Dragoon and Hydra at $54.99: Nintendo Completes the Swappable Kirby Air Riders amiibo Lineup on Switch 2
Nearly one full year after Kirby Air Riders launched on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 20, 2025, Nintendo is officially closing the garage doors on its modular figure line. Starting today, Thursday, November 12, 2026, the final two entries in the collection, Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra, are available at retail. Priced at $54.99 (£41.99 / €49.99) each, this duo brings the complete series to a total of seven figures.
Dragoon and Hydra Bring City Trial's Legendary Machines to Your Shelf
While the first five figures released between November 2025 and September 2026 focused on standard Air Ride vehicles from Masahiro Sakurai's high-speed brawler, this final wave spotlights the two ultimate prizes of City Trial mode. Sword Kirby takes the helm of the Dragoon, the sleek white-and-rainbow glider famed for its unmatched aerial top speed. Alongside him, Noir Dedede rides the Hydra, the metallic-green beetle-horned juggernaut built to obliterate rival racers once fully charged.
In the game, assembling either Legendary Air Ride Machine requires tracking down three rare parts hidden inside red boxes across the city map. In physical form, the noticeably larger footprint and intricate molding of both vehicles account for the premium price tag compared to standard figures, with each box retailing for $54.99 on the official Nintendo Store and participating retailers.
Swappable Riders, Modular NFC Recognition, and Figure Players
What sets the Kirby Air Riders amiibo line apart from standard Nintendo figures is its two-part physical construction. Every rider can be detached from their default mount and snapped onto any other vehicle in the seven-figure lineup. Whether you want to seat Chef Kawasaki atop the Hydra or put Meta Knight in command of the Dragoon, the base detects the exact physical pairing and mirrors that custom combination in-game.
Tapping any combination onto the Nintendo Switch 2 NFC reader summons a customizable Figure Player (FP). This AI-controlled racer retains the exact rider-and-machine pairing sitting on your desk, levels up through repeated matches, and adapts to your racing style. Longtime collectors should note one hardware caveat: because of this dual-chip modular recognition system, Kirby Air Riders amiibo are not compatible with legacy Nintendo 3DS or Wii U systems.
Complete 7-Figure Release Timeline and Recent Switch 2 Updates
With today's launch, Nintendo wraps up a twelve-month rollout distributed across five waves:
- November 20, 2025 (Wave 1): Kirby & Warp Star + Bandana Waddle Dee & Winged Star
- March 5, 2026 (Wave 2): Meta Knight & Shadow Star
- July 2, 2026 (Wave 3): King Dedede & Tank Star
- September 3, 2026 (Wave 4): Chef Kawasaki & Hop Star
- November 12, 2026 (Final Wave 5): Sword Kirby & Dragoon + Noir Dedede & Hydra
On the software side, co-developers Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. originally added compatibility for Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra back in June 2026 with version 1.3.3. Just last week, Nintendo rolled out another stability patch following the abrupt cancellation of the Kirby Air Riders Halloween event in late October due to a severe mid-race screen freeze bug. Coming shortly after Masahiro Sakurai's recent reflections on his workload and future projects, the arrival of Dragoon and Hydra brings the physical collector's chapter of Kirby Air Riders to a close.
My Take
Let's be real for a second: seeing the Dragoon and Hydra sculpted in physical form immediately hits a nerve for anyone who spent hundreds of hours hunting red boxes in City Trial. The swappable rider mechanism is easily the cleverest twist Nintendo has brought to the amiibo line in a decade. Still, the math is brutal on the wallet: at $54.99 a pop, collecting all seven vehicles comes out to nearly $385 before tax, which is more than three-quarters of the price of a Nintendo Switch 2 console. If you are only picking up one centerpiece for your shelf, Noir Dedede riding the Hydra steals the show.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles "Grimtag" is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
