Wonder Festival (Winter 2016) Report

Wonder Festival is a bi-annual event hosted at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. It’s a place not only for big name companies to showcase their up-coming figures, but also for people to sell their self-made non-official figures (garage kits).

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There is usually enough coverage of this event that it’s possible to see photos of most if not all up-coming figures on-line without attending the show, or even being in Japan. Sometimes, however, companies will have “no photo” signs next to figures that are still in early development stages, and although oftentimes sneaky photos of these figures make their way onto the internet, sometimes they don’t. (One example of this from this past show was an un-painted Elsa figma. I couldn’t take a photo because there was a staff guy standing right next to it at the time). Pokemon merchandise in general tends to get lost from reports, probably as a combination of there not being much Pokemon related merch available coupled with “no photos allowed” signs. Being able to report on this year’s Wonder Festival and see up-coming Pokemon figures in person was one main reason I wanted to finally attend Wonder Festival.

I’ve lived here for 7+ years, so why did it take me so long? The main reason is I hate crowds, also why I tend to avoid attending festivals or conventions of any kind here. (I only attend the summer festival in my city because the festival center is along the street just outside my apartment building, meaning I can go out, get food, and eat it inside my home!) Taking into consideration that Wonder Festival only lasts for 1 day, I was very concerned about how many people would be attending. My worries were basically for nothing; it was crowded, of course, and there were lots of lines for everything, including taking pictures of some of the more popular figures, but the lines moved pretty well, and it never got crowded to the point where you couldn’t move or didn’t have some semblance of personal space.

In short, it was a very enjoyable experience, more so than the Tokyo Game Show, which honestly isn’t very enjoyable. I hold more than a passing interest in figures, and I had a lot of fun seeing figures in person that up until then I had only seen on the internet. If you’re ever in the Tokyo/Chiba area when a Wonder Festival occurs, I highly recommend attending!

Moving on to the meat of this report…

Upcoming Pokemon figures!

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Friday Pokemon Announcements – Card Sleeves, Fujita Collaboration, HG Misty Figure, Dot Sprite Series

Compared to last week’s Halloween Parade announcement, this week’s Pokemon news is a little lackluster…but at least we got something as opposed to nothing, so it could be worse!

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We already knew about these Pokemon Center exclusive card sleeves coming out September 26th, but now we have higher quality photos of them.

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Spinns clothing company is stocking three items from a mini collaboration between Pokemon and Nicole Fujita, a Japanese model. The skirt and t-shirt are already on sale, and the cardigan will be available sometime at the beginning of September.

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New additions to the Dot Sprite series will go on sale in Pokemon Centers on September 19th. Up until now, the Dot Sprite series has mainly featured Pikachu and pokeballs, so the inclusion of the gen 1 starters is a welcome update.

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The keychains are especially adorable.

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The sticker sheets are also very cute, offering multiple sticker sizes for all your stickering needs and potential stickering situations.

The full line-up of this mini promotion includes:
A4 size clearfiles
Sticker sheets
Lanyards
Keyholders
Pouches
Pass cases
T-shirt (M/L)

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The next HG figure, Misty (Kasumi) is officially on pre-order at the Premium Bandai website, and will be available until October 30th.

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Hopefully they won’t stop at Misty and will continue to bring out figures of the Red/Green gym leaders (because I want Sabrina!)

Incidentally, Brock is still available for pre-order, but time is running out; the pre-order cut off is August 31st.

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Do you live in Japan and like temporary tattoos and Halloween? These “body stickers” are probably right up your alley!

Pikachus

Last but not least, if you live in Japan nearby to a Pokemon Center but not Yokohama and were bummed that you couldn’t see any of the cute Pikachu mascots, never fear! Between September 19th and the 23rd, otherwise known as “Silver Week”, various Pikachu mascots will be visiting all of the Pokemon Centers around Japan. On top of this joyous news, during this time period, you will get 1 of the 4 stickers shown in the photo if you spend 500 yen or more at the Pokemon Center.

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Dot Sprite Series
Card Sleeves
Pokemon x Fujita Collaboration
Halloween Stickers
Silver Week Pikachu Campaign