Hey, all! Things are as busy as ever behind the scenes, so to quell the wait, I figure I'd share pictures of not only my visit to the Nintendo World Store, but of the merchandise I picked up. There's TONS of cool stuff that even shocked me, and I'm something of a collector.
First thing I noticed was that they actually moved all the Pokémon stuff upstairs; in their place was a plethora of Mario-themed plushies and goodies. Some were familiar to me (like the Luigi Nendoroid), but I was absolutely not familiar with most of the plushies they had. I had quite a bit of spending money on me, but it took all my willpower not to grab everything off the shelves.
By the way, note how hard they're pushing Yo-Kai Watch. I have no idea if that'll take off here, but I like the cool cat they got back there. Did any of you try the demo? I was surprised at how polished it was.
Here're some awesome Chibi-Robo: Zip-Lash! and Yoshi's Woolly World displays. The latter actually utilized unique wool assets as opposed to just the Yarn Yoshi amiibos. If you're not into Yoshi games but loved the heck out of Kirby's Epic Yarn like I did, I highly recommend it!
Since Leave Luck to Heaven is prepping to finally push through the rest of Ten Years of Kirby, here's the store's Kirby corner. Unfortunately, most of the shirts didn't fit me (I really wanted the top middle one...), but luckily the bottom left one fit me...yeah, yeah, I know. Angry Kirby. Woe is me! Anyway, noot pictured is another rack that had plushies of miscellaneous Kirby characters (Meta Knight, Dedede, Kawasaki, etc.), one of who I managed to grab. Details later.
And speaking of small shirts, here's a cool Beatles-themed Pikmin one that also eluded me. I gotta slim down.
For those who've never visited, what make the store even cooler is that they actually play music from Nintendo games over the speakers. I heard familiar tunes from Super Mario 64, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, and Zelda: Four Swords Adventures during this visit, but I was shocked to hear them pull from more obscure stuff like The Wonderful 101. In the above shot, I'm sitting down while listening to my favorite EarthBound tune. Too cool.
Believe it or not, they actually played a song from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, too! Hearing that game's variation of the Cornered theme while waiting in line to purchase was too fitting.
Anyway, let's go over my haul. Before I go on, did you notice that huge plushie in the Kirby pics? Well...
It's sitting on my basement couch right now. And it's BIG! I own about a dozen or so Kirby plushies, and the previous biggest ones are maybe half its size. The Wii Remote serves as a quick size comparison. As you'd imagine, it's lovely to touch and lie back upon. And that smile's just too cute.
All Kirby's Avalanche fans, say it with me: Waddle DOO. Would you believe me if I said the current president of Retro Studios was one of the two announcer voices in that game? My kingdom for a Squishy plushie...*sigh*.
Here's Cat Mario and Cat Toad just chillin'. Hey, just because I'm not the world's biggest 3D World fan doesn't mean I can't bask in the glory of the Cat Suit.
By the way, it seems Cat Toad found a friend in a certain stalker from Animal Crossing. Scary pair, if you ask me.
They made a Fuzzie plushie?!? To mark the occasion, I just had to nab one. As expected, it's compellingly squishy.
My new Lemmy and Roy Koopa plushies conspire with Iggy and Morton. Just between you and me, my friends and I theorize Morton's the neglected Koopaling. He seems to be taking it okay.
A Yellow Pikmin figurine! This is part of the World of Nintendo line. I wonder if they'll ever make one for the Purple Fattie.
Speaking of which, here's a Fattie you can hang up. But where does one hang a Fattie from? That's no easy task, but regardless, that makes three Fattie plushies I own.
Aww, look at 'im! They actually had sleeping variations for Eevee and its evolutions, but I went with the most recognizable Poke.
They had various sizes for the Substitute Doll, but I went with the smallest to complement my massive Kirby.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you: that's a Spinie plushie suspending from a Lakitu plushie that can be suspended wherever you deem fit. Also not an easy task.
I also bought some amiibo that I'd love to share, but I have a long overdue announcement to make: within the next month, I'd like to show off my basement...in other words, my gaming headquarters! Over the past few months, my parents and I have been redecorating the house, and there's been massive restructuring going on. In particular, my gaming area is a sight to behold, not the least of which are all the amiibo I've collected. Should everything go well, I'd like to share not only that, but my game storages, rare merchandise and my rehauled bedroom. It'll be a whopper of a post, so stay tuned!
See ya soon!
Generally speaking, one could make the case that, within any fandom, it's so pleasing to just be around people who love it as much as you do, where no one is judged for their level of obsession. But being that Nintendo is personal for both you and me, it feels that much more special. So yay!
ReplyDeleteI've only been to America twice, once to Boston, once to California. While the latter was plenty fun (highlight has to be getting inside Walt Disney Studios, which is as magical as you want it to be), I've always harboured a desire to visit the Nintendo World Store in New York. Getting a first-hand report courtesy of you, Anthony, is the closest I've yet gotten. As I'm bound to visit New York at some point, I know it will come soon.
My own collection of Nintendo merchandise mostly consists of a few bits and bobs, and nothing on your level, of course. I have a large Jigglypuff plush, but it's only about half the size of that Kirby one. Otherwise, I have all three Kirby amiibo, a Kirby Super Star Ultra shoulder bag (which I wear everywhere with great happiness) and a couple of assorted plushies, many Pokémon. And other things too. Because I had to:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=974568345928212&set=a.587923374592713.1073741826.100001251677750&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=974568412594872&set=a.587923374592713.1073741826.100001251677750&type=3&theater
Apologies for the quality, 'twas a lightblub-bleached night in my bedroom that July!
Those Kirby t-shirts, man. As a... well, slim, 6'4" fella, I'm sure many of those actually would fit me! I'm most attached to the Meta Knight one myself, as I've always likes tough characters within saccharine settings, and he has so much visual power on that black t-shirt, man.
Anyway, sounds like a great visit, man! I'm not familiar enough with East Coast America Geoghraphy to know how far it is from your place to New York, but I gather it to be a fair while, judging by past posts, so it must always be a treat, to visit it!
And a friend of mine has that Substitute plush! It's his good-luck charm at Pokémon tournaments. Speaking of which... like you just did, I'm travelling a short distance for something Nintendo-related, a Pokémon VGC Regional, and my first, over in London. It'll be awesome, and the merch should be a real treat bonus!
Random question, Anthony... when do you think the next Kirby game will be announced? Regardless of that, unless they spring a surprise announcement on us just a few months before launch, I wouldn't expect a new game to arrive until Fall 2016... Perhaps a Kirby NX Launch title is in the works? You've kept up with it for over a decade, more then long enough to have a handle on that type of thing. Opinions?
Anyway, awesome posts, and I look forward to your retrospective on Kirby Super Star Ultra upon my return!
First off, YIKES! Look at all the misspellings and typos in my post! I must've been half-asleep! Back to work, back to work!
DeleteAnyway, your links don't seem to work. Hopefully it's not something on my end...I'd like to see them.
The next Kirby game? Hmm, well, Kirby games always seem to arrive within the tailend of a home console's lifetime, so I don't think we'll see it on the NX anytime soon. Granted, we don't even know what the heck that console even is, but I get the impression Nintendo won't use Kirby to show off their shiny new console. Meanwhile, Kirby pops up whenever he darn feels like on handhelds, so I suspect he'll be around even in the 3DS's twilight years. Following the amazing quality of the past half-decade, I'm already pumped.
Super Star Ultra will come soon! I really must apologize, for I told you it wouldn't take long...yet it's already been four months, ahaha. Things are a bit rough over here, as you'll see in something I'm about to post.