Pokemon Center Report Pokemon 20th Anniversary Starter Plush
by ZombieMiki | Aug 29, 2018
Hello everyone!
This past weekend gave us two big releases: Pokemon Time and Pokemon Center exclusive plush for every single starter Pokemon across all 7 generations.
This release was in conjunction with the apparently year-long celebration of the Pokemon Centers 20th Anniversary in Japan. The majority of these plush are new releases with a new pattern although the following were all re-releases: Chikorita, Totodile, Cyndaquil, Piplup, Rowlet, Popplio, and Litten.
Legendary Pokmon Collectibles Rolling Out Throughout The Year
Rare Pokémon you get to hug
Toy manufacturer TOMY is getting in on Pokémon’s 20th anniversary celebrations by launching a line of legendary Pokémon figures and plushes, the company announced. From now until December, various retailers will receive toys based on one different mythical Pokémon creature per month, with Pikachu also thrown into the mix.
The line kicks off this month as TOMY issues new toys based on both Pikachu and the rare Pokémon Mew to Toys R Us, GameStop and Walmart. A crushed velvet Mew plush and 2-inch Mew figure are only available at GameStop Walmart and Toys R Us will receive various Pikachu figures and plushes in differing finishes this month.
The full release calendar, courtesy of the press release, is as follows, and includes where to find the unique collectibles:
TOMY’s promotion mirrors The Pokémon Company’s . Owners of the Pokémon 3DS games can receive a single hard-to-find Pokémon per month from either GameStop or the Nintendo Network digital distribution service. Currently, players have until Feb. 24 to grab Mew from GameStop for their Pokédexes.
Pokmon 25th Anniversary Predictions: Toys & Merch In 2021
Way back in the 1990s, on February 27th, 1996, Pokémon was first released in Japan. Though the west didnt start seeing its massive influence until well-over 2 years later, this does mean that Pokémon is turning 25 in 2021. And trust me, something big is clearly coming.
While the hype train here in the west tends to rollercoaster for the past nearly 23 years, Japan has kept a keen eye on the franchise. This is easily seen, between official prefecture mascots, painted manhole covers, and general Pokémon merchandise all over the place. When Pokémon had its 20th anniversary, several reveals, events, and celebrations were had. We saw the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon, known for putting its best Kanto / Gen 1 foot forward. Pokémon GO was released, which is still beloved by both seasoned and casual trainers alike to this day. We saw 11 Mythical Pokémon get the spotlight, across each month, starting in February. Two special trading card game sets released. Even football fans were treated to a Pokémon 20th anniversary commercial during their own 50th anniversary. 2016 was the year of Pokémons actual resurgence. And 20 years was a solid, rounded number to commemorate it all.
This is going to be a quick mini series of articles. I plan on touching important parts of Pokémons history, contextualizing what is realistic and what isnt. So, lets start off with some merch.
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In Other Nintendo Games
On February 25, 2016, North American versions of Nintendo Badge Arcade celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon with ten sets of Pokémon badges, including the first badges of Pokémon. Pokémon-themed HOME Menus were displayed on the game’s Miiverse Gallery for a period after March 6.
Splatoon
In commemoration of Pokémon’s 20th Anniversary, a Splatfest was held on February 20, 2016 at 6:00 AM UTC, pitting players who prefer against players who prefer */*. The Splatfest, like all Splatfests, was divided and tallied by game region. At the end of the Splatfest, in all three regions, Red lost to Blue and Green.
In Japan, replicas of the Red Team and Green Team T-shirts distributed in-game to participants were sold in across the country.
Super Mario Maker
An Event Course entitled I Choose You! was uploaded on February 11, 2016. When the player completes this course, they will unlock a , , or costume. Completing the course three times will unlock all three. Unlike the Super Smash Bros. Pokémon costumes, these costumes have a full set of custom sound effects and music taken from .
Toys And Merch: The Realistic Prediction
Lets start with the low-hanging fruit by talking about Pokémon toys first. Were likely to see showings from Wicked Cool Toys, Re-Ment, and all of the usual suspects. I expect to see a lot of silver-colored items. Some of these have already been clearly leaked and/or shown off, such as the silver chrome Pikachu Funko Pop, complete with 25th anniversary logo on the box.
While not generally distributed outside of Japan, Re-Ment could see new sets in 2021 based around the 25th anniversary. Were absolutely going to see silver versions of Pokémon as plush from Wicked Cool Toys, as well as Japanese brands taking a whack at it as well for the Japanese Pokémon Center.
The Japanese Lego-like block toy, Nanoblock, has a full line of Pokémon already that keeps new items coming all the time. They did a special line based on Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow that had black-and-white monotone versions of the starters to commemorate the 20th Anniversary. The toys used the box art from the four original games in Japan. Its totally plausible to see it happen again five years later. Lets see them bring the Gen 2 starters and have Gold, Silver, and Crystals original box art.
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Toys And Merch: The Wow
Now that we talked about merchandise that will absolutely be feasible, lets talk about what I hope we see, even though there may be no real evidence for it. I want to see some of the early merch make a comeback in some way. When it was at the height of the phenomenon around 1999 and 2000, you couldnt go into any store without seeing Pikachus chubby face. With Pokémon Sword and Shield bringing us Gigantamax Pikachu as a reference to the old chonk, I want to see the roly-poly version of our mascot make a hardcore comeback. Sure, he slimmed down over the past 25 years. But, its time for him to emerge in a big way.
With my predictions and hopes, lets bring Burger King back into the mix. Or, if all else fails, do it at McDonalds. Back in the day, Burger King made its mark on Pokémon history with a ton of Pokémon toys during the early run. But, it also is where fans could find the infamous 23k gold-plated Pokémon cards. Back then, we only had 151 Pokémon to worry about , while theyve added a handful more since. Based on the promos that have been randomly stuck into Vivid Voltage booster packs across the world, McDonalds is likely to take up the mantle instead, with a line of toys that come with cards. Theyve been the go-to for years now. But, lets reference the long history with some new gold cards as well. Do it, you cowards.
