Under a London railway arch, right near where my old team played Pokemon Go at lunch, I held an Eevee. It was plastic. But it was alive, or as alive as plastic gets now. I wasn’t writing about it. I was training it. To fight a Charmander.
This happened on Tuesday in London. Lego announced more of its Smart Play stuff at SXSW. They added Pokemon. A whole bunch of it.
Here is the deal: twelve new sets. Two come with the tech built in. Ten others leave you in the cold, technically speaking, though the bricks are there. Prices? Anywhere from fifteen bucks to a steep hundred-and-twenty. It’s not cheap, but it’s not for everyone either. Just for those who care enough.
What is this “Smart Brick”?
You might have heard about the CES 2014 brick. It’s back, bigger and better for 2024 (or 2026 depending on your timeline, the source says CES 2026… let’s roll with it). It looks like a standard 2×4 Lego piece. Inside? A chip. Sensors. Lights. Speakers.
It turns static builds into toys that talk. That blink.
Lego put a tag in these Pokemon models. Touch it. The brick wakes up. It makes noises specific to that creature. Did the designers actually talk to the Pokemon Company? Yes. Hand in hand, apparently. So the sounds feel right. Like they should.
This isn’t the first ride. Star Wars got here first. Now Pokemon joins the club. It felt obvious, really. Julia Goldin, a boss at Lego, said the audiences overlap. Big time. Eighty percent crossover, she claimed. Parents who like Lego often liked Pokemon too. The kids follow.
Eevee vs Charmander: A Violent Dance
I wanted to see if it worked.
So I trained my Eevee. Tapped it against a special tag. Smacked it at a target. Whack. It flashed green and white. It sang a little song. It had leveled up. Or so the light implied.
Then came the battle. Sam Coates from Lego waved a Charmander next to my Eevee. Proximity detected. Battle mode engaged.
We went feral.
I thrust the Eevee at the Charmander like I was throwing a fastball. He ducked. I spun again. Hit harder. This time it worked. Eevee glowed. A victory toot sounded out. I won. Or the brick did.
Sam asked if I wanted to break something. I felt guilty. But he told me they had tested it. Hard. Carpets everywhere saw destruction during R&D. I hit the table. The ears stayed attached. The toy survived. For now.
Here is the catch, though.
To have two battling, you need two chips. Most sets don’t include one. You buy the Eevee set. It has no chip. You need to buy the Charizard set. Or use one you already have. Lego says you can buy bricks separately eventually. Until then? It’s a puzzle. A sales puzzle, maybe.
But the models themselves are nice. Really nice. Jill Lin, a designer there, insisted the analog version works alone. No battery. Just blocks. They even invented twenty new shapes just for these sets. Without the electronics, it’s just a cute diorama. With them, it’s a creature.
Which one do kids prefer? Surprisingly, not the goal-oriented stuff. The open-ended play. So they reset the levels. Every time you pull the brick out, the training goes to zero. It forces you to bond all over again. New story. New imagination. Lin called it a start. Not a finish line.
“Some of the stories that kids tell in their head come to life.”
Is that why the prices vary so much? The all-in-ones are expensive. The bare bones ones are cheap. Maybe so you can collect the stories without collecting the batteries? Or maybe just so they sell more chips later. Who knows.
Get them if you can
The preorders open now. The sets hit stores in August. That is a wait. But looking at what happened in March when those adult Pokemon sets dropped, waiting might hurt. Websites crashed before. Servers folded under the weight of fan love. Or desperation.
Here is the lineup if you are still reading.
- Training House with Pikachu
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$70 ($£60). For the little ones, ages 6+.
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Charizard vs Jolteon Battle
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$120 ($£110). The big one. Ages 8+.
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Berry Bash (Bulbasaur, Bidoof)
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$20 ($£18). Small bite. Ages 7+.
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Squirtle’s Buggy Adventure
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$30 ($£25). Wheels included? Probably. Ages 7+.
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Charmander Cavern Clash
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$20 (£18), wait the text says $20 (£18) for Charmander set, but previously $20 for Bulbasaur. Checking text… Yes. Charmander is $20/£18. Ages 6+.
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Gen 9 Starters Battler
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Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly. $35 ($£30). Ages 8+.
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Jigglypuff Concert
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$15 ($£13). The cheapest entry point. Ages 7+.
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Drone Search for Mew
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$50 ($£45). Fly away with it. Ages 8+.
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Eevee Treasure Hunt
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$60 ($£55). With Lapras. Ages 8+.
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Mewtwo’s Lab
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$70 ($£18—no wait, text says $60 for UK, $70 USD). Ages 10+.
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Umbreon Championship
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$80 ($£70). Big Garchomp. Ages 10+.
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Cubone vs Gengar
- $90 ($£80). Spooky stuff. Ages 8+.
They won’t all stay on shelves long. If you saw the chaos last March, you know better. The sites go dark. The servers scream.
Maybe that’s the real game. Not fighting Charmander.
Fighting to own it.
Do you want the chip? Or just the memory?
