How Much Is A Tamagotchi: [Rares, Helpful Price Guide]

The Tamagotchi since 2019

If you were to account for inflation, the original Tamagotchi would cost around $28 today. However, for those who do not know, Tamagotchis were rebooted in 2019 as "Tamagotchi On", a digital pet that you can now pay about $60 to take care of.

It lives inside a colorful little egg and has a screen that displays the Tamagotchi. The pet goes to the bathroom, becomes restive, and needs attention. It gets hungry and needs food.

Also Read: Can a Tamagotchi Die from Being Overweight?

Originally a toy to simply keep the hands of children busy with three simple navigation buttons that they use to take care of their new pet, Tamagotchis took the world by storm. The lore of the Tamagotchi is that they come from another planet and arrive here on earth as eggs.

Bad things can happen if you forget to keep an eye on a Tamagotchi. The Tamagotchi could:

• Become hungry
• Poop in the house
• Even Die!

Here is a look at some of the things you can expect for your $60 when buying a modern-day Tamagotchi.

Tamagotchi 2019 Features

In the new Tamagotchi, you'll have a brighter and more diverse experience taking care of the digital pet. In the new model, a Tamagotchi can:

• Go to the store
• Travel to another town
• Play with friends
• Meet a soulmate and get married
• Have other little Tamagotchis

In Tamagotchi On, certain things have been monetized. But don't worry, it doesn't have wifi, so this is not the Tamagotchi equivalent of in-app purchases or pay-to-play.

Rather you receive Gatchi points for spending time with the pet and playing games with it. As you accumulate these points, your Tamagotchi has options for how to spend them.

The pet can spend money at the store, or you can arrange a babysitter at the Tamagotchi hotel for a few hours of respite to do things like school, shopping, or any real-world chores that you need to get done without feeling guilty.

Together with a colorful screen, you can have a good few hours of retro fun. You can easily find a whole array of different colors from places like JDirectItems Shopping, Rakuten and Amazon Japan (all available through ZenMarket!).

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Tamagotchi 1997

The original Tamagotchi sold for about $18, but there is something important to note: You can still get an original style of Tamagotchi and only spend around $20.

While some of the functionality of the current version is missing in the old version, the idea remains much the same. You have a digital pet, and you take care of it by manipulating the 3 simple buttons at the bottom of its egg-shaped living space.

Tamagotchi 1997 Features

One of the biggest differences is not so much in what the original Tamagotchi did but in what it looked like. While still housed in a colorful egg, nevertheless, the interface was a simple black and white LCD screen.

But it was, and is, enough to show your happy little monster doing the things it loves to do. In the original version, the Tamagotchi:

• Needs food and water
• Needs attention
• Beeps at you if it wants something

Also Read: Tamagotchi: The Most Favourite Japanese Toy

Here is where there is another key difference between the 1997 and 2019 Tamagotchi; with the 2019 version, you can send your Tamagotchi to the Tamagotchi Hotel, which will keep the little pet alive for as much time as you can pay for (in Gatchi coin, not real dollars).

But with 1997 Tamagotchi, you have no such option - if your Tamagotchi pet beeps, you have to attend to it or face the consequences. Given this, it is easy to see why parents, teachers, and just busy people, came to sometimes loathe the little menaces for interrupting dinner, homework, and important occasions - it's like being a real parent!

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20th Anniversary Tamagotchi

In 2017, Bandai made the nostalgia grab and released the Tamagotchi 20th Anniversary edition for about $15.

The egg-shaped toy was the same as the original, with the same black and white LCD screen and the same lovable pet that needs attention, but, oddly, for less even than the original cost in 1997.

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Rare Tamagotchi

As with any popular toys, there are rare Tamagotchi among the original release that you can find and pay outrageous prices for.

Of course, value is in the eye of the beholder, so only you can judge it. That said, here is a look at some unique Tamagotchi that sell for quite a lot; keep in mind that these are Limited Edition Tamagotchi, not the original version that is available for about $20.

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Baseline Rare Tamagotchi

Here are some Tamagotchi that qualify as rare but are a little easier on the pocketbook (relatively speaking) than the ones that you will find a little further on in this article. For these Tamagotchi, you can expect to pay:

• $180 for a release that had a color screen and was called Tamagotchi Plus Color
• $350 for a version called Devil Deviltchi Devilgotchi Pink
• $420 for a large Tamagotchi called Deka Tamagotchi Red

Mid-Priced Rare Tamagotchi

The price only goes up from here, so get ready to be surprised as you read on (if you were not already). Some Tamagotchis have gone up in value because of various circumstances. Here is a look at some Tamagotchi that now sell in the $500+ range. If you want these rare Tamagotchi, you can expect to pay:

• $599 for the Devilitchi Devilgotchi Devil Black that costs a lot because it was only released in Japan
• $950 for the red, green, and white complete Santaclautch collection Christmas set
• $799 for the Yasashii Blue

Expensive Rare Tamagotchi

Now we come at last to the real jaw-droppers. These Tamagotchi are expensive, though they may well be worth it to the right buyer. If you want one of these rare Tamagotchi, you should sit down, take a deep breath and be ready to pay:

• $1,000 for the 49-in-1 Anniversary collection of Tamagotchi
• $1,849 for the iD Conan Version, red and blue Tamagotchis that were not sold in stores but only made available to subscribers of Shounen Sunday Manga Magazine
• $2,999 for the extremely rare white and red Tamagotchis

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Sometimes the toys of a generation hit a nerve that stays with them into adulthood. Sometimes those toys are even able to strike again in the generations to follow. Will Tamagotchi be such a toy?

It is hard to say, but for now, you can buy the new version of Tamagotchi for around $60. Or you can go nostalgia hunting for one of the original Tamagotchi that is still being made for about $20.

Sure some of the functionality has been improved on, but the idea is the same. Sometimes the value of reliving childhood memories can be worth a lot more than new features.

Conclusion

If you're a fan of Tamagotchi and can't get enough of all things Japanese, but live outside of Japan, it can be hard to find a way to get a hold of exclusive Japanese items - and there are a lot!

We've made it easy for fans to buy official Japanese items with our showcase pages featuring some of Japan's most popular anime and manga series. You'll be able to get your hands on any Japanese goods you want with our worldwide shipping!