Grail get! the Pokémon Center Life Size Croagunk and the bizzare tale of the Guregguru Bazar...
At last it's finally mine! Perhaps one of, if not THE most elusive Pokémon Center Life Size plush: Croagunk! So what makes this guy so special? Well check under the cut for a bizzare piece of Pokémon Center history!
Now, this guy has quite the interesting back story and due to the peculiar nature of it, there are likely only a few of this plush in existence. Not only because of the campaign's obscurity, but the utterly bizzare lengths at which you had to go to even be able to aquire this life sized froggo.
Back in June 2009, select Pokémon Centers in Japan ran a campaign called "Guregguru Bazar" (グレッグル・バザール) or "Croagunk Bazaar" in English. This event was dedicated entirely to the Sinnoh resident, Croagunk. Croagunk served a fairly prominent role in the anime as one of Brock's Pokémon and was the season's comedic relief with poison jab being the running gag. This Pokémon garnered enough of a fanbase to justify this special, and frankly convoluted, promo campaign. However it only ran for a couple weeks. Due to how obscure the promotion was, it was difficult to dig up information related to the campaign but I did my best based on old posts and merchandise records and what I found was certainly strange.
During the promotion, patrons of the Pokémon Center were required to do one very crucial thing to gain access to certain items featured in the Guregguru Bazar: they had to bring in their Nintendo DS with a copy of Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum with a team of SIX Croagunk. Bizzare right? This unusual requirement meant much of the merchandise was behind a prerequisite making some of it difficult to obtain. Even if getting all six Croagunk wasn't especially hard to do in-game, the effort and the requirement to present your team to the clerk made the items especially exclusive. It seems some items did not require you to show proof of your Croagunk devotion such as a smaller plush in the same pose, a few clear files, and some postcards... however the life size plush, two traditional Japanese wood carving statues, and a special "mirror" postcard stood behind the Croagunk team prerequisite barrier. But boy would it have been worth it to own this incredible plush!
So imagine my luck when I found this guy for a reasonable price? I couldn't believe by luck! Jumped at the chance to own this elusive fellow and add him to my ever growing army of life size plushies (currently at 47). He's truly something spacial tho. At around 90cm tall he is MASSIVE. You can see him below compared to the life size Furret. He is striking the ever famous "Draw me like one of your French girls" pose which is both amusing and super unique as it exudes character unlike some of the life size plushies which take on a much more generic idle pose. He's made of soft minky and his white stripes are a terrycloth-like material. No detail was missed on this guy!
In conclusion, I am super excited to be one of the few collectors who owns this absolute gem of a plush. My hope is that more unique life size and giant plushies are released in eccentric poses in the future. As a lover of the big ones this guy was a must have for me, and to make things even sweeter here is the note from the listing:
*translated with Google translate*
"Thank you for watching.
I met him at the Pokemon Center's Guregguru Bazaar in June 2009.
I've been sleeping alone in my parents' house for more than 10 years, so I'm looking for someone to stay with me.
I bought it because I love croagunk, but I moved immediately after that and left it at my parents' house for a long time, so I would like to have it in my favorite person's hand.
It's not widely available and it's still my favorite Pokemon, so I'm still a little lost, but if you have any ties, thank you."
I hope the person who loved this plush so dearly knows he is very much cherished in my collection and is well taken care of. It was sweet to read the connection this person had with this Croagunk and it's one of those moments very unique to the Pokémon fandom, where people part with friends rather than toys. Each of us has something in our collection that means the world to us, and to own something that was so deeply sentimental to someone is truly a humbling feeling and reminds you what Pokémon is all about. Would love to see what other people consider their most cherished item in their collection in the comments!
I'll finish off with pics of his tags. His hang tag was well protected in plastic and cardboard from his previous owner and features the campaign art which is also the signature pose, and the tush tag is uniquely blue.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed learning about this unique, obscure plush and campaign.
Now, this guy has quite the interesting back story and due to the peculiar nature of it, there are likely only a few of this plush in existence. Not only because of the campaign's obscurity, but the utterly bizzare lengths at which you had to go to even be able to aquire this life sized froggo.
Back in June 2009, select Pokémon Centers in Japan ran a campaign called "Guregguru Bazar" (グレッグル・バザール) or "Croagunk Bazaar" in English. This event was dedicated entirely to the Sinnoh resident, Croagunk. Croagunk served a fairly prominent role in the anime as one of Brock's Pokémon and was the season's comedic relief with poison jab being the running gag. This Pokémon garnered enough of a fanbase to justify this special, and frankly convoluted, promo campaign. However it only ran for a couple weeks. Due to how obscure the promotion was, it was difficult to dig up information related to the campaign but I did my best based on old posts and merchandise records and what I found was certainly strange.
During the promotion, patrons of the Pokémon Center were required to do one very crucial thing to gain access to certain items featured in the Guregguru Bazar: they had to bring in their Nintendo DS with a copy of Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum with a team of SIX Croagunk. Bizzare right? This unusual requirement meant much of the merchandise was behind a prerequisite making some of it difficult to obtain. Even if getting all six Croagunk wasn't especially hard to do in-game, the effort and the requirement to present your team to the clerk made the items especially exclusive. It seems some items did not require you to show proof of your Croagunk devotion such as a smaller plush in the same pose, a few clear files, and some postcards... however the life size plush, two traditional Japanese wood carving statues, and a special "mirror" postcard stood behind the Croagunk team prerequisite barrier. But boy would it have been worth it to own this incredible plush!
So imagine my luck when I found this guy for a reasonable price? I couldn't believe by luck! Jumped at the chance to own this elusive fellow and add him to my ever growing army of life size plushies (currently at 47). He's truly something spacial tho. At around 90cm tall he is MASSIVE. You can see him below compared to the life size Furret. He is striking the ever famous "Draw me like one of your French girls" pose which is both amusing and super unique as it exudes character unlike some of the life size plushies which take on a much more generic idle pose. He's made of soft minky and his white stripes are a terrycloth-like material. No detail was missed on this guy!
In conclusion, I am super excited to be one of the few collectors who owns this absolute gem of a plush. My hope is that more unique life size and giant plushies are released in eccentric poses in the future. As a lover of the big ones this guy was a must have for me, and to make things even sweeter here is the note from the listing:
*translated with Google translate*
"Thank you for watching.
I met him at the Pokemon Center's Guregguru Bazaar in June 2009.
I've been sleeping alone in my parents' house for more than 10 years, so I'm looking for someone to stay with me.
I bought it because I love croagunk, but I moved immediately after that and left it at my parents' house for a long time, so I would like to have it in my favorite person's hand.
It's not widely available and it's still my favorite Pokemon, so I'm still a little lost, but if you have any ties, thank you."
I hope the person who loved this plush so dearly knows he is very much cherished in my collection and is well taken care of. It was sweet to read the connection this person had with this Croagunk and it's one of those moments very unique to the Pokémon fandom, where people part with friends rather than toys. Each of us has something in our collection that means the world to us, and to own something that was so deeply sentimental to someone is truly a humbling feeling and reminds you what Pokémon is all about. Would love to see what other people consider their most cherished item in their collection in the comments!
I'll finish off with pics of his tags. His hang tag was well protected in plastic and cardboard from his previous owner and features the campaign art which is also the signature pose, and the tush tag is uniquely blue.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed learning about this unique, obscure plush and campaign.