Nintendo’s Talking Flower, the desk toy based on the chatty plant from Super Mario Bros. Wonder, is selling for $29.99 at Amazon and Walmart, according to The Verge. The toy launched at $34.99, so the current price is a modest $5 cut, or about 14 percent off.
That is the whole commercial pitch: a small discount on a very Nintendo object. The Talking Flower is modeled on the character in Super Mario Bros. Wonder that comments as Mario moves through levels. In toy form, it is less a utility gadget than a small plastic interrupter with prewritten lines.
According to The Verge’s Cameron Faulkner, the device can announce each passing hour while the owner is awake and can speak at random without being prompted. It can also comment on the time of day and temperature, using a built-in thermometer.
The toy does ask about bedtime and wake-up time, but Faulkner reports that this is not because it works as an alarm. The information is used so the Talking Flower knows when to stay quiet. That makes it a very particular kind of clock-adjacent device: happy to talk, unwilling to do the one clock job some buyers might expect.
Nintendo’s $110 Alarmo, by comparison, is an actual alarm clock, according to The Verge. The Talking Flower is cheaper and stranger, which may be the more honest product category here.
What it does, and what it does not
The Talking Flower has no microphone and does not connect to the internet, Faulkner reports. That means it is not listening for commands, calling home, or pulling new lines from a server. Its comments are pre-programmed.
Owners do not have to wait for the toy to speak on its own. A button can trigger a line manually. As in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, users can choose the language the flower uses.
The Verge’s Andrew Webster previously tried the Talking Flower and described the experience as a steady trickle of whimsy. Webster also found that some lines occasionally functioned like low-stakes self-care nudges, including reminders to slow down, relax, or take a lunch break.
Faulkner said Amazon customer reviews suggest buyers are divided in a very plausible way: some find the toy irritating and still like it. That tracks with the character’s job in Wonder, where the bit is charming until it is also slightly too much.
At $29.99, the Talking Flower remains a novelty purchase for Super Mario Bros. Wonder fans, Nintendo collectors, or anyone who wants a gadget that comments on the room without pretending to be smart home hardware. The discount does not turn it into a useful device. It makes the oddity a little cheaper.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
