Isabelle and Tom Nook Build-a-Bears Are Up for Pre-Order, but the Queue is a Nightmare

This morning, Build-a-Bear and Animal Crossing officially revealed the stuffed toys they announced a partnership on last month: it’s Isabelle and Tom Nook…but you might not be able to get one today.The Build-a-Bears went live at 8 am PT today, following a 30-minute “waiting room” queue you could sit in on the website. While in that queue, I was told I would get a “random place in line” if I was in the waiting room early.

When 8 am hit, though, I was told my estimated wait time was “more than an hour” — and I’m still in it at the time this is being written. There’s a tiny progress bar on my screen that inches forward every so often, but after 40 minutes in the queue it’s not really gone anywhere, and my wait is still over an hour. I can sign up to be notified by email when it’s my turn, but I’m worried that closing this window will cause me to lose my place.

Have you played Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

YESNO

Isabelle and Tom Nook were only available for pre-order online today, and come with their own “summer outfit” and either music or spoken phrases included when you give them a squeeze. They’re limited to one per person, too. The Build-a-Bear website’s FAQ says the toys will reappear online in the future once they sell out, but does not specify when — though it does indicate they will also come to physical stores sometime this summer.

This is far from the first time something Animal Crossing (or even Nintendo)-related has suffered from ridiculous demand. Anyone who has tried to get their hands on the Animal Crossing Sanrio amiibo cards has had a nightmare of a time given their limited supply and Target exclusivity. And while Build-a-Bear has done plenty of other franchise crossovers before, including Super Mario, Doctor Who, Pokémon, Frozen, How to Train Your Dragon, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Mandalorian, none have quite reached this level of demand. Not even Sonic the Hedgehog.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.