Japan and Collection Update
Hello all!
So as I mentioned in my amazing sales posts, pogaf and I took a little trip to Tokyo last month. :) I had been once before, but it was her first time there! And lucky for us, we had a blast. We stayed in the Ueno area, which was a great location to start each day setting out on our excursions around the city. Although we didn't do everything we had originally planned, we saw and did a lot! (Also, I did massive amounts of research for this trip, so if anyone is planning a Tokyo trip and needs some help/advice, I'll be happy to share my itinerary document. :D)
Check out the post for lotsssss of photos and such! :)
Collection and Japan Trip
My plane was delayed a whopping 4 hours (add that to a 12-hour flight and I was delighted) so I didn't get in until after 6pm. Pogaf had been waiting for me at the airport for ages, so we got on a train and found our way to the hotel. We didn't do much that night ... just went to a conbini and got snacks! The next day, we went to Gotokuji Temple (for the beckoning cat!), a small street market, had lunch with a friend of mine who was visitng the city from Osaka on the 53rd floor of the Shinjuku building!
Then, we went to 2 Pokemon-related places: Nakano Broadway and the Mega Tokyo Pokemon Center! Mega Tokyo was so crowded my photos were terrible. But here's the couple that I nabbed.
Yeah...the rest of the time we were just trying to grab toys while not getting smushed by other shoppers! XD It's a very lovely store, though, the selection was pretty picked-over. I got a few more photos of the Pokemon that decorate the esclators on a third trip there. (Yes. We went to Mega Tokyo 3 times during our trip. @_@)
<3 So cute.
And below is my Nakano Broadway loot. I didn't actually get photos while we were there.
If you know what that Umbreon strap is, and if you know what 100 Yen is (less than a dollar) you can imagine the freaking out that ensued when I found it in a random bin of Pokemon toys. I've since traded it for another user's strap which had a sun-faded package, but is still super awesome. I'll post pictures of my new strap below!
On Day 3 we to the Tokyo National Museum in the morning, and then took a train up to the Tokyo Bay LaLaPort mall. While there, we went to the Tokyo Bay Pokemon Center, which had a much better selection overall than Mega Tokyo, and was a lot less busy. :) We got several cool things here! They were also decorated for Christmas!
It was a big store!
I don't really collect or play the TCG much anymore, but I did buy a few packs in hopes of getting the new Vulpix card. It was the first card in the first pack I opened! I also kept one of the promo cards the Pokemon Center was giving away for myself. <3
I got the his and her My Dearest Necklaces, and I'm so glad I did. I mostly wear the male one because the colors match my outfits better, but the female one is super cute, too! 3000 yen shelf price, and it was well worth it. I love that the Pokemon Center recognizes that so many of its patrons are older teens and adults. In fact, there were plenty of other people our age at the centers, particularly Mega Tokyo!
A few of my other gets. I got a cute-as-can-be hand towel, the Pikachu-zard with the happy face (I actually don't like the one with the angry face) the My Dearest charm sets for Meowstic (and Pikachu) and a Skitty petite plush!
Thursday and Friday were spent between the Shibuya area, Akihabara, and Sunshine City/Mega Tokyo. We did a ton more shopping than planned, but it was SO much fun! I got some cute shoes and earrings at Shibuya 109, and pogaf got a ton of Zoids models in Akihabara. On Saturday, we went to Mega Tokyo one last time to check out the new items, and then we went out to see denkimouse! We spent a lovely afternoon at her house playing with her ferrets and looking through her storage closet. We got some awesome goodies from her!
Not sure why it came out sideways, but anyway. Awesome production reference art of Vulpix! <3 A cool Vulpix bottlecap, and an Absol Pokemon Time clearfile to hold my settei. :D Which was good, because it was very rainy that day!
:D I LOVE the Brock and Vulpix one.
Close-up of the bottlecap.
On Sunday, we went to Yokohama's Minato Mirai area! We checked out the Yokohama Center, played some Ichiban Kuji, and went to a few more stores before heading home spending most of the day packing and such. We were pretty tired! And we had to go mail off all the Zoids models at the post office the next morning. XD
Not a whole lot else Pokemon-related on the trip, but it was an excellent time and I look forward to going again sometime in the future! (But not anytime too soon. Those plane rides were pretty meh.)
Other random gets not while on my trip:
A Poocheyena UFO! After catching my Fire Fang Poochy in Alpha Sapphire, I couldn't help myself. I actually played with two Mighteyena on my team in Sapphire, but this time I had so many favorites I just stuck with the one. (Although I ended up with 3 dark types on my time. Oops!)
Here's Pikazard with the World's Pikachu from this year! They sit on my desk at work. :)
My Japan gets. I LOVE the Pokemon Mikke stuff with Vulpix. <3 I got two of the little magnet clip bookmarks.
Meowstic kids! So chubby and cute.
I'm not sure what this is, although I know it's a New Year's thing. I got it because the pin in the front is so cute!
Clear files for the collection! @_@ I really came away with quite a haul.
Including this awesome Espeon/Umbreon clearfile set from the promo back in 2009! I guess Mega Tokyo must have found a stack while they were moving or something. XD
A community get from umbreeon! A cute little coin with Vulpix on it.
Pokepuff Sylveon. <3 Too cute to resist.
My new Pokemon Mini Umbreon strap! I honestly don't mind the faded package, and am just thrilled to have such a rare and elusive Umbreon in my little collection for her.
Zukan! The new additions are Absol and Skitty lines. I kind of moved Mighteyena line over to share Houndour's base since Absol didn't come with one and she's a bit large to fit on someone else's base. Skitty line has moved in on the Pikachu base.
Wobbuffet and Aipom also share the Furret base, haha.
The hand towel in action!
Charms I found at the Pokemon Center/Nakano! :D I really love charms so much. I'm still missing some for my favorites, though, which brings me to ....
WANTED ITEMS
Weezing Charm Set
Skitty Pokedoll. I know there's a few on Ebay, but I'd like to find one on the community if I can!
Skitty Line Charms
Noctowl/Hoot Hoot Charms
Absol Pokedoll
Weezing Line Zukan. Getting very frustrated in my search for Weezing items, honestly. :\ Twice now it seems I've found someone selling the zukan and then it turns out its not available/already sold. T_T Who knew Weezing would be so hard to find! And forget about the charms, did ANYONE buy them when they came out? (You know, during BOTH promotions? Haha.)
Pineco Zukan
Jigglypuff Zukan
Appreciate the help in finding these! :)