What a funny name, we all know he’s far from my only Rilakkuma hahaha
Fluffy!
Simon says he looks very determined!
In his natural habitat.
He was released in April 2013 and wow, he really is so soft and fluffy, and such a cute size – I love him a lot! We got him at the Harajuku Rilakkuma Store!
Continuing the trend of “cute Rilakkuma products my dad bought”, Rilakkuma stickers!
So many foods! And I love all his outfits :)
I think I like the one with all the different outfits (right-most) best!
They’re so cute, but I never know what to do with stickers; I usually think they’re too cute to use haha.
It’s the same way I feel about stationary – if you get something from me written on Rilakkuma stationary, you know it’s important because I don’t use Rilakkuma stationary on just anyone (plus it’s pricey)!
Whew, seems like things are slowing down a bit after the Wonderland release – it’s bananas, Rilakkuma stuff always happens in these giant bursts… I guess this might be the calm before the next storm?
In other news, I have way too many Rilakkuma to post/photograph about still! Can’t complain about the bounty of Rilakkumas though hahaha. My Lawson Aloha Rilakkuma playset came in this week, and I have another delivery on the way :O all stuff I ordered months ago though so my wallet’s been able have some much deserved relaxation haha.
He’s even got a leather tag hanging from his zipper! Also, you can see that his apron is lined with a nice brown and white polka dot fabric from this angle, too!
He was a Rilakkuma Store exclusive first released way back in September of 2009! He holds a special place in my heart because he reminds me of all my adventures in Japan, running around finding Rilakkuma Stores :D
Continuing the second half post theme of “Rilakkuma products my dad bought”, check out this Rilakkuma riding a banana!
Bananas are my dad’s favorite food!
I wish I had plushie version of this!
In a previous post, I mentioned that my Nara Rilakkuma is part of an HNA series the produces special Rilakkumas for each prefecture in Japan – this Rilakkuma is part of the same collection, except this one is from the Kantō region line, representing Tokyo!
I guess Tokyo is known for their bananas?
The only thing I could really find out about bananas is Tokyo is the company Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈), which makes tasty banana cream-filled sponge cakes.
My family bought a few while we were in Tokyo. They’re pretty good, and apparently they’re the #1 best-selling souvenir! Is this Rilakkuma really referring to this banana cream cake company? Googling “tokyo” + “banana” and there are just pages and pages about this company alone!
It’s a really cute concept: the regular banana cream only ones are a solid yellow, and they use animal print to represent additional flavors. This giraffe-print one is filled with banana caramel custard cream! There’s also leopard spots (chocolate), and tabby cat stripes (caramel).
Anyway, I also found out there are banana vending machines around Tokyo, so maybe that has something to do with it, too haha.
Basically, licensing concerns products that feature Rilakkuma designs with the official permission/blessings of San-X, but are not made directly by San-X themselves.
For example, if you were a tech accessories company and you wanted to produce and sell Rilakkuma laptop covers, you would have to get the Rilakkuma license from San-X in order to legally use Rilakkuma’s design on your merchandise, and the license would be different depending on whether you were based in Japan or not.
To clarify a bit more: for me, there are 4 basic categories of Rilakkuma goods:
Direct from San-X Goods
Campaigns/Collaboration Goods
Licensed Goods
Inauthentic/Fake Goods
For reference, the vast majority of plushies in my collection (and featured on this blog) are made directly by San-X, and my authenticity and quality guide is based around the San-X plushies.
Additionally, licensed goods differ from the campaign/collaboration goods because licensed goods generally come from other toy companies themselves: campaign/collaboration goods are generally a seasonal offering with a non-toy related company.
As the name implies, campaign/collaboration items are often focused on the joint nature of the two companies, like buy a Pizza Hut pizza and get a Rilakkuma pizza cutter … or a promotional campaign like buy a bunch of Lawson food and get a Rilakkuma plate – while licensed goods generally just feature Rilakkuma with little input in design from the company producing it. Other examples of campaign/collaboration goods include Mister Donut, KFC, and Pancake Days.
Licensing is a significant part of San-X: they have a HUGE booth at most licensing expos:
Some of my favorite Rilakkuma plushies – like my Fansclub UFO Catcher plushies – are made under license, not directly from San-X!
Most recently, my Nara Rilakkuma was a product of HNA with a Rilakkuma license. I also have Rilakkuma furikake from Nagatanien, a combination lock from Bestin (Korea), and angpau (紅包) from Sun Hing (Hong Kong). They are all wonderful and I can’t imagine my collection without them.
Some of my Rilakkuma licensed goods!
When I started collecting Rilakkuma, I used to get confused with how Fansclub fit in with the San-X world, but fortunately, Fansclub plushies have a pretty consistent look and format to them, and they are cataloged by Fansclub meticulously. At first, I wasn’t sure if my Nara Rilakkuma was legitimate or not because he had such a different look, but this got cleared up as I started looking into Rilakkuma licensing.
However, I think things do start to get a little confusing when other other plush toy companies receive a Rilakkuma license.
For example, Dream International, a Hong Kong based plush toy company, recently got a Rilakkuma license. They showed off their line at 2013 New York International Toy Fair:
In addition, Sun Hing Toys, the company that produced my angpau, also has a licensed Rilakkuma plushie line, and there are probably several more companies out there I haven’t mentioned, too.
I don’t really know how I feel about these because they seem somewhat inconsistent with the other San-X Rilakkuma plushies (e.g. the tag is on the ear??), but your mileage may vary.
How to tell
Basically, companies holding official Rilakkuma licenses are all over the place in terms of quality and design, so it’s really hard to apply all the authentication guidelines that we’ve worked so hard to craft as a community, but the good news is that it is rather easy to tell which ones have the official seal of approval from San-X.
Licensed goods are required to display their license seal in some way, and licenses differ between domestic (Japan) and overseas (not Japan) products. Most products do so with a holographic sticker, but some just print it directly on their packaging – I took some photos, but it’s kind of difficult to capture holographic images so bear with me:
San-X clover logo repeating diagonally in the background
License ID printed in black
Text on the bottom that says “TRADEMARK” or “OVERSEAS” for domestic and overseas products, respectively
Small holo circle above the TRADEMARK/OVERSEAS text
The printed licenses follow a similar format, but without the fancy holographic stuff. They’re not as consistent as the stickers, but generally most of the information is still there.
In addition, overseas items will print a line that says “A Licensing Programme of RM”. RM Enterprises is a character licensing company that deals with international licensing (mainly in Asia). As far as I know, this line isn’t printed on the domestic products, but then again, I can’t read Japanese T^T
As a complete disclaimer, the licensed goods I’m looking at have been released in the past 3 years – I think the designs might differ slightly in earlier licenses.
If you’re unsure about a company’s license status, it is pretty easy to look up the company online – they usually list their license information there.
After that, it’s up to you whether the quality of the product is up to snuff, I guess haha.
As an additional note, I think the San-X Rilakkuma Blog only posts about the domestic licensed stuff occasionally, not the overseas licensed products. Also, Rilakkuma Stores stock domestic licensed goods (I’ve seen HNA, Re-Ment, Nanoblock, and a bunch of food products and more), while I don’t think they do with the overseas ones.
What do y’all think about licensed Rilakkuma goods? Do you have any, and if so, which ones/brands?
Personally, I love my licensed goods – most of mine are domestic products, and I think their Rilakkuma goods are very diverse and well-developed! However, I’m not sure if I’d buy a licensed plush outside the Fansclubs, but I guess I’ll have to assess them when I see one in person.
Well since last time I made the big reveal about my first Kiiroitori, I thought it’d only be appropriate to follow up with Kiiroitori-related post! … sorta.
Meet Rilakkuma… wearing a Kiiroitori T-shirt!
Why are Rilakkuma Store products’ tags always on the right leg instead of the left?
A four leaf clover balloon! The symbol of the Rilakkuma store! Anyone know the origin of this? I’d like to know! (ETA: I think it’s from the San-X logo with the clover X, d’oh!)
He’s even got Kiiroitori’s tail!
We picked him up at the Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store!
Released in August 2012, he’s part of a special Rilakkuma Store exclusive release featuring the Rilakkuma crew wearing T-shirts of each other!
In addition to Rilakkuma dressed as Kiiroitori, Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori are wearing Rilakkuma T-shirts… hmm, no Korilakkuma love? T^T
Probably the coolest water bottle designs I’ve ever seen! The water tasted like regular bottled water though hahaha
Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about Rilakkuma licensing recently – you know, the products that aren’t made by San-X, but the companies have the official permission to use the design, like our beloved Fansclub UFO Catcher plushies?
Though this blog generally focuses on the products released directly by San-X, I thought I would make a post on licensing in the Rilakkuma in the near future. There are so just many licensed Rilakkuma products out there, it’s hard to keep track! Especially since the quality and style is so inconsistent outside of San-X, with the exception of the holo license stickers.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated as I try to research and gather my thoughts over the next few days haha
Wow, I haven’t updated since I arrived to the Philippines! I said things would slow down on this front after my fast-paced Rilakkuma adventures in Japan, but it turns out that applied to my blogging (and internet connection) too haha. But now that I’m back in the states, I have some time to burn while I wait for med school to start (August 5)!
First up is Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori!
At 2080 ft., Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world! … which would make this Rilakkuma more than 1000 feet tall if scaled up to actual size!
Fun fact: this is actually my first Kiiroitori hahaha
Love that they still included all the details: Rilakkuma has a functioning zipper, and Korilakkuma has her signature red button, even though it is barely visible!
This particular set, with the bears hanging on to the tower all King Kong-like, came out December 2012! A different set with the 3 with Rilakkuma holding dango came out at the Skytree Rilakkuma Store’s grand opening on May 22, 2012 – super cute, too!
These musically inclined Rilakkumas dovetail quite nicely with the new Akiko Yano Rilakkuma collaboration song, リラックマのわたし (“The Rilakkuma that is me”)! The CD will be available at Tower Records on August 7!
Whew, I made it to the Philippines!! It’s great to be here, but that also means my Rilakkuma adventures will slow down significantly from the past week – which is totally okay because I have a huge backlog of plushies/hauls to photograph anyway haha it’s good to finally get a chance to slow down a bit.
On my last morning in Japan, I finally got my hands on something from the Rilakkuma x KFC collaboration: an Aloha Rilakkuma fan!
In this campaign, you can get one of six Aloha Rilakkuma items with each smile set (like a kid’s meal). I thought the chicken was pretty good – even better than the KFC in the States! But that might have been because I was hungry hahaha
I really liked the picnic blanket design (pancakes!), but I figured I could get more use out of a fan. My sister ordered a smile set too, and chose the same design fan. I think the hot dog design is super cute and silly, especially since you can’t even buy hot dogs at KFC hahaha
The fan turned out to be a good choice because yesterday was HOT and we had to wait in line in the sun for the bus to the airport. On top of that, the Philippines was hot upon arrival (like always), so even though I’ve only had this fan for 24 hours, it’s already seen a lot of use!
Getting this box/fan was so much trouble – we stopped by a KFC in Kyoto and they had nothing in stock… then in Tokyo, we asked our hotel concierge, and they gave us directions to a KFC that recently closed… then we got directions to one in Shibuya that didn’t carry any smile sets at all… but the employees there finally gave us information to another KFC in Shibuya that did stock the Rilakkuma products that was just a short walk away. Such a tiresome journey, but rather worth it, I think! I did everything I wanted to do in Japan, Rilakkuma-wise!
Wow, I wish I was still in Japan to see this! My family took the Yamanote line quite often in our short stay there. Of course, everything has to happen right as I leave Japan haha
In any case, I’ll certainly be trying to get my hands on these two plushie designs – one for me and one for my sister!
I think more details about this collab will be released in mid-July so stay tuned!
Well, the latest iteration as of spring 2013 is a Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut pizza cutter and pizza board!
Perfect size for Rilakkuma!
I was so excited to get these, I didn’t actually care what I had to buy…
But as it turns out, the pizza was also an adventure in itself!
So the paired pizzas in this campaign are like sampler pizzas – each of the 2 pizzas has a different topping combination for each quadrant:
From the bottom right: Tuna Mild (tuna/corn/bacon/onion), Idaho special (parsley, mayonnaise, black pepper, corn, diced potatoes, bacon, onion), bacon/asparagus, Meat Trio.
The “Family 4”: (from the bottom right) bulgogi/leek/shredded red pepper/mayonnaise, pepperoni/bacon/onion/pepper, Tuna Mild (again?), and pepperoni/salami/bacon/onion.
I think it’s somewhat hard to tell form the photos, but they have a lot of interesting ingredients! Awesome!
Surprisingly, my favorite so far has been the Idaho special: the topping with potatoes, corn, and mayo. The potatoes give it a texture I was shocked to find that I enjoyed hahaha
Tomorrow’s my last day in Tokyo, so I’m gonna try to stop by a KFC in the morning – there’s a new Aloha Rilakkuma promotion there starting tomorrow!
I was originally planning on doing individual plushie posts later, but I couldn’t wait to share this one!
It’s Nara Rilakkuma!
The top cracker he’s holding up says 鹿せん (shika-sen), which is the cracker used to feed deer; the bottom cracker 奈良 (Nara), the region he represents!
This plushie was produced by HNA with a Rilakkuma license!
Basically, each prefecture in Japan has its own special Rilakkuma based on the what’s special for that particular city.
In Nara, there are a TON of deer, so Nara Rilakkuma is appropriately wearing deer antlers and holding up a rice cracker called shika-senbei – you can buy them to feed the deer.
I think it’s really fitting because it seems like deer paradise in Nara. According to legend, one of the gods (Takenomikazuchi-no-mikoto) appeared on a mountain riding a deer, and since then, deer have been considered messengers of the gods in Shinto! Back then, killing a deer was a crime punishable by death!
One photo really does not do them justice – there are really deer everywhere!
Sometimes people get way too friendly with the deer though…
Hello! I’m more than halfway through my Japan trip and I finally have time to sit and blog for a bit about what’s happened so far!
Thank you everyone for your well wishes – we arrived safe and sound at Tokyo!
The plane was really nice – I had so much space that my Rilakkuma even had a platform to himself hahaha
Descent into Tokyo!
Anyway, for the first two nights, we were in Tokyo, just minutes away from Tokyo Station!
We were kind of in a hurry to get to dinner rather late at night, so we didn’t get to shop but! we did get to check out the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store!Ariel already made a post on this store recently, but it’s really quite incredible to see a Rilakkuma Store in person!
Will shop here for real soon!
We’re going back to the Tokyo Station area for a day before we leave Japan, so I will be sure to shop there for real next time!
The next day, we went to the Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store!
I got one of those Skytree plushies with all three of the Rilakkuma crew!
Paying the Rilakkuma Store workers’ salaries in one fell swoop.
This was the first time we got to spend a great deal of time at the Rilakkuma Store. They had a bunch of Skytree specials (though the Tokyo Station one also sold a few Skytree plushies), and I feel like I circled the store over 20 times analyzing everything before paying and leaving.
I’ll post close-ups of what I bought at a later post (they’re all stowed away in luggage right now booo), but here’s the list of the Skytree haul:
I didn’t even know what the Holiday collab was, or what Holiday even is but I snagged one anyway since I was already there. Turns out it’s some clothing brand haha, so cute!!
I was really shocked to see that they had some of the Fukuoka 3rd Anniversary plushies there (I wasn’t even in Fukuoka!) – guess they had a few left over? I always assumed the anniversary plushies flew off the shelves like hotcakes.
There was also a healthy stock of Rilakkuma apparel that the other branches I visited didn’t have, so my family stocked up on some Rilakkuma shorts haha.
Whew! That’s 4 out of 8 Rilakkuma Stores! I know during the next trip, I’ll have to stop by the Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai, and Kichijoji branches!!
I’ll have to write more when I finally get the time to photograph each of them, but that’s all for now!!
I might be updating with photos if I can, but I’m officially on hiatus! I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to spend online (plus I’m only bringing a tablet).
Well, this was taken at the Duke Gardens in Durham, NC, not in Japan… but this bridge was constructed as a partnership with Durham’s sister city in Japan!
Haha since I pre-ordered it so long ago (back in March!!), I didn’t even know I’d be in Japan when it came out. Pretty awful timing since it’ll end up shipping to the US right as I leave :[ but hey – at least I’ll have something cute to welcome me back to the states in July! :D
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