As a change from the norm, this week’s main Pokemon release was on a Friday instead of a Saturday, due to the start of Golden Week. I was afraid there would be a lot of people for the Neco Dolce promotion, as the entire line-up is incredibly cute and also plush and Sylveon. When I arrived at 7:30 am, there was no one waiting in front of the Center. An hour later, still no one. A line started to form a little after 9. By the time it was closing in on 10 am, the line started to stretch down the hallway. Then the doors opened and suddenly everyone and their mother decided to teleport to the Pokemon Center because it went from empty to way too full.
Welcome to Golden Week in Tokyo, where you can’t go anywhere without ten thousand people being there with you!
I’m grateful the Center decided to set up this popular promotion on multiple sides of this barrier, but at the same time, not grateful because there was only this one set-up in the entire store. There was not nearly enough space around the Dolce set-up, especially once everyone entered the store, and sometimes moving was difficult.
The Dolce line-up featured a lot of every day use and beauty items, but of course the main items were the four mascot plush:
Sylveon
and Jigglypuff tied for the two most popular, with Sylveon just a little bit ahead of Jigglypuff.
Along with boy Pikachu
and girl Pikachu!
Most of the items in the line-up used a pattern that featured artwork of the four main Pokemon, along with some others (Litwick, Vaporeon, Marill, Drifloon, Jirachi, Swirlix, and Vanillite, to name a few) coupled with sweets. You can sort of see this pattern on the scrunchies in this photo.
Other items in the promo included socks
A very cute iPhone case
Stickers for decorating your nails
Clearfiles (because what is any Pokemon Center promotion without clearfiles)
Lip gloss and face powder
And earrings (as well as a bunch of other items, like pens, clothing, bed sheets, and memo pads!) I thought the earrings were of special note as there is a tiny Marill charm.
Next up: dot sprites! Usually this promotion doesn’t seem popular because it tends to feature Pokemon like…Pikachu. So on one hand I’m not sure why the Center keeps bringing it back, but I guess it does well enough even though it seems like the items stick around the Centers forever.
This time, the line-up focused on Gengar, Lapras, and Eevee.
I was the most excited for these socks. The socks can only be purchased 3 pairs for 1,000 yen (plus tax). I got 2 pairs of Mew for me, and 1 pair of Gengar for my friend.
Another big seller for this promo were the blind packaged can badges.
For anyone curious, it was determined later in the day that the secret badge design was Mew.
I thought the cookie tins were also especially cute, but I have to save space and money for the Substitute Plush cookie tins coming out in two weeks! Each side of the tin has a different Pokemon, with four Pokemon in total (Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle).
The cookies are little wafer sandwiches, which, I’m guessing, are delicious.
As an unexpected bonus, these Maiko Pikachu themed furoshiki, a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth, went on sale on Friday as well.
Here is to hoping I can make it through the rest of Golden Week without getting smushed by people!
