This Saturday was not only the start of the Pikachu Mega Campaign and the opening of the Pikachu Mega Shop, but also marked the 1 year anniversary of the Mega Tokyo Pokemon Center. There was a lot going on and this post will cover it all, so get ready for tons of photos!
The Pikachu Mega Shop was hyped as a limited run mini store operating as an extension to the Mega Tokyo Center and offering all types of Pikachu goods from currently available everywhere to exclusives. We thought the Pokemon Center staff would set this store up in an area of Sunshine City (the mall the Pokemon Center is located within) outside of the main Pokemon Center, such as the union room where the Center sometimes houses their gachapon machines and (at the moment) the Pokken and Tretta machines.
Instead, they turned a section of the Mega Tokyo Center store into the Mega Pikachu Store, so the two stores are one and the same, with the main difference being the Pikachu Store part has yellow walls to differentiate it.
I think some people were hoping for Pikachu merchandise exclusive to the Mega Shop, which we didn’t get, but the Mega Shop does offer location exclusive Pikachus, such as the shiny Gyarados plush previously only available directly at the Hiroshima Center, along with the various Pilot Pikachus (and the Flight Attendant Narita Pikachu).
An easily missed mini Pikachu promotion was available near the back of the Mega Shop, with a bunch of small items, such as pouches and bags, all featuring this cute Pikachu illustration pattern.
The new Monthly Pikachu were also set up in the Mega Shop.
Semi-hidden amongst the merchandise, but not for a sale, was a tiny display of some “vintage” Pikachu toys.
It’s interesting to look from the plush and toys currently on sale to the toys from the past.
Especially relevant as the 20th anniversary of Pokemon is coming up very soon!
Next up on our Pokemon Center tour, these four large sleeping plush came out on Saturday and were incredibly popular, more so than I was expecting!
Bulbasaur seemed to be the big hit of the day, at least at the Mega Tokyo Center. Usually large plush stay in stock longer because of the size and the price, but it wasn’t uncommon to see people walking around the store with multiples of these big guys, and by the time I left around 11 am or so, everything but Ditto was gone. (Note: When I returned to the Center on Monday, all four plush were in stock.)
Finally, the main attraction, the Poncho Pikachus!! Thanks to the new limits on how much 1 person can purchase of each type of item, along with I’m assuming better stock management, the Pikachu plush did not instantly sell out this year, so a huge improvement over last year.
The tags for this year’s release are also completely different than last year; instead of showcasing the Mega Tokyo Center, each tag is a full art illustration of the Mega Chu.
Along with the re-release of the original Pikazard, the Mega Campaign also gave us Pikazard X
Mega Sableye
(who, incidentally, has some neat detailing on the back of his poncho)
Mega Audino
Mega Altaria
Mega Slowbro
and Mega Lucario! From what I saw in people’s baskets and flying off the shelves, Mega Lucario seemed to be the most popular.
There was also mascot sized variants of all the normal sized plush…
Along with a plethora of other stuff, including mini hand towels with artwork of each of the Mega Pikachus, clearfiles, blind packaged acrylic charm sets, individual non-blind packaged acrylic charms, stickers, and one of the most popular items from last year…
People sized ponchos! As with the plush, the ponchos were still very much in stock when I went back to the Pokemon Center on Monday, unlike last year when they sold out almost immediately.
There are also 2 different campaigns currently in progress that started on Saturday. First up: for every 1,000 yen spent on TCG merchandise, you receive 1 of these Pokemon cards.
For every 2,000 yen spent on anything, you receive 2 blind packaged illustration cards featuring 1 of 8 possible Mega Pikachus, with the 8th design being the super lucky Mega Rayquaza Chu.
Spoilers: I was super lucky!
I got this cute mini binder specifically designed to hold these cards, which is great, because I have… a bunch.
And that concludes our magical journey to the Pokemon Center!
Which Mega Chu is your favorite?
Mine was definitely Lucario, although fingers crossed Phase 2 of the Pikachu Mega Campaign will have the remaining Mega Chus in plush form, especially Mega Lopunny Chu.
