July 18th is a day that will live down in infamy as that fateful summer day when everything came out all at once.
The big sellers of the day, hands down, were the lazy plush. Featuring Pikachu, Raichu, Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon, the set was so popular that they sold out at the Mega Tokyo Center (as well as other Centers) within a few hours. Although staff said that was it, the plush were sold out, they were not being restocked, it turned out to be a lie as all of the plush in the set were fully restocked before the end of the day. (Pichu was originally in this set but the release for the plush was suddenly delayed. As of now, we still do not have a new release date.)
Posters were already up showcasing volume 2 of the lazy plush. This set, featuring Charmander, Espeon, Espurr, Mudkip, Slowpoke, and Umbreon, will be released August 15th (except for Slowpoke, which will come out August 10th along with the other Slowpoke Day merchandise).
The Monthly Pikachu for August also came out and unlike every other Monthly Chu release to date, these Pikachu plush did not sell out within a day. In fact, it’s now almost the end of Sunday and the stock at the Mega Tokyo Center is still standing strong. Did the Center finally realize how popular this series is and made more or did customers not buy as much as usual because there was so much else to chose from? We’ll get a better idea next month…
…which we know is Pastry Chef Pikachu (or as I affectionately refer to him, Gordon Ramsay Chu). The September Monthly Pikachu is set to come out August 8th.
Another very exciting release was the latest batch of Pokemon Center exclusive plush, including the very first plush ever for Ninetails.
If not obvious, foxes are my favorite animal and Vulpix (along with Eevee) were two of my very original favorite Pokemon, so I was especially enamored with how perfect the Vulpix plush turned out.
The Snorlax plush, while not life size, turned out to be very large.
This might also be one of my favorite Mewtwo plush!
Every so often, the Pokemon Center will sneakily add new souvenir cookie tins to their cookie tin line-up, and so of course the 18th was a perfect day to do so. This tin might have been my favorite simply because of the inclusion of my number 1 favorite Pokemon – Minccino! Not only was he included in the main illustration, but the cookies are milk tea flavored, one of my favorite flavors. Everything about this tin is adorable!
The Pokemon Center also had this poster on display, showcasing the upcoming Pikachu Carnival mascot plush coming out August 10th.
Along with all the craziness at the Pokemon Center, the Sweets Paradise collaboration limited run Pokemon Cafe also opened it’s doors!
Unlike the last limited run Pokemon Cafe in Shibuya, this cafe has a forest theme with tons of in-store decoration aside from just Pokemon plush.
Similar to the Shibuya cafe, there is plenty of cute artwork adorning the walls, offering a perfect backdrop for food pictures (or pictures of your friends when they aren’t paying attention).
The placemats feature the three main mascot Pokemon (Dedenne, Meowth, and Pikachu) and it’s perfectly okay to take these mats with you when you leave.
The menu is a little pricey, but all the food is Pokemon themed and may be too adorable to eat.
If you live in the Tokyo area, or will visit between now and August 31st, I definitely recommend not passing up the chance to visit and eat at the cafe!
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Special thanks to Max for sharing photos from the Pokemon Center and the Cafe! Check out his store if you are looking to buy stuff from the Pokemon Center.
