I love Rilakkuma plushies!
Hooray! My Misdo Rilakkuma plushie came in yesterday!
He had been on my wishlist since last week (short hunt haha), so I was really excited to finally see him today!
Welcome to the family!
Yum!
Tag close-up
Yay! He’s so cute! He stands out a little right now because he’s smaller/sitting down – he’s so special! Love him already :) Thanks, Simon!
Ah, the wonderful world of UFO catchers!
A UFO catcher is a kind of claw machine game popular in Japan. Compared to their Western counterparts, UFO catchers generally have 2 prongs instead of 3 or 4. From my experience, in the US, claw machines just have a random assortment of things, but Fansclub took it to another level and stocked their machines with Rilakkuma. Jealous!
These plushies are genuine San-X licensed – they’re just not sold in stores! You have to earn them by mastering the art of UFO catching. They come in different sizes, materials, and designs from the store releases.
However, sometimes, Fansclub and San-X come out with very similar Rilakkuma designs. Take the Marine Series, for example:
Store release (~22 cm)
Fansclub release (~17-20 cm)
Fansclub XL release (~50 cm)
Wow, super similar! But all legitimate :)
One great thing: Fansclub does a hell of a job cataloging their UFO catcher plushies and other prizes. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can stroll through their entire catalog of prizes, by series name and release date. San-X has been partnered with Fansclub for a long time, so there are hundreds of Rilakkuma UFO catcher plushies out there!
I generally gravitate towards the standard 22 cm plushies, but I love that these Rilakkuma plushies come in so many different designs!
Sometimes I get really one-tracked minded when it comes to Rilakkuma, and I forget San-X has a boatload of other characters they promote.
Recently, my sister and I discovered this character while cruising the San-X Net Shop blog:
Kinda looks like a Diglett, right?
This character is Tonkatsu (とんかつ) – the fried pork cutlet. His character description states that he’s that last leftover piece of tonkatsu; he’s 1% meat, 99% fat – and is always left behind because of his fat content.
Apparently, his pink nose is the 1% meat – the rest is breaded fat and grease!
In September 2012, this guy was introduced as part of a whole series of amorphous characters called Sumikko Gurashi (すみっこぐらし), which (very) roughly translates to “beings living in corners” (like of a house). I suppose I can imagine leftover crumbs of tonkatsu making their way into corners of a room.
In Sumikko Gurashi, Tonkatsu is joined by:
The whole Sumikko Gurashi team!
Top row: Shirokuma, Penguin?, Tonkatsu, Neko, Tapioca, and Zassou
Bottom row: Hokori, Furoshiki, & Nisetsumuri
What a team! I wonder how they came to be friends…
I really enjoy browsing old San-X archives, but I always end up wanting more Rilakkuma…
This time, it’s Sandwich Rilakkuma! Sold only at the Tokyo Station (during its 1 year anniversary) and Umeda stores in February 2010, this set was a special edition release as part of the Bon Voyage/Bonjour series – an entire series seemingly dedicated to Rilakkuma’s love of baguettes.
Rilakkuma and friends go to Paris!
What a big sandwich! Maybe Rilakkuma looks like he’s already eaten too much.
Speaking of sandwiches, apparently the term “sandwich” was coined by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who is said to have invented the combination of meat and bread so that he wouldn’t get his hands greasy while playing cribbage! I wonder how he would feel if he saw Rilakkuma feasting on his invention today?
Since this is a limited store-only release from a few years back, I’ll have my work cut out for me when I get around to hunting this one down. I’ve also been eying this Caravan edition from the same series. Maybe I can ask for one of these for my birthday next year?
ETA (9/18/13): Acquired!
So San-X announced the Rilakkuma Hawaii Series a few weeks back, which is set to be released in February 2013.
Ready for the beach!
Because it was announced before I even started this blog (!), I wasn’t originally planning on making a post about them until their official release, but San-X just announced that they’ve teamed up with H.I.S., a Japanese travel agency, to offer a special Rilakkuma-themed Hawaiian vacation! You get a Rilakkuma travel tote filled with gifts, and the room is fitted with Rilakkuma plushies everywhere!
Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Room
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel Room
Seems like paradise to me!
Keeping with the donut theme, I did a little research to see what other times Rilakkuma has been seen with donuts over the years.
Rilakkuma is certainly no stranger to donuts – back in 2007, Rilakkuma was seen stuck in a giant sprinkle donut as part of the Rilakkuma Cafe Series. Afterwards, San-X later had to release instructions on how to get Rilakkuma out of the donut so that you could use the donut like a cushion like the advertisement described.
Rilakkuma could just eat his way out, if he wanted to.
Side and back views
Finally free!
After that, San-X must’ve thought to consolidate those ideas together, because they released a donut-shaped Rilakkuma cushion in April 2012!
Seems a little silly to be sitting so close to Rilakkuma’s face…
That should conclude Rilakkuma’s donut history for now! We’ll see if Rilakkuma partners up with donuts again (hopefully he’ll come to the US, too)!
Thinking about the donuts from yesterday made me hungry! Here’s a plush I’ve recently been yearning for: the Mister Donut (Misdo) Rilakkuma! From my understanding, during the course of this campaign, you would receive a scratchcard with a Misdo donut purchase of more than 100円, and this plushie was a gold level prize.
Misdo Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma
Rilakkuma partnered with Mister Donut during Winter 2010, where they gave out a ton of other merchandise with donut purchases like tote bags, squish toys, and even a special Christmas set!
They also came out with this wacky TV commercial featuring Japanese star Hiroshi Tamaki:
History lesson: Mister Donut was established in the 1950’s in the US, but after being acquired by Allied-Lyons, most stores in North America were converted into Dunkin’ Donuts (Donutses? Donuts’?). However, the franchise kept its name in Asia (after being acquired by Duskin), and it’s now the largest donut chain in Japan! No wonder Rilakkuma likes them so much!
Anyway – I wrote and queued this post up around last week, and yesterday, Simon ordered him for me!! I’ll post pictures as soon as he arrives! YAY!
ETA (12/11/12): Acquired!
The Happy Holiday Picnic Series came out in February 2012. This plushie was released as part of the same series as my Hamburger Rilakkuma, and came in the same decorated package as the Honey Bee plushie!
Off to a picnic!
The detailing on this prop is incredible. The waffling on the basket creates a really genuine texture, and the burger inside is so complete and fully thought-out that you can basically see all the ingredients.
He’s even got personalized boots!
Wow! I’m so impressed! Also, it’s good to see Rilakkuma finally get a pair of shoes hahaha.
This Honey Bee Rilakkuma came out as part of the Honey and Smile Series (Rilakkuma Meets Honey) released in May 2011. True to his bear character, Rilakkuma puts globs of honey everywhere: on pancakes, on toast, on Swiss rolls, everything.
Decorated package came with Hello Kitty marshmallows, little packets of furikake decorated with anime, and Rilakkuma stationary. Not pictured: strawberry Pocky that I ate before I snapped this shot.
To bee, or not to bee.
Bee(n) there, done that.
Don’t worry, bee happy.
My sister will be giving this plushie to one of her best friends for Christmas. It was good having him in the house for a few months! I hope he is treated well after he moves on!
I recently got a message in my tumblr about cleaning Rilakkuma plushies, and that became the inspiration for my next photo!
See short answer here.
Ready for a bath!
Anyway, I posted my response on tumblr, but this ask got me thinking about cleaning and maintenance of Rilakkuma plushies, so I thought I would pass on a few tips:
RilakkumaLifestyle 