The Sanrio Characters Chocobox Box Figure Collection 2026 (サンリオキャラクターズ チョコボックス ボックスフィギュアコレクション 2026) is the second Sanrio entry in BANDAI CANDY’s Chocobox line. Bandai has listed it for a September 2026 release in Japan at ¥350 (appx. $2.35) per box, and this time the Sanrio stars show up with a summer tan. That’s the whole pitch. I think it’s a smart one.
The Sanrio Characters Chocobox Box Figure Collection 2026 is a 食玩 (candy toy) series made by BANDAI CANDY, the food-toy division of Bandai. Each box holds chocolate cookie balls on the bottom tier and one of 12 figures on top, one of them a secret. It is listed for September 2026 in Japan at ¥350 (appx. $2.35) per box.
The Tan Is the Whole Story
The detail I keep coming back to is the tanned skin itself. Sanrio characters are built on flat, pale fields of color: Hello Kitty’s white face, Cinnamoroll’s white fur, Pochacco’s cream body. Darkening that base is a bigger change than a new outfit. It rewrites the silhouette.
On a figure this small, a tan only reads if the boundary between tanned skin and swimsuit stays crisp. Blur that line and Kitty just looks dirty. The promo shots suggest Bandai kept the swimsuits as clean blocks of color sitting on the darker base, which is the right call.
Eleven Faces, One Summer
The lineup covers Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, Pochacco, Hangyodon, Tuxedosam, Pekkle, Usahana and Badtz-Maru, plus the secret. Hangyodon is my favorite fit here. He’s a fish-boy; a beach was always his turf. Kuromi in a tan works too, since a mischief-maker who stays out in the sun all day feels on brand.
The Box Inside the Box
Each figure ships in a miniature window box, a toy version of retail packaging. Pair it with the color-matched ball chain and it becomes a bag charm. It’s a clever loop. You open a box to get a smaller box you’ll never open.
How It Stacks Up
For sculpt volume, Bandai has to turn 2D characters with almost no depth cues into rounded forms that still look right from the front. Re-Ment does this with more surface detail in its Sanrio miniatures, but at a higher price. At ¥350, Bandai is betting on clean color and a strong concept. I think the tan carries it.
The Collector’s Survival Guide: How to Justify This
The Collector Math: Tuxedosam owns 365 bow ties, one for every day of the year. I’m buying twelve boxes at ¥350, one for every month, so my whole year of Sanrio costs ¥4,200, about $28. Next to a penguin, I’m a minimalist.
How to tell your wife: You said no more pets in this house, and I heard you. Sanrio has officially confirmed that Hello Kitty is not a cat; she’s a third-grader from London. Let’s not get into the other eleven.
How to tell your parents: Mom, you’ve saved the box from every appliance we’ve ever owned, just in case. Bandai ships each figure in its own tiny window box, inside the box. Box-saving runs in the family.
How to tell your kids: Every Chocobox is a bunk bed, with chocolate cookie balls on the bottom bunk and a tanned Sanrio friend on top. You can have the bottom bunk, but the top bunk always goes to the oldest. I checked; I’m the oldest.
The tan is a cheap trick in the best sense: one paint decision gives eleven decades-old characters a reason to be bought again. If you clip only one to a bag, make it Hangyodon, the one character who looks like he’s finally home.
🟢 Product Specifications 🟢
✅ Product: Sanrio Characters Chocobox Box Figure Collection 2026 (サンリオキャラクターズ チョコボックス ボックスフィギュアコレクション 2026)
✅ Manufacturer: BANDAI CANDY (Bandai)
✅ IP: Sanrio Characters
✅ Type: 食玩 (candy toy) with chocolate cookie balls
✅ Lineup: 12 total (Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, Pochacco, Hangyodon, Tuxedosam, Pekkle, Usahana, Badtz-Maru, 1 secret)
✅ Theme: Tanned summer swimsuit looks
✅ Extras: Miniature window box, color-matched ball chain
✅ Price: ¥350 (appx. $2.35) per box
✅ Release: September 2026 (Japan)
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