal Crossing icon
• Timmy — one of Tom Nook’s industrious nephews from Nook’s Cranny
• K.K. Slider — the beloved guitar-playing dog who performs his iconic Saturday night concerts
• Rosie — one of the most popular cat villagers in the entire series
• Hamlet — a jock hamster villager with a devoted fanbase
• Sally — a normal squirrel villager from the earlier days of the series
• Snowman — the classic round snowman built from snowballs during winter
• Gyroid — the quirky clay figure collectible that has been part of the series since the original game

It’s a well-rounded lineup that mixes recognizable fan favourites with some characters who will hit harder for longtime series veterans. Rosie, in particular, has consistently ranked among the most popular villagers in the entire franchise, so she’s a smart inclusion. The Gyroid is a nice nod to the history of the series given how deeply associated those weird little dancing figures are with the original Animal Crossing experience.

The Catch: It’s a Mystery Pull

Here’s the thing that’s going to test the patience of anyone who has a specific character in mind. These keychains are sold as a random mystery pull at approximately $2 (300 yen) per attempt, which means you have no say in which of the eight you receive. It’s the classic gashapon capsule toy model that Japanese collectors are well familiar with — drop your coin, pull your capsule, accept your fate.

If you desperately want Isabelle and you keep pulling Snowmen, that’s just how the game works. On the plus side, at two dollars a pop the stakes are pretty low, and the interlocking hoop system does give people a reason to collect multiples rather than stopping once they have their favourite. For anyone who manages to pull all eight and clips them together into one long chain, the result is going to look genuinely great hanging off a bag or backpack.

The figures themselves are roughly 2.5cm (about an inch) tall, which is genuinely tiny. These aren’t shelf display pieces — they’re small enough to be subtle accessories that you can carry around without them feeling out of place, which is exactly the right call for a series that’s built around a cosy, understated aesthetic.

Are These Coming Outside Japan?

The honest answer for now is: we don’t know. The August 2026 release is confirmed for Japan only, with no announcement of an international rollout. That said, Tomy has a long history with Animal Crossing merchandise and previous lines of similar capsule keychains have eventually made their way to Western markets through import retailers and online storefronts like Amazon. There’s genuine reason to hope these will follow the same path, even if it takes a while.

If you’re based outside Japan and you want to track these down at release, proxy shopping services and Japanese import stores are your best bet in August. Alternatively, keep an eye on the usual import gaming merchandise retailers, as they tend to stock popular Tomy capsule lines fairly quickly after Japan launch.

What About a New Animal Crossing Game?

Keychains are lovely, but they’re obviously not what the Animal Crossing fanbase is really holding out for. The last mainline entry, New Horizons, launched over six years ago in March 2020, and Nintendo has been completely silent on what comes next for the series. The gap is long but not entirely out of character — there were several years between New Leaf and New Horizons as well — and given how enormous New Horizons was, it’s clear Nintendo isn’t in any rush to move on from it.

Earlier this year, Nintendo gave New Horizons a surprising second life with the Version 3.0 update, which launched on January 15, 2026 alongside the Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The 3.0 update was the first major content addition since the Version 2.0 update in November 2021 — over four years earlier — and brought a new hotel system, expanded storage upgrades, the return of Resetti, new Zelda and Splatoon collaboration villagers, and quality-of-life crafting improvements. A paid Switch 2 upgrade pack added 4K resolution in TV Mode for those on the new hardware. Two follow-up patches, versions 3.0.1 and 3.0.2, have arrived since, with the latter adding a commemorative leaf item to celebrate the Animal Crossing series’ 25th anniversary in April 2026.

The activity around New Horizons this year has led some fans to speculate that Nintendo is content keeping the existing game alive rather than announcing a successor anytime soon. Others point to the updates as a sign that any new game is still a long way off. Either way, a proper announcement of the next Animal Crossing title remains one of the most anticipated reveals Nintendo hasn’t made yet. Rumours have circulated without anything concrete surfacing, and for now these keychains are genuinely as close to new Animal Crossing content as anyone is getting in August 2026.

While you wait, there’s plenty of other gaming news happening — check out the latest on the Battlefield 6 anti-cheat update, where Diablo 4 Season 14’s class meta currently stands, the Helldivers 2 Super Credit crackdown, and the GTA Online Kortz Center Heist preload that’s now live on console.