How Much Did a Tamagotchi Cost in 1997?
By the Price Time Machine team · Updated
The Tamagotchi original price was $17.99 when Bandai’s virtual pet reached the United States in May 1997. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $37.86 in September 2026 money, roughly 2.1 times the original price.
Think you know where it came from? Test yourself before you read on: play this question in Price Time Machine.
Play this question: where was it invented, and what did it cost? →
Tamagotchi at a glance
- US launch price
- $17.99
- In today’s money
- ≈ $37.86May 1997 to September 2026 (CPI-U, BLS)
- US release date
- May 1, 1997
- Where it was invented
- Tokyo, JapanCreated by Aki Maita and Akihiro Yokoi for Bandai in Tokyo, Japan.
- Category
- Toys & childhood
- Price source
- thedartmouth.com
Today’s price is the US launch price adjusted for US inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing the launch month with the latest published month. It updates automatically as new figures come out.
A pet on your keyring
A Tamagotchi was a small egg-shaped toy with a tiny screen and three buttons. A creature hatched inside it, and you had to feed it, play with it, clean up after it and put it to bed. If you ignored it, it got sick and could die.
The idea came from Aki Maita, who worked at the toy company Bandai. She wanted a pet that children could take everywhere, even when they could not have a real one. Akihiro Yokoi of the design company WiZ helped turn it into a toy. The name mixes the Japanese word for egg, tamago, with “watch”.
The Tamagotchi original price in today’s money
Inflation means a dollar buys less today than it did in 1997. Using the US Consumer Price Index, the Tamagotchi original price of $17.99 works out at about $37.86 in September 2026 money, around 2.1 times the original figure. That is what the same amount of spending power would cost now, not what a Tamagotchi sells for second-hand.
Tamagotchi mania
In Japan, Tamagotchis sold out so fast that people paid hundreds of dollars for them on the black market. When they reached America in May 1997, the FAO Schwarz toy shop in New York reportedly sold 30,000 in three days.
Prices in American shops varied, from around $15 to about $18. A student newspaper at Dartmouth College in June 1997 asked: “People pay $17.99 for this?”
When was the Tamagotchi released?
- Japan: November 23, 1996
- United States: May 1997
Where was the Tamagotchi made?
Bandai, one of Japan’s biggest toy companies, developed it at its headquarters in Tokyo.
Tamagotchi facts you might not know
- Many schools banned them, because children kept checking on their pets during lessons.
- There was no pause button on the first versions, so parents and teachers often ended up looking after them.
- Bandai has sold tens of millions of Tamagotchis, and new versions are still made today.
Frequently asked questions
How much did a Tamagotchi cost in 1997?
A Tamagotchi cost about $17.99 in the United States in 1997. Prices in different shops ranged from about $15 to $18.
How much is $17.99 from 1997 worth today?
Adjusted for US inflation, the Tamagotchi’s $17.99 price is about $37.86 in September 2026 money.
Who invented the Tamagotchi?
Aki Maita of Bandai came up with the idea, and Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ helped design it.
What does Tamagotchi mean?
It mixes tamago, the Japanese word for egg, with the English word “watch”.
Want to compare the Tamagotchi original price with similar launches? See what the Furby, the Game Boy, the Rubik’s Cube and the Barbie cost, browse more famous launch prices, or play the Tamagotchi question in Price Time Machine.
Sources
Launch prices and dates are checked against the sources below. Today’s price is calculated from official US inflation data and updates automatically when new figures are published.
- Newspaper report: The Dartmouth, “Cyberpet torture” (June 18, 1997)
- Mental Floss: Tamagotchi facts
- Wikipedia: Tamagotchi
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index (CPI-U)
Play the Tamagotchi question →