Updated Aug. 27, 2017

As I mentioned recently in an article on custom Amiibo, Pikmin fans tend to be pretty diehard.  The charm, cleverness, and unique gameplay in the Pikmin series make it a Nintendo franchise that really stands out.  Being able to control a horde of plant monsters to conquer and loot alien planets is not so bad either.  Despite its popularity, Pikmin has somewhat limited figure options.  Some of the most exciting options are expensive and come from Japan though have no fear if you’re on a budget.  This guide will help you see what is out there to collect and help you better understand the cost and rarity of the figures too.  I want to thank Pikmin.Wikia.com for many of the images you see in this guide and great information on the Japanese figures.  As with any Figure Buying Guide on this site, if I am missing information or need to update anything, please let me know in the comments below.  My goal is to have the best and most up to date Figure Guides on the internet.

Amiibo – If you’re looking for an inexpensive figure to show your love for Pikmin then the Amiibo are a good option.  Not only is it relatively easy to find the Super Smash Brothers Olimar figure new (there are even some Amiibo on Ebay under retail price at the time of writing!) but the packaging has a distinct light green color to make Olimar and the Pikmin stand out if you choose to leave the Amiibo in the box.  It is also nice how Olimar and all of the basic Pikmin are represented here.  

More recently, Nintendo released the first official Pikmin Amiibo featuring all of your favorite adorable Pikmin on it.  This figure received a strong review on this site because it captures the cuteness of Pikmin well and it is a nice “diorama” Amiibo which is fun to spin around and view from different angles.  While Amiibo have been harder to get in retail shortly after release lately, if you can find this one, it is well worth buying.

World of Nintendo – Jakks Pacific has made a fairly large number of Pikmin figures including Olimar, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Purple Pikmin.  The figures are all in the 2.5″ inch figure line and look great if you want to display them in a more natural setting like in the pictures below.  The greatest drawback is how hard these figures are to balance and keep standing, especially Olimar.  The World of Nintendo Pikmin figures are challenging to find both in retail and online.  I had to pay around $8-$9 per figure which is quite a bit higher than their retail price.  To see an in-depth review of the World of Nintendo figures, click here.

More recently, Jakks Pacific has re-released Olimar as a black and white variant in the Prototype Series.  This figure, while more expensive than a standard Pikmin figure, is reasonable compared to other Prototype figures so if you think a black and white figure of Olimar would fit well in your collection, then this is well worth picking up.

Japanese Figures – Unsurprisingly, Japan has released the coolest Pikmin figures of all.  Not only do the Japanese figures cover more of the characters and items from Pikmin but they come in the perfect size.  The catch as always is that the prices can be very high for these figures.

Agatsuma Pikmin Figures – This is definitely the best line of Pikmin figures available to collectors.  This Japanese-only release covers a broad range of characters including Louie, Olimar, and the President.  Every variety of Pikmin is represented too.  What really is impressive is that the Onions, the space ship, and even the enemies like Bulborbs are here too.  To make things extra challenging for collectors, there is at least some element of randomness involved because you buy a box of these figures and don’t know exactly what you’re purchasing.  Fortunately, most of the Agatsuma figures you find on Ebay are opened and you know what you’re getting.  There were three volumes of this product released and I will describe each one below.  Since there are so many different figures and ways to get them, I can’t share pricing like I normally do.  Just know that these cost anywhere from $50 for a few figures up to $500 or $600 for some of the rarer ones or a larger lot of these figures.  These truly are some of the most expensive Nintendo figures out there.

Volume One – These come with three Red, Blue, and Yellow Pikmin in each of their forms.  You also randomly get Olimar, Louie, or the President.  In addition, there is a White and Purple Pikmin available as well as a Dwarf Bulborb.  The rare “secret” figure is a Red Bulborb.

Volume Two – The main difference in this volume and the previous one is a larger emphasis on the enemies in Pikmin.  In this release there is six of each Pikmin (two leaf, two bud, two flower) with the exciting addition of the Wogpole and a Yellow Wollywog.  The set of Purple Pikmin comes with Bulborb Larva.  There is also set that comes with a Dwarf Orange Bulborb, Dwarf Red Bulborb, and a Snow Bulborb.  The White Pikmin come with a Breadbug.  The Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin come Bulbmin.  The two secret figures, which are difficult to find, are the Hocotate and a Golden Hocotate.

Volume Three – This unsurprisingly comes with either Red, Blue, or Yellow Pikmin but has a Pellet Posy of the matching color.  Purple and White Pikmin come with a Fiery Blowhog or Watery Blowhog respectively.  The three secret items which are the most sought after are the Onions in the three main Pikmin colors.  If you somehow are able to collect Pikmin from each volume you will end up with a Pikmin army (and their adversaries) even Olimar could be proud of!

Pikmin Keychains – While not a traditional figure per say, another collectible item from Japan is the various Pikmin keychains that have been released.  Every Pikmin video game has had its own release of keychains so there is a fair amount out there and I will not discuss all of them in this guide.  The keychains are of the main characters like Olimar and Louie and all of the usual Pikmin suspects so the releases are fairly similar to each other in that sense too.  At the time of writing, there are not a lot of Pikmin Keychains available on Ebay and they vary in price from $15 up to $40.  Older ones from Japan could possibly be more expensive because of how rare they are.

Plushies – I usually don’t cover Plushies in a figure guide but because Pikmin have fewer figure options overall, I wanted to briefly mention them.  Pikmin has quite a few different characters represented in Plushy form and to my surprise, these figures can get quite expensive.  I don’t own any Plushies and am not expert on them, but after doing some research it looks like the official Nintendo ones don’t come up for sale very often.  Way back in 2004 and more recently in 2013, there were some Pikmin Plushies released in Japan which are hard to find now.  More recently, World of Nintendo has released Plushies which are your best bet if you’re looking for an affordable option.  One of the best things about the Plushies is that you can get all of the main characters and Bulborbs which makes them a more attractive alternative to the pricey Agatsuma figures.  Do keep in mind that Ebay is flooded with Chinese Plushy knockoffs for reasonable prices, but if you’re looking to get the real thing (and invest in something that will appreciate in value over time), I urge you to avoid going down this route.

See any Pikmin figures I missed or have any questions about Pikmin figures?  Please let us know in the comments below!  My goal is to keep this guide up to date with the best and most accurate information on the internet.  It isn’t easy being a Pikmin collector and the goal of this guide is to help in any way I can!