Hello Kitty x Street Fighter merch incoming

Capcom has already picked numerous fights with SNK, Marvel, Namco, the Tekken series, and even Professor Layton, but the publisher today announced arguably the most surprising crossover of all, Hello Kitty x Street Fighter. While the apparent feud between Sanrio's adorable Japanese feline and Capcom's posse of punch-drunk pugilists isn't deserving of a game just yet, the two companies today announced a partnership for cobranded merchandise featuring the franchises.

The line of merchandise will incorporate both brands' styles, with "a broad range" of items promised. The only specific treatment announced for the line was centered on the notion of Hello Kitty donning the familiar costumes of Capcom's fighting game stars. No mention was made of Badtz-Maru or Keroppi. The first Hello Kitty x Street Fighter merchandise is expected to hit stores in fall of 2012.

While Street Fighter certainly has a game industry pedigree, the Capcom series is a relative neophyte next to Hello Kitty when it comes to merchandizing. The Sanrio icon is just over half a century old and the face of the company with more than 50,000 items sold around the world, including perfumes, skateboards, cameras, Monopoly games, and car license plate bolt covers. In 1990, the amicable mascot even got her own pink-tinted Dreamcast console.