Compare The Market’s meerkat characters are being made available in Australia in plush toy form.

Plush toy mascots of the Comparethemarket.com.au brand commercial characters will soon be available in Australia.

They were the second best-selling soft toys in the UK in 2015 and 2016, second only to Disney toys, and are now in more than 6.5 million homes there.

The launch of the toy characters – Aleksandr Orlov and his sidekick Sergei – followed the success of the comparethemarket.com.au ads featuring them.

“Aussies will be given the option of choosing either Aleksandr or Sergei between 8 February and 31 March when they take out any hospital, extras or combined health insurance policy online or through the comparethemarket.com.au call centre,” says spokesperson Abigail Koch.