by ZombieMiki | Jul 4, 2016 | Merchandise Review, Pokemon, Pokemon Merch News
This post will cover a brand new stationary x every day use item mini promotion that just came out, called “Pokemon Kana?”
The name of the series can have two meanings. In Japanese, “ka na?” can be used at the end of a sentence to signify uncertainty, with a rough translation being “maybe?” The Pokemon pattern created for this series when viewed from afar doesn’t automatically look like Pokemon, so the casual observer might do a double take and think, “Wait, was that Pokemon?!”
Kana is also how we refer to the characters used in written Japanese. There are three forms of kana: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. The designs used in this series uses a combination of Pokemon and objects to form the first hiragana character of that specific Pokemon’s name. In the example here, if you look closely, Pikachu, combined with the electric cord, form a ぴ (pi) for Pikachu. (Isn’t that cool!)
It’s a very unique and interesting addition to the Pokemon family of merchandise, and that the items are handy and useful only makes the line-up better.
The majority of items in this series come in both black and white versions. I prefer the white background because I find the designs easier to read and recognize against white. With that said, the Pokemon kana have a more neon feel on the black background, which is kind of neat and probably unintentional.
The exception to this rule would be the postcards and stickers which have a rainbow effect, making them look especially nice on the black backgrounds!
What do you think? Which Pokemon design is your favorite?
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by ZombieMiki | Feb 6, 2016 | Pokemon, Pokemon Center Report
Little Tales is a collaboration between Pokemon and designer Shinzi Katoh and this is the third year in a row the Pokemon Center has brought us this always charming and adorable promotion. The theme for this year’s Little Tales line-up was “spring vacation” and this was reflected not only in the designs featured on the items but also on the items themselves.
The runner up to the star of the show was the pair Pikachu plush. Continuing the design from last year where the girl and boy Pikachus shared one scarf, this year, the two Pikachu are holding hands.
The mascot plush were equally adorable and featured Mime Jr, Ditto, and boy and girl Pikachu, with a very distinctive carousel theme.
Close-ups of mascots!
Not sure why they decided to use Ponyta twice but he is cute no matter which way he faces.
Mime Jr looks especially happy. To be fair, if I had a Girafarig friend, I would be happy, too.
The two Pikachu straps were sold as a set, so either a good or bad thing depending on how you view it. If you only wanted the male or female Pikachu, you were out of luck. If you had a friend and wanted to share, then this works out perfectly!
The plush pass case only came in male Pikachu form, but who can resist his dapper little hat?
There were three different bags with this promotion: a “bag in bag”, a smaller knapsack, and a foldable boston bag.
The knapsack had a print of the two Pikachus stamped into the leather (?) while the bag in bag had both the two Pikachus plus the two Meowstics.
Then there was the actual star of the show: the suitcase! Although not ideal for international travel, the suitcase is a nice size for going, let’s say, by train on a weekend trip somewhere domestic. The suitcases themselves, aside from the one or two on display, were kept near the registers, and from what I heard, most of the stores shipped them to your home still in their cardboard boxes because of the size. (You can also see an example of one of the boston bags folded out on top of the suitcase).
The suitcase has the two Pikachus stamped into the front.
Speaking of staying stylish, there were a couple clothing items sold in this promotion as well! The blue stole goes well with the creams of both the cardigan and free size shirt.
Charm point of the shirt is the two Meowstics on their date.
Charm point of the cardigan is the colorful buttons as well as the little Pikachu emblem.
There was a bunch of other miscellaneous goodies as well, such as stationary sets, pencils, a clearfile set featuring designs from current and past Little Tales promotions
A small assortment of stickers
iPhone cases for 5/5s and 6/6s
Hair scrunchies in two different designs
Hand towels, towelkets (large blankets made out of a lighter towel fabric, ideal for late spring and summer), and hand creams
Out of the two hand cream designs, this was my favorite!
Last but certainly not least, the cookie tins! This might be the first time the Center has sold cookie tins as a set like this (or if not the first, it doesn’t happen very often).
One tin has more of a travel theme, while the other has a carousel theme, but it can be agreed that both are adorable. I wasn’t planning on buying a cookie tin but after seeing them in person, I couldn’t resist.
Tomorrow I’m going to Wonder Fest for the first time ever, so wish me luck! Hopefully I can bring back pictures of up-coming merchandise to share.
