Hello Kitty LEGO Officially Confirmed for 2027 as Huge New Sanrio Partnership Announced
Image by Charlotte DavisLEGO and Sanrio have announced a major new multi-year partnership that will bring Hello Kitty and her friends into official LEGO sets for the first time.
The newly established “LEGO Sanrio” range will begin releasing worldwide in 2027, with the two brands promising a wide selection of building sets inspired by Sanrio’s characters and their worlds.
Hello Kitty is the only individual character specifically confirmed for the collection so far, although LEGO has stated that she will be joined by other fan-favorite Sanrio characters as the partnership expands.
Sanrio’s wider character lineup includes globally popular names such as Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, My Melody, Pompompurin and Gudetama, although none of these have yet been officially confirmed for a LEGO release.
The collaboration will be the first time Sanrio’s characters have received official LEGO sets, opening up decades of characters, locations and recognizable designs for future brick-built releases.
Hello Kitty first appeared in 1974 and has since grown from a small character design created for merchandise into one of Japan’s most recognizable pop culture icons, appearing across fashion, toys, games, animation, food collaborations and countless crossover collections.
Sanrio states that Hello Kitty now appears across approximately 50,000 types of merchandise sold each year in more than 130 countries and regions, giving LEGO one of the world’s largest character brands to draw from for the new range.
Exactly what form the first LEGO Sanrio sets will take remains under wraps, with no individual products, piece counts, prices or complete character lineup announced at this stage.
LEGO has already launched a dedicated Sanrio page teasing “a world of smiles,” with the first releases scheduled for 2027 and new hints promised each month as the range moves closer to launch.
The long-term nature of the agreement also means the partnership is being planned as more than a single collaboration set, with additional LEGO Sanrio products expected to follow its debut wave over the coming years.
The announcement arrives as LEGO continues to expand aggressively into major Japanese entertainment properties, with Pokémon receiving its first official building sets earlier in 2026.
That partnership has already grown considerably beyond its initial launch, adding new brick-built Pokémon including Rayquaza, Arcanine and Munchlax alongside Trainer-focused display sets and minifigure releases.
Dragon Ball has also just joined LEGO for the first time, with the recently revealed “Shenron & Goku” set recreating the Eternal Dragon, all seven Dragon Balls and a young Goku minifigure ahead of further releases planned for 2027.
For Sanrio, the LEGO deal follows another year filled with major character collaborations, including a Godzilla crossover that paired Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, Kuromi, Pompompurin and other characters with some of Toho’s most famous monsters.
Hello Kitty has also continued to receive more unexpected collectible releases during 2026, including a premium G.S. Collection figure created from Sanrio’s collaboration with Junji Ito’s Tomie.
LEGO and Sanrio have not yet announced an exact release date for the first LEGO Sanrio sets, but the range is scheduled to begin rolling out internationally during 2027, with further product reveals expected over the coming months.
If you enjoyed this article, you can see more from us directly in your Google feed by adding us as a preferred source.
This post may contain affiliate links, and Essential Japan may earn a commission if you purchase through them.
