Tag Archives: rilakkuma store exclusive

Update on the anniversary plushies

Hey really quick update on the anniversary plushies: turns out the fishing Rilakkuma/Kiiroitori is just to commemorate the 5th birthday of the Rilakkuma Stores in general, which is why it falls on Umeda’s anniversary (the oldest store) but can be purchased at all 8 Rilakkuma Stores across Japan on September 14.

Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary - announcement

Fishing Rilakkuma is for every Rilakkuma Store!

Meanwhile, Umeda gets its own store-specific 5th anniversary plush too!

So basically there will be two “birthday” plushies at the Umeda Rilakkuma Store on September 14: the Rilakkuma riding the fish AND the 5th anniversary set with all 3 of the Rilakkuma crew: Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori. You can also get special Rilakkuma event medals at Umeda and Tokyo Station!

Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary - announcement

Wow, Rilakkuma’s 10th anniversary AND the Rilakkuma Store’s 5th anniversary!

So continuing the new anniversary theme of Japanese culture/traditions (see previous update post), Umeda’s special set is chestnut themed!

Chestnuts are known as a symbol of autumn in Japan, and are used in seasonal dishes such as Kurigohan (栗ご飯, Chestnut Rice).

You can even find chestnuts in Japanese folktales, proverbs, and nursery rhymes such as “The Crab and the Monkey” (さるかに合戦, saru kani gassen) – a short story where a crab is killed by a monkey, and the crabs kids and friends (one is a chestnut) seek justice.

Probably more on chestnuts than you cared to know about, but it’s nice to know the cultural context of these plushies. My family had a package of roast chestnuts while we were in Japan, they sell them right on the street – pretty convenient!

I’m still not sure super what Kiiroitori’s costume is supposed to be, so if anyone could enlighten me, that would be great haha he kinda just looks like a lion to me. (UPDATE: WOW, apparently Kii is a raw chestnut!! Thanks so much, Ariel!)

So pretty cool: so far this year, Sapporo’s theme is the harvest moon, the 5th Anniversary for all stores is the red sea bream, and Umeda’s is chestnuts!

Anyway, that’s it for me today – more photos of plushies to come as I finish studying about cholesterol and HDL, LDL, and VDL haha.

Yamanote Line Rilakkuma Plushies!

Yay, they’re both finally here: the Yamanote Line Rilakkumas!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - full

Wow, a double Rilakkuma set!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - back

The backs of their shirts match!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - hats

Their hats are slightly different: the station master’s is red/gold with a bear, and the fan’s in black/gold with an “R”!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - stationmaster

The Yamanote stationmaster Rilakkuma’s ID badge says “駅長リラックマ” (Stationmaster Rilakkuma) with a little gold bear icon! His outfit also has cute bear-shaped buttons with an R lapel pin design!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - stationmaster bag detail

The stationmaster also has a super cute cross-body bag!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - fan

The Yamanote fan’s shirt looks like the front of the train with the Rilakkuma crew inside, and has a “50” (for the Yamanote green line’s 50th anniversary) as well as “山手線 Yamanote Line” printed on it!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - fan camera

Yamanote fan Rilakkuma also comes with this suave camera with a little Rilakkuma detail in the corner! Also, I’m so impressed that they even added a little flash lamp detail on the camera, too!

These two bears were part of this big collaboration between the JR Yamanote Green Line and Rilakkuma back in early August. It was a perfect collaboration because the Yamanote Green Line was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Rilakkuma’s celebrating his 10th!

In addition to this great plushie pair release, the Yamanote Line itself became Rilakkuma-themed! While I didn’t get to ride the Yamanote Line while this collaboration was happening, San-X did take some pretty great photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The Yamanote Line holds a special place in my heart because I rode it so often with my family during my short visit to Tokyo this past summer. Our hotel was close to Tokyo Station, and we took the Yamanote Line to Kanda to get the Pizza Hut x Rilakkuma collab products as well as to Harajuku to visit their Rilakkuma Store!! So these two plushies are sort of like my very belated souvenirs hahaha

The Yamanote Line basically goes in this huge circle around Tokyo, with stops at a bunch of the major city centers! One of the stops, Tokyo Station, actually has a Rilakkuma Store in the terminal!

Getting both of these bears was such an awesome team effort: Ariel (Rilakkuma Desu) helped me get the Yamanote fan Rilakkuma from Tokyo (right on the Yamanote line!), and Liemzie (Tea Two Sugars Please) helped me get the Yamanote stationmaster from Umeda! A gigantic thank you to both of them – be sure to check out their blogs!

In other news, I still have more exciting Rilakkuma stuff to photograph and post (I seem to have a constant backlog haha), but you know, slow and steady with that because I’ve got medical biochemistry on my plate right now too haha.

Comics Series Rilakkuma Plushie!

Whew, my first few days of medical school have really flown by! We just completed basic life support (BLS) training/certification this afternoon – hooray!

Also one my of my new classmates likes Rilakkuma too – I’m so lucky to meet someone who has even heard about Rilakkuma all the way over here in Florida hahaha

In addition to all the new school things, I’m getting used to my new home here in Orlando – wow, even though it’s only a few hours from where I grew up, it feels a lot muggier! Orlando isn’t so close to a beach like my hometown, so the air is really quite different here.

Though it never really gets cold here in Florida, it never hurts to be prepared and have a jacket handy like this Comics Series Rilakkuma!

Comics Series - full

I want a matching hoodie!

Comics Series - front

The jacket is removable! Also, I don’t think Rilakkuma’s paws can reach into the pockets lol

Comics Series - back

The hood doesn’t really fit over his head hahaha but you can pull it up to get a better view of the print! On this one, you can see the Strawberry Series (2009) and the Happy Picnic Series (2012)!

This Rilakkuma was a part of the Comics Series, a Rilakkuma Store exclusive series released back in June 29 – this series features a neutral-tone comic print of many of the older Rilakkuma series! Korilakkuma was really special and got a pink print instead though haha

Also, after looking at Ariel’s photos of her Comics series plushies, it looks like each plushie’s jacket uses a different part of this somewhat large fabric design. So while mine has a pretty prominent view of the Strawberry and Happy Picnic series, other plushies might have the Rilakkuma Wonderland part or the Bonjour part more visible on their hoodies – pretty cool!

You know, I’ve been doing so well getting the full sets (with Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori) recently, but I guess I’ll always be a Rilakkuma girl at heart haha

Also in line with the comics series, my sister got her hands on a pretty stylish Comics Series pouch (wristlet?) while we were in Japan – the plushies hadn’t been released yet while we were there, but the purses and some other non-plushie stuff were already out!

Comics Series - pouch

Hey, this is pretty fancy!

This print is definitely one of my favorites so far! I love how they took Rilakkuma’s color scheme and made it into this lovely design!

Oh and I mentioned last time that I built a shelf for my Rilakkumas…

Rilakkuma shelf - 1

Here it is! I guess I’ll have to build a new shelf when I inevitably get more hahaha

I only brought about a third of my total collection (since I don’t have a place to put them all yet), but maybe more of them will migrate over to my new place as time goes by and I actually get a hold of more shelves or something.

You know, I still have more Rilakkuma plushies to photograph haha, but slowly but surely, I’ll get through all of them!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk Plushie!

Working through my Japan haul slowly but surely…

This Rilakkuma is a Rilakkuma Store employee!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - full

Irasshaimase!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - apron

His lovely apron with the Rilakkuma Store logo!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - back

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!

Tokyo Rilakkuma - banana

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!

Tokyo Banana - display

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.

In other news, I’ve been playing that daily Rilakkuma raffle that Ariel posted about earlier and won another background, Rilakkuma Meets Honey theme this time! I think I’ll play every day haha

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori Store Exclusive Plushie!

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!

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - full

Why are Rilakkuma Store products’ tags always on the right leg instead of the left?

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - balloon

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!)

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - back

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

Teehee, they kinda remind me of the I Love Rilakkuma Series from 2011!

In other news, my dad picked up a few things from the Rilakkuma Store, too – notably this awesome Rilakkuma water bottle!

Water bottle - full

It’s Forest themed! Featuring Yukata Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma :)

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

Wishlist – Rilakkuma Wonderland Limited Edition Playset!

WOW check out the new Rilakkuma Wonderland plush set!

They’re supposed to be little floats in a parade celebrating Rilakkuma’s 10 year anniversary :)

Rilakkuma Wonderland - store exclusive

OMG so detailed!

Looks like Rilakkuma is singing into a dango microphone on a bear-shaped cake-themed stage with a full band, Korilakkuma’s in a pink castle (with goat and bunny Koris peeking out), and Kiiroitori’s in a birdcage (lol) with other little Kiiroitoris. Love how each float also has little wheels so it looks like they’re actual parade floats! And they have crowns like they’re royalty hahaha

This incredible set will be released as a store exclusive on July 13th!

(ETA 6/17: the San-X Net Shop says they’ll be stocking them too! Haha, too bad I missed that – definitely wouldn’t have pre-ordered from a seller if I knew!)

12,000 yen (~$124 USD) for the entire playset, I believe :O A little steeper than we’ve come to expect from exclusive playsets (the Aloha Rilakkuma Net Shop Exclusive was 10,500 yen), but worth the price for the level of detail, in my opinion!

Will you be getting these? I think I’m gonna go for them (but what’s new haha).

ETA: Here’s campaign page for the Rilakkuma special editions, including the ones riding horses!

I have to admit, when the Rilakkuma Wonderland series was first announced (or leaked I should say haha), I wasn’t the most excited about it for some reason – I didn’t even make a big post about it like I usually do. It was probably because I have bad memories associated with being in the marching band in middle school haha (old uniforms, absentee teachers, trying to avoid horse poop during a parade, ick).

But as more news about this kept rolling in, I got more and more excited – especially when San-X redesigned the Rilakkuma website and premiered a new flash animation – and with this new playset, I’m happy to say that I’ve jumped the fence and I’m a big fan of this series now and can’t wait for it to be released!

In other news… MORE LIMITED EDITION STORE EXCLUSIVES?

That’s right!

Rilakkuma Wonderland - store exclusive plushies

A drum (and one tiiiiny bugle) corp! Kori’s flag says “Smile & Thank you”

Looks like they each have tiny Rilakkumas on their shoulder?? Hahaha I wonder why.

They’re also to be released on July 13, and they’ll be a cool 1,600 yen each. They will be exclusive to Rilakkuma Stores, but from what I understand, the San-X Net Shop will be stocking Rilakkumas-only like they did before for the Aloha Rilakkuma store exclusive (I wonder why they do this…).

They’re super adorable though, but I’ll have check with my old friend Mr. Wallet to see if I can afford them when the time rolls around.

Wowww, the Rilakkuma plushie designers at San-X must be working overtime!