Tag Archives: marine series

Fansclub UFO Catchers!

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:

Marine Series - Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma

Store release (~22 cm)

Fansclub Marine Series - UFO catcher plushies

Fansclub release (~17-20 cm)

Fansclub Marine Series - UFO catcher plushies XL

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!

Marine Series Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

My brother was home for the weekend, so I snapped a few shots of his Rilakkuma plushies! They are from the Marine Series, which was released in May 2012. Because San-X did not release a Kiiroitori for this series, this is actually the complete set!

Marine Series Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - full body shot

Aww! So cute together!

Marine Series Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - hat detail

Their hats are so well done!

Marine Series Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - costume close-up

“daradara since 2003” – this means that they have been lazy since their birth in 2003!

It’s so nice to see the full set! I have to admit that I am personally biased towards Rilakkuma, so all of my plushies are Rilakkuma only, but having the matching set is so sweet! They’re sized perfectly, so that when they are standing together, it looks like they are holding hands!