BODY: Square Enix is asking Dragon Quest fans to think very far ahead. The publisher has announced five new merchandise lines — miniature figures, dessert-themed monsters, puppet plushies, and die-cast replicas of the series' most famous keys — all landing on January 26, 2027, with pre-orders already open at the Square Enix e-STORE.
The headline item is the Dragon Quest Miniature Figure Collection, a blind-box set of six: the Hero and Princess Lora from the first game, plus the Prince of Lorasia, the Prince and Princess of Cannock, and the Princess of Moonbrooke from Dragon Quest II. Singles run ¥2,200 (roughly $14), with a sealed six-piece box at ¥13,200.
Monster fans get two options. The Miniature Sweets Figure Collection: Slime Cafe reimagines Slime, She-slime, King Slime, Golem and two other familiar faces as desserts, at ¥1,650 per blind box or ¥9,900 for the full case. The Smile Slime Mini Puppet Plush Collection Vol. 2 follows at the same price, adding Healslime and a wandering suit of armour to the lineup.
Rounding out the wave are Adventure Log Collection: Vanquished Monster Figures Vol. 2 (¥2,200 each), which hide a monster inside an openable adventure log, and the Metallic Items Gallery (¥2,750 each) — die-cast recreations of the Thief's Key, Magic Key and Final Key, sold as deliberately heavy, premium-feeling objects.
The insider take
Two things stand out from Tokyo. First, that character lineup is not a random grab from the archives: the Princess of Cannock became a full party member in last year's HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest I & II, and her presence here signals that Square Enix is treating the remake roster, not the 1987 original, as canon for merchandise going forward. Second, the 15-month lead time is standard practice for Square Enix's in-house goods arm, which uses e-STORE pre-order volume to size production runs — a system that rewards fans who commit early and quietly punishes latecomers, since these lines rarely see restocks. Expect resale prices on the Metallic Items Gallery keys, the one non-random item in the wave, to be the most stable of the bunch.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).