Merchandise Overview – November

11.2

[TCG] High Spec “GX Ultra Shiny” Booster Pack (SM8b)
[TCG] “Battle Chatelaine” Pokemon Center original card sleeves
[Munch x Pokemon Exhibit] Distribution starts for Psyduck, Eevee, and Rowlet promo cards.

11.3

[Pokemon Center] 2018 Christmas Promotion
[Pokemon Center] Amigurumi Pikachu
[Banpresto] Girlish Pikachu – Large Face Cushions (2 Designs)

2nd Week of November

[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium Bowling Set

11.8

[Banpresto] Poke-Gyutto – Large Plush (Eevee, Psyduck)
[Banpresto] Poke-Dakko – Large Plush (Eevee, Psyduck)
[Banpresto] Pokemon Sun & Moon – Extra Large Plush (Larvitar)

11.9

[Pokemon Center] Yokohama Pokemon Center Renewal Promotion

11.10

[Pokemon Center] Pop & Colorful
[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Yurutto Figure Collection Volume 2 (Pikachu, Dedenne, Rowlet, Slowpoke, Croagunk, Pyukumuku)
[San-ei] All-Star Collection Volume 9 (Sandshrew, Magnemite, Chansey, Ditto, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Corsola, Phantump, Mawile, Garchomp, Lilligant, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander)
[San-ei] Plush Pouch (Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon)
[San-ei] Squishy Cushions (Munna, Koffing)

3rd Week of November

[Candy] Get Figure Collection – MeleMele Island Adventure (Necrozma, Pikachu, Alolan Ninetails, Brionne, Eevee, Vikavolt, Stufful, Dartrix, Guzzlord, Tsareena)
[MegaHouse] Yura-Yura Pokemon Mansion (Pikachu, Eevee, Alolan Vulpix, Mimikyu, Rowlet, Popplio, Litten)
[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium Big Fluffy Blanket
[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium Boston Bag

11.15

[Banpresto] Pokemon Focus Legendary Pokemon – Large Plush (Celebi, Victini, Jirachi)

11.16

[Pokemon Game] Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu & Eevee
[Pokemon Game] Pokemon Let’s Go! exclusive Pikachu & Eevee Nintendo Switch Console
[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Fit Volume 2
[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu & Eevee Merchandise
[Pokemon Center] Pikachu’s Closet – Girl & Boy Protagonist Pikachu Clothing Sets
[Pokemon Center Campaign] My 151 Campaign starts
[Pokemon Cafe] Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu & Eevee collaboration menu starts

11.17

[Takara Tomy] MonColle EX (Mega Blastoise, Mega Venusaur, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y)
[Banpresto] Pokemon Mascot ~ Pikachu Panya-San ~ *Blind* (Pikachu Toast, Eevee, Snorlax, Gengar, Slowpoke, Secret)
[Banpresto] Pokemon Mascot ~ Eevee Sabou ~ (Eevee, Pikachu, Snorlax, Gengar, Slowpoke, Ditto)

4th Week of November

[Sega Prize] Eeveelution Wallet (2 Designs)
[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium Wrist Watch (3 Designs)

11.22

[Banpresto] Mogu-Mogu Time – Large Plush (Snorlax, Slowpoke)

11.23

[TCG] Starter Set (Flareon GX, Vaporeon GX, Jolteon GX)
[TCG] Toys’r’Us Exclusive: Pokemon TCG Sun & Moon – Eevee GX Battle Triple Starter Set
[TCG] Pokemon TCG Sun & Moon Starter Set – Jolteon GX Deluxe Set
[TCG] Eeveelution Pile – Card Sleeves & Deck Case
[Pokemon Center] New Years 2019 Merchandise
[Pokemon Center] Pikachu & Eevee Pottery Ornaments

5th week of November

[Gacha] Cap Characters (Pikachu, Snorlax, Torchic, Mimikyu)
[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium LCD Memo Tablet
[Sega Prize] Pokemon Sun & Moon Premium Clean-Up Box (3 Designs)

11.27

[Banpresto] Pokemon Focus Legendary Pokemon – Extra Large Plush (Mew)

11.30

[Candy] Pokemon 3D Jelly Candy

Merchandise Overview – October

10.1

[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Center Plush (Litten, Lunala, Popplio, Rowlett, Solgaleo)
[Pokemon Center Campaign] Pokemon Evil Organizations Boss Pokemon Give-Away Starts
[Pokemon Center Campaign] Pokemon Evil Organizations Boss Art Card Campaign Starts (1 of 6 cards given randomly for every 3,000 yen spent at Pokemon Centers in Japan)
[Pokemon Center Campaign] Pokemon Evil Organizations Boss TCG Campaign Starts (1 half-size original playmat given away for every 5 expansion packs bought)
[Merchandise] Mokomo Meowth, Mew

10.5

[Banpresto] Pikachu Nebukuro Collection – Large Plush (Gengar, Growlithe)

10.6

[Banpresto] Large Great Ball Plush
[Banpresto] Korotto Manmaru Re-release (Zygarde Core, Ash’s Greninja, Dedenne, Pikachu)
[Banpresto] Korotto Manmaru – Charizard Edition (Charizard Sleeping, Charizard Sitting, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y)
[Banpresto] Pikachu Nebukuro Collection – Pouches (Blastoise, Charizard, Venusaur)

10.8

[Pokemon Center] Monthly Pair Pikachu – November
[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Evil Organizations / Villains
[Pokemon Center On-Line] Team Rocket Takeover Starts

10.12

[Banpresto] Pikachu Nebukuro Collection – Large Plush (Venusaur, Blastoise)

10.18

[Banpresto] Korotto Manmaru – Large Charizard Plush
[Banpresto] Pikachu Nebukuro Collection – Dragonite Line (Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite)

10.29

[Pokemon Center] Mario Pikachu

New Merchandise – Socks + Keyholders + Metal Charms

My lack of update on Friday was not due entirely to slacking! The Pokemon Center website still has not updated with new merchandise news (or any news for that matter). I’ve been checking in all weekend so far, and still nothing.

However!

Riding on last the coat tails of last weekend’s secret surprise releases, the Center had a couple more secret surprise releases for this weekend as well. This post will cover these items!

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First up, these two phone cases came out last week. One design features Charizard while the other has a bunch of line-art style Pokemon. Both cases are 3,240 yen each and are designed for phones with screens 5 inches or smaller and the actual phone being within 140 x 70 x 10 mm.

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For Pikachu fans, brand new 1:1 size plushies came out this past Saturday. There are two versions: normal and smile. Each plush is 4,860 yen.

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The Pokemon Center must have realized we love socks because they brought out a bunch of new designs! As usual, the socks are sold in sets of 3 for 1,080 yen per set. If you can go to the Pokemon Center or order the socks through a pick-up service, you can pick any three you like from the available designs. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the randomly designated sets available on the Pokemon Center on-line site.

Line-Up

Eeveelutions (Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon, Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Sylveon)
Pikachu
Goomy
Ditto
Charizard
Ash’s Greninja
Lucario
Black/Grey Pattern (Pikachu, Eevee, Ditto)

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KeyholderPart2

These keyholders are both practical and cute! Show off the love for your favorite Pokemon while also keeping your keys organized. Each keyholder is 648 yen.

Line-Up

Ash’s Greninja
Zygarde Core
Pikachu
Mew
Lucario
Mega Charizard X
Mega Charizard Y

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Last and not least and quite possibly the most exciting secret surprise of all, Kuttari themed metal charms! Because everyone loves metal charms, it’s just facts.
Although the charms come in predetermined sets of three, it’s possible to mix and match after buying as the individual charms are removable. Each set of 3 charms is 648 yen.

Line-Up

Charmander
Cyndaquil
Eeveelutions (Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon, Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Sylveon)
Lucario
Mew
Mudkip
Pikachu Evolution Line (Pichu, Pikachu, Raichu)
Slowpoke

That’s all for today’s Surprise Pokemon Center Release After Party!

——

Looking to buy anything mentioned in this post? Check out Japan Stuffs (a pick-up service based in Tokyo) or Whale-Sales!

Pokemon Center Report – Pikachu Poncho Gachapon + Ash Plush

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The Tokyo Pokemon Center moved from Hamamatsucho to Ikebukuro a little over a year ago. Along with the change in location, the Center also changed it’s name from “Tokyo” to “Mega Tokyo” and changed the mascots from Pikachu, Froakie, and Charmander to Pikachu and Mega Charizard Y.

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There was, of course, a big promotion in honor of both the move and the re-opening, with tons of merchandise featuring the original Poncho Pikachu, affectionately referred to as “Pikazard”, and as part of the promo, there were gachapon figures of Pikachu wearing his little Mega Charizard Y poncho in various poses.

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The Pokemon Center decided to celebrate the anniversary of the re-opening by giving us the Pikachu Mega Campaign. Along with a semi re-release of the original Pikazard plush (the tags are different but otherwise they are basically the same), we also got 6 other poncho wearing Pikachus, including a Mega Charizard X version, and a brand new set of gachapon figures, this time not only of the original Pikazard but of the other Poncho Pikachus as well.

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When the original Pikazard gacha set came out, it was originally limited to the Mega Tokyo Center location for the first few weeks. This upped the level of want for these figures and they quickly sold out (although they did get restocked and are currently still in stock). This time, however, all the Centers across Japan had access to to the Pikachu Poncho (or Pika-Pon) set at the same time, and as a result, the demand was not quite as crazy. As of this posting, there is plenty of stock.

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On Saturday, they had a separate line specifically for the gacha machines, which were set up in a corner of the store close to where the Pikachu Mega Shop is located. Customers were limited to up to 10 tries at once, but you could play another 10 times if you went back into line and waited again. There was enough people to make up a constant line once the Center opened but wait time was only around 5 minutes max. The set had exactly 7 figures (Pikazard Y, Pikazard X, Mega Lucario, Mega Audino, Mega Altaria, Mega Slowbro, Mega Sableye) with no secret figures.

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Although I do like playing gachas in certain circumstances, in general I dislike blind packaged figure sets because a lot of it is down to luck, and if you can only play a couple of times, the chances of you pulling the figure you want is not good…especially if you’re Miki and your luck is abysmal. Which brings me to my last point on this weekend’s gacha release: the Pokemon collecting community in general is very nice and everyone loves trading. I ended up playing multiple times in order to pull a full set, which meant I had extras. I hung out around the capsule disposal corner and made at least two people happy by trading them figures they had been hoping to get, and I got to practice my Japanese at the same time, so everyone was a winner.

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Moving on to the figures themselves – I was very impressed with how they came out. With tiny figures, paint jobs can be hit or miss, which can lead to annoying situations where you’re after a figure and you get 1 of it, and there is a paint smudge or a misprint. These figures, while small, are not teeny tiny, and although I did notice a few very small paint problems on 1 or 2, for the most part the figures were big enough that this was a non-issue.

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I mostly played for other people this time around (as I mentioned, my priority was to get a full set for a friend) but there were a couple figures I had to keep for myself, including both Pikazards. I wanted Pikazard Y for sentimental reasons, and X because they go together.

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Rawr!

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My main want was Mega Lucario, though, who I was able to pull fairly quickly. I was not disappointed with this figure at all. Look at that smug face!

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I was so happy, I ran around the store posing him with all the other Lucarios.

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Ahem. How does the new set compare with the original Pikazards? Size is the first most noticeable difference. Quality is next; the semi smudgy paint job on the original is more obvious next to the newer version. I also prefer the yellow color they used on the new Pikachus vs the originals as it’s less of a soda pop / neon yellow.

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Unrelated to Pikazards, a brand new Ash plushie also came out this weekend. For being a human plush, I think it came out pretty well!

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On a parting note, the next set of prizes from the I Love Mew Banpresto series is coming out on Thursday. I’ll be going out to catch a bunch of these little pink cuties and will try and get a report up on the same day, so stay tuned!