by ZombieMiki | Feb 17, 2017 | Pokemon, Pokemon Center Report
Hello everyone!
Since tonight was severely lacking in Pokemon merchandise news (all the news fit to tell was TCG related and I posted about it yesterday), today we will play catch up with a little Pokemon Center Report covering some recent releases.
Once again, I have to apologize for being confused! I thought the Monthly series started from March, but really it was April. Up until just now I thought this set of plush was the last one, but really, it’s the April plush that should be last, so technically speaking, we still have one more set of plush to look forward to (huzzah!) At any rate, the March Monthly Pair Pikachu were released February 4th and feature the two Pikas dressed as Hina Matsuri dolls.
The most surprising part of this release was that they sold out. They didn’t seem popular, or even a little popular, when the announcement for them came out, which leads me to think the scalping situation is getting worse…as in scalpers are now just buying everything thinking everything sells.
Pokedolls came back to Pokemon Centers February 11th! This second batch featured Pikachu
Ditto
and Bewear.
Out of the batch, Bewear turned out incredibly adorable, and I wasn’t the only person to think this as he sold out quickly. Eagle eye observers will also notice that both Pikachu and Ditto’s designs are basically the same as the previously released Secret Base plush, which sort of seems like cheating, but you do you, Pokemon Center.
Hopefully the next batch of Pokedolls will include the missing Rockruff, Alola Raichu, and Alola Vulpix plush.
Finally, February 11th also gave us brand new Pokemon Center exclusive plush from the Alola region, including… Torracat
Brionne
Edgewort… I mean Dartrix
Jangmo-o
Passimian
Lycanroc Midday Form
And Lycanroc Midnight Form.
From what I remember, the two Lycanrocs sold out first on-line, but in general this batch of plush did not go quickly (sorry guys!)
At this point, there is no more Pokemon Center releases for the rest of the month of February, so hopefully that means I’ll actually get completely caught up with my back log of Center reports (and I might have time to throw in some UFO Catcher Adventures as well!)
Until next time. Have fun playing Pokemon Go!
by ZombieMiki | Feb 14, 2017 | Merchandise Review, Pokemon
Hello everyone!
I got a couple super cute Pokemon items for Valentine’s Day (along with chocolate) and I wanted to share ♥
First of all, a special thank you to Jen from JapanStuffs – without her, I wouldn’t have the Monthly Pair Pikachu! And a second special thank you to Kerstin for the lovely Valentine’s Day gifts ♥♥♥
First up, the Monthly Pair Pikachu plush from February. Technically I’ve had this plush since mid January, but it was an early Valentine’s Day gift so it still counts!
The Pikachus are really soft and feature one boy and one girl (the same as all the other Monthly Pair plush). The roses aren’t made of plush fabric, but they decorate the front of a heart cushion which is plush. It’s also hard to see from around the cushion but the Pikachu are holding hands.
When I originally saw the advertisement for the February Pika Plush, I jokingly said, “if someone really loved me, I don’t care about flowers and jewelry, I just want this” but I wasn’t really joking 😉 This plush is so cute!
I don’t order too much stuff from the American Pokemon Center store, but I would have gotten these items for myself if Kerstin hadn’t beat me to it! I’m a sucker for pins, but these are really cute. I like how they placed the five pins on separate little Valentine’s Day cards so if you wanted to, you could give them away as gifts. There’s even a space on the back to write a little message.
Even with how cute these pins are, I probably still wouldn’t have gotten them if it wasn’t for Umbreon. Being an Umbreon collector, I couldn’t pass up this cute little grumpy face.
And speaking of Umbreon, I couldn’t pass the cup up either (although I have way too many Pokemon cups!) For those who’ve never ordered mugs from the Pokemon Center store before, their mugs are very big and heavy, surprisingly so for the price (about $15 USD). Maybe my entire perception of what a normal size is has been skewed by living in Japan, but regardless, I recommend the US Pokemon Center mugs!
The Umbreon mug is sold as a set with a matching Espeon one for about $30 so you’re saving money compared to buying two mugs separately. Keep them both and use one at night and one in the morning or give one to someone you love!
And that concludes today’s special Valentine’s Day Merchandise Review!
Whether you’re single, dating, married, divorced (cough), alone, surrounded by family, or even if you hate the holiday, Happy Valentine’s Day! And until next time.
Edit: And I’m back sooner than expected! Just after I posted this, I checked the mail and my package from the US Pokemon Center arrived! What was inside?!
Substitute Hoodie! The Substitute promotion that was released in Japan last year in May finally came out (sort of) in the US Pokemon Center store. There were some neat US counterparts to the Japanese items (like the blanket), but the one thing that caught my eye (and my heart) was the hoodie.
The lining in the hood features the Substitute Pikachu pattern, there is a Substitute illustration over the left breast and a big Pikachu Substitute on the back (pictured here). It’s very, very soft and super comfortable. I was a little worried before trying it on, but no, it’s perfect.
The hoodie is dark green (not black! I know it’s hard to see in photos).
Here is a comparison between the pattern on the Substitute t-shirt released in Japan and the pattern on the inside of the hood.
Like with all clothing from the Pokemon Center, the hoodie runs large. Having never bought a hoodie from the Center before, I had to make an “educated” guess based on the numbers listed and comparing it with the shirts I already own. I ended up ordering a Large, which thankfully was perfect for what I like (I usually order XL but I would have been swimming in it). With that said, and as I mentioned, it is incredibly comfortable and soft and I 100% recommend it. It comes with two pockets which means you have space to carry two mini Substitute plushies!
And on that note, I’m going to bed. Goodnight!
by ZombieMiki | Feb 2, 2017 | gacha, Pokemon, Pokemon Merch News, UFO Catchers
February
[Gacha] Sleepy Friends: Sun & Moon (Rowlet, Litten, Popplio, Rockruff, Pikachu)
2.1
[Pokemon Center] Vulpix Poncho Promotion
[Pokemon Center Campaign] Sapporo Re-opening Part 2: Coaster + Art Card distribution starts
2.4
[Pokemon Center] March Monthly Pair Pikachu
2.6
[Candy Toy] Pokemon Collection Candy Sun & Moon (Solgaleo, Lunala, Togedemaru, Litten, Rowlet, Popplio, Komala, Rockruff, Dex Rotom, Pikachu)
2.7
[Banpresto] Pokemon Sun & Moon – Large Togedemaru Plush
2.9
[Banpresto] Nebukuro Collection – Large Plush (Jolteon, Sylveon)
[Banpresto] Nebukuro Collection – Plush (Eevee, Glaceon, Leafeon)
[Banpresto] Pokemon Sun & Moon – Large Alola Raichu Plush
[Banpresto] *NAMCO EXCLUSIVE* Magikarp Plush
2.11
[Pokemon Center] Pokedolls Part 2 (Pikachu, Bewear, Ditto)
[Pokemon Center] Pokemon Center Plush Part 3 (Dartrix, Torracat, Brionne, Jangmo-o, Passimion, Lycanroc Midday/Midnight)
2.14
[Banpresto] Nebukuro Collection – Large Plush (Espeon, Umbreon)
2.16
[Banpresto] Pokemon Sun & Moon Plush (Alola Raichu, Alola Vulpix, Alola Meowth)
2.21
[Banpresto] Pokemon Tea Party – Pikachu Face Cushion
[Banpresto] Pokemon Tea Party – Large Pikachu Plush
2.23
[Banpresto] Pokemon Sun & Moon – Large Meowth Plush
[Merchandise] Mocchi-Mocchi Cushions (Snorlax, Gengar, Jigglypuff)
2.25
[MonColle Get] Part 5 (Lycanroc, Alola Rattata, Absol, Drowzee, Yungoos, plus 3 secrets)
by ZombieMiki | Jan 20, 2017 | Pokemon, Pokemon Merch News, UFO Catchers
Hello everyone!
Tonight’s announcements were pretty sparse, so I’ll be including the Banpresto update for February as well.
First up, the Monthly Pair Pikachu for March was officially announced on the Pokemon website. The theme for March is, unsurprisingly, Hana-Matsuri (Girl’s Day) which is on March 3rd. The pair will come out February 4th and will cost 2,808 yen after tax.
Moving on to the Banpresto side of things!
As a reminder before we dive into prizes, Banpresto is a company that creates prizes for game centers. These prizes are not sold to customers directly; you need to either win them yourself or get them second hand.
The Pokemon Tea Party continues from January with two new plush. The Pikachu Macaron cushion and large Pikachu plush will both be available starting February 21st (Tuesday).
The Nebukuro Collection is not slowing down with more releases into February.
There will be two sets of large plush. Jolteon and Sylveon will be available starting February 9th (Tuesday) and Espeon and Umbreon will be available starting February 14th (Tuesday).
The smaller set of plush, featuring Eevee, Glaceon, and Leafeon, will be available starting February 9th (Tuesday).
Alola Hype continues with some popular Alola type Pokemon plush.
The smaller sized plush, featuring Alola Raichu, Alola Vulpix, and Alola Meowth, will be available at game centers starting February 16th (Thursday).
The larger sized Alola Raichu plush will be available starting February 9th (Thursday) and the larger Togedemaru plush will be available starting February 7th (Tuesday).
If you prefer Meowth over his Alolan counter part, you’re in luck, as a fairly big Meowth plush will be available as a prize starting February 23rd (Thursday).
A fairly big sized Magikarp plush will be available as well, exclusively through Namco, starting February 9th (Thursday).
And that concludes our merchandise round-up for today!
Until next time~
——
March Monthly Pair Pikachu
by ZombieMiki | Jan 8, 2017 | Pokemon, Pokemon Merch News
I was hoping the Pokemon Center site might have updated on Saturday since they didn’t update on Friday, but no such luck. Guess we’ll have to wait until next week.
But in the meantime, more Pokemon Center releases!
There were two big releases this past Saturday. Number one was the February installation of the Monthly Pair Pikachu series. This set of plush makes the perfect Valetine’s Day gift for a loved one (or yourself) (or both!)
AOn that note, next month’s release will be the conclusion to the year long series! Can you believe it’s already been a year since the Pair version of Monthly Pikachu started? Time flies.
What do you think the next theme will be? Do you think the series will continue for another year?
The second big release for the day was the pokeball themed promotion. Featuring a wide variety of items, from plush to clothing and bags, although the promo doesn’t have any Pokemon, the items still seemed pretty cute, stylish, and practical.
(more…)
