I woke up early to head over to the Pokemon Center for the slightly earlier than expected release of both the All-Star plush line and the related fluffy cushion plush, but the Center decided just those plush was not enough for a Saturday release, and gave us four surprise Pokemon Center exclusives as well!

Flareon

Jolteon

Vaporeon

and Arcanine! The three Eeveelutions are, as expected of Poke-Cen exclusive plush, very soft and adorable, but having Arcanine in the surprise line-up was the most exciting, especially considering his lack of merchandise. He is extra fluffy and fierce and all Arcanine collectors should look into adding him to their collections!

The All-Star plush came out great, maybe even better than I could have hoped for! All the plush are made of a soft minky fabric and are the perfect size to hold and cuddle. As opposed to the usual Poke-Cen plush, the All-Star collection plush have beans inside them, which makes them sit up easier. Also, Eevee is surprisingly dense! I have no idea what they stuffed him with, but wouldn’t be surprised if it was bricks.

My favorite plush from the line-up (in no particular order): Buneary! I’m very picky with my Bun plush, but this guy just seems like one of the most perfect of the Bunearies. I didn’t get one today, but there is a chance I might cave next time I visit the Center.

Psyduck! Another plush that is easy to derpify, but this one came out pretty much perfectly.

Altaria! Yet another Pokemon that is easy to mess up in plush form, and once again, this plush came out great, with just the right amount of fluff.

Poliwag! I’m not a huge fan or a collector, but the eyes looking up at you. You can’t resist!

Last but not least, Dedenne! Dedenne suffers from “all of my merchandise looks the same” and with so many Pokemon in the All-Stars collection, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get him or not, even though I am a collector. Seeing him in person changed my mind: this plush is perfect. Perfect Dedenne plush! On par with the Pokemon Center exclusive!

“But wait!” you might be saying. “The All-Star Collection had 15 plush, there’s only 14 here! What gives!”

Well, for reasons I will probably never understand, the Pokemon Center is not carrying Espurr. (LE GASP) I know. Why would they leave out one of the most popular Pokemon from the line-up?! He’s still available through general toy stores (although I checked Toys R Us in the same shopping mall as the Mega Tokyo Center and their selection of Pokemon toys was pitifully small) as well as Amazon, but the best part of new releases is being able to pick out your perfect plush by hand.

At any rate (grumble grumble)

I haven’t forgotten the cushions! There were three types of fluffy cushion plush in this release: Pikachu (the most cushion-like out of the three), Wailord, and Gulpin. They are all incredibly soft and incredibly huggable, so if you have the dough to drop, and you like hugging plush that’s as big as half of you, then I say go for it!

Get ready for next week’s big Pokemon Center update when the Mega Pikachu campaign starts. Until then!