I've always been intrigued by the 2004 Banpresto Contest plush set, which includes the Hoenn starters and Plusle and Minun. Releasing in late September of 2004, the set was obtainable in UFO Catchers in Japan. However... the set has a second half, containing the same plushes, but with different ribbons.
If you collect Plusle/Minun, Treecko, Mudkip, or Torchic, or are just curious, please see under the cut, as the post will get long.
The first set contains the following plushes.
Smart Ribbon Minun - Tough Ribbon Mudkip - Cool Ribbon Treecko - Beauty Ribbon Torchic- Cuteness Ribbon Plusle
Here is the corresponding set image.
The ribbons on the normal rank plushes circle the pendant and have a white stripe on the bottom. The tags correspond to the color of the contest type, with the pokemon's name and contest type written on the front. On the back is images of the other plushes in the set.
These plushes are the easiest to find. A little uncommon, but they pop up pretty often. You'll usually find them for 5$ cheapest, 20$ most expensive, with few exceptions. But this info is easy to find...
That's where the Hyper Rank plush set comes in.
With little to almost no documentation, finding any info on these plushes was agonizing, let alone images. Most of the info I found corresponded to the first set, with the only info I found relating to the second set coming from the tag. Looking at said tag...
It reads "ポケモンコンテスト優勝リボンぬいぐるみ〜ハイパークラス編〜" which translates to "Pokemon Contest: Champion Ribbon Plushies~! Hyper class edition~"
Underneath the text, we are given the list of the plushes in this set. The contest type for each pokemon has been scrambled, and now is as follows.
Smart Ribbon Torchic - Tough Ribbon Treecko - Cool Ribbon Mudkip - Beauty Ribbon Plusle - Cuteness Ribbon Minun
This tag holds alot of secrets. The most notable is that, instead of being differently designed per pokemon, it is universal. The back of the tag also does not contain images of the other plushes, instead containing simple art of the Pokemon.
This... is certainly peculiar, and gives the second set an air of mystery. Lottery Plushes? A very rushed release? A secret second set given out along with the first? We don't know.
What we can tell is that whatever the case, these plushes had a very limited release, possibly only over a month or two. Not many people got them it seems, and those that did don't really know what they are. As a result, searching for them directly will rarely give you info. The most common title given is "Ribbon Plush."
I'd say these plushes value around 10$ minimum... with the maximum being whatever a collector wants to drop on them, but 25-30$ sounds reasonable.
Here are all the Hyper Rank Plushes, with the best (and only images...) I could find.
The hyper rank ribbons are a more traditional bow shape, with no stripes. They're also a little bigger.
These plushes are very obscure and I wish anyone super good luck on finding them. I am happy to shed more information on them.
On the topic though, a holy grail of mine is the Cuteness/Pink Ribbon Minun, so if anyone has one for sale (I am aware of an ongoing auction) please let me know.