My white coat ceremony for medical school is today! A white coat ceremony is a big event here where we get to wear our white coats for the first time, symbolizing our transition to a serious career in healthcare!
To celebrate this occasion, check out these formally dressed plushies: 10th anniversary Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, & Kiiroitori wearing red sequined blazers!
Hey, also did you know this is my first full-size Kiiroitori?
Happy 10th, Rilakkuma! I love how their collar and hat ribbon colors match!
Showing their tails through their coattails hahaha
Their hats have their favorite foods! Kiiroitori doesn’t have anything in particular T^T
I really want to go to the exhibit myself (Ariel made a great post on it), but this cute set will have to do for now haha.
Anyway, in other news, I moved in to my new apartment in Orlando!
Rilakkuma helped tremendously, of course.
We actually don’t have much furniture around yet lol, just a dining set and bedroom things – but no rush, we’ll be working on it over the next few weeks! We just spent the weekend building all the stuff we bought from IKEA hahaha (they have such a great cafeteria!).
This weekend has been a blur because of moving and stuff, but most importantly, I did set up a new Rilakkuma display shelf in my room, so photos of that in the next post for sure!
Wah, I can’t believe I ordered this back in March and I’m just now photographing it haha – though in my defense, it only arrived after I came back from Asia.
Anyway, here it is, at long last: the Lawson x Aloha Rilakkuma Playset!
Everyone’s going shopping!
Rilakkuma and his undetachable cart! His flower lei is removable though.
This Korilakkuma is so wild to me haha because she’s proportionally much smaller than the Rilakkuma, like she could be Rilakkuma’s plushie… and she herself is holding an Aloha Rilakkuma plushie? Hahahaha I guess it’s cool that Korilakkuma goes shopping for Rilakkuma plushies just like we do.
Eeee this Kiiroitori is so cute and small! And he bears a striking resemblance to the Kiiroitori from the Happiness series (2007) – I guess Kiiroitori has always been in charge of holding the money!
My favorite details: Hawaii coffee, Rilakkuma cookies, and a Kiiroitori honeypot with a Lawson bag to take them home in!
Lawson/HMV started taking pre-orders for this set way back in February of this year – wow that was a long time ago! They sold out before the pre-order deadline of April 15, and were finally sent out in mid-June!
I actually haven’t finished covering all the cool Rilakkuma things my dad bought in Japan, so here’s another entry that jives with today’s Aloha Rilakkuma theme!
I assembled this one myself!
Well assembly is pretty easy – just 2 stickers for the background and the ground, and then fitting the 2 yellow boards and the figurines in the right spot!
My family really likes the guitar-playing Rilakkuma because there’s an old photo of my dad playing the guitar in exactly the same pose and expression hahaha so it’s kind of like seeing my dad in bear form.
This figurine set was made by Kabaya under domestic license – Kabaya seems to be mostly a sweets company, which makes sense (I guess) because this set also inexplicably came with an unmarked bag of candy inside (what).
This set is pretty cool because there’s a little link at the bottom so that you can connect it to other figures like it! Cool idea! I wonder if my dad will collect any more…
Anyway, just as a heads up, I’m starting medical school on August 5 – I really have no idea how much free time I’ll have (if any, yikes), but I’ll try to still keep posting when I can because surprisingly, Rilakkuma mania actually keeps me grounded and focused hahaha. I mean, Mary makes it work as a doctor AND a mom AND collecting way more than just Rilakkumas so we’ll see how well I can do haha
These are basically the notes I use to keep track of Rilakkuma plushie releases.
Because San-X sometimes separates out their news over a few different sites (especially with their recent site overhauls), I decided to compile all the links to remember all the old series!
From what Ariel posted, looks like the current Rilakkuma Fan magazine has a pretty good timeline, too! Except I can’t read Japanese haha, so this reference sheet is all in English of course hahaha
The only major thing that really bothers me is that I had to remove a lot of the old Net Shop links because most of them got broken in the recent revamp, booo… I tried to link them to other similar “official” pages like Net Shop Blog posts, but I think I might be missing a few (e.g. the 2011 Net Shop Exclusive links to the Modes4U post right now haha). It’s a shame because Net Shop Exclusives are some of my favorites.
Obviously, I come from a huge Rilakkuma plushie angle, so many of the non-plushie releases I probably skipped over.
Major things missing:
Jewelry
Rilakkuma Natural
Books/manga
Most furniture, kitchenware, and bags (though some snuck through)
Ito Yokado products (plates, mainly)
Fansclubs – the Fansclub website already does a wonderful job timeline-ing their releases, so I usually just use theirs.
Maybe I’ll add them in the future? It’s already hectic enough keeping up with plushies alone right now hahaha
Anyway, I hope this can be a good resource for some people who want to look at the history of Rilakkuma. For example, seeing how many plushies came out for Rilakkuma’s 5th anniversary makes me understand why there’s so much happening this year for the 10th!
Right now, I mainly use it to predict what time in the year to expect big releases and such, so my bank account can prepare itself appropriately, of course haha.
Okay haha I know the Harajuku anniversary was way back in June, but I asked my seller to mail me all my Rilakkuma orders in one big box, so I just got them recently!
So happy 1st anniversary, Harajuku Rilakkuma Store! (And happy anniversary to the whole Harajuku Kiddy Land, too!)
What a delicious looking set of crepes!
Rilakkuma is banana/chocolate/strawberry/cherry flavored, and Korilakkuma is strawberry/cherry! I wonder what Kiiroitori would be if he were included?
Teehee, they’re even adorned with food by their ears!
One of my favorite details is actually the back, where you can see little bits of the banana slices and strawberries peeking out…
… And WOW, they actually put little seeds on the banana slices even though you can’t even see them unless you pull them out of the crepe pocket! Same with the strawberries – no shortcuts here!
And hey, we see Rilakkuma with bananas again! I guess Tokyo is really known for their bananas hahaha.
With all of the food-themed anniversary Rilakkumas, I tend to gravitate towards the foods I like to eat – so I was especially happy to see a crepe theme this year! Crepes are definitely one of my favorite foods :D
Anyway, I thought the pattern on Rilakkuma’s crepe envelope looked familiar… it’s just like my oven mitt from the Egg Series from 2012!
I guess the checker pattern is quite a bit larger than the one on the crepe.
Hey, now everyone can be a crepe Rilakkuma, too!
I do think the white/banana yellow combination is a pleasant color scheme!
I also got some event pins, too!
So beautiful, but I don’t really have a place to put them – they’re kind of just leaning against the other plushies in my collection now haha
Watermelons! Just like this year’s Tokyo Skytree Anniversary plush!
ETA: forgot to add that I also got a file folder for Harajuku Kiddy Land’s 1st anniversary, too! I keep my (folded) KFC x Rilakkuma boxes in there right now haha
Great! I hope the Rilakkuma Stores continue with the food trend :D
I’ve been on a fashion kick recently, though maybe spending money on anything that’s not Rilakkuma feels bizarre to me.
Anyway, here’s a fashion-related Rilakkuma from a cute collab: Holiday x Rilakkuma Plushie!
How stylish! Took me forever to figure out what it was for though since “holiday” is such a generic term – googling at first just brought up stuff about the Happy Holiday Picnic series.
What a nice t-shirt! They also came out with a black t-shirt version!
Teehee, even a special Rilakkuma face in the shape of the Holiday logo as a tag!
Thanks to Kumadokidoki for pointing out to me that he has a special pocket lining that says “Rilakkuma <3 holiday”!
We picked him up at the Umeda Rilakkuma Store!
He was part of a collaboration with fashion line Holiday back in 2010!
Speaking of fashionable bears, here’s are few shots of the Rilakkuma apparel we also picked up while we were in Umeda!
Thanks to my sister Rachel for modeling them all!
The shirts say “Rilakkuma” and “Music de relax!”, and the shirt on the left also says “It’s Rilakkuma time!” in Japanese! Guess the left-most Rilakkuma is listening to the most bumpin’ music hahaha
A special Rilakkuma Store jacket released in November 2011! Top: front detail, Bottom: back detail.
Rilakkuma shorts! Everyone in my family has a set for themselves.
They’re so comfy!
We basically bought out most of the Umeda store’s apparel that day hahaha
On the topic of Rilakkuma apparel, I know Uniqlo has a Rilakkuma collab out, but I haven’t seen a lot of stores stocking it – the website says it’s available online and select stores. We went to 3 different Uniqlo’s during our Asia trip, and didn’t see any booo :[
I wish they would’ve stocked their Rilakkuma line (it’s only 6 shirts) in more stores! Then maybe I could completely replace my wardrobe with Rilakkuma apparel hahaha
Like (not) My Only Rilakkuma, we picked him up at the Harajuku Rilakkuma Store :D He looks so toasty!
Maybe he’d like to cool down with some ice from the Rilakkuma ice tray after all that time in the sun?
As I mentioned yesterday, my sister and I tried out one of our newest Rilakkuma products last night – here are the results!
I thought they turned out great!
The front of the ice tray, all filled with raspberry lemonade!
Here they all are! Wow, they were so tough to pop out since the tray isn’t that flexible! From left to right: Rilakkuma head, Korilakkuma head, Korilakkuma sitting, Korilakkuma laying down, Kiiroitori, Rilakkuma siting, Rilakkuma laying on his side, Rilakkuma laying down.
The details actually ended up being pretty visible, but it’s so tough to capture in a photo…
Here they are cooling my water!
Hahaha well I thought they looked really good, but I didn’t really think about what kind of liquid drink to put them in.
Putting them in just water just made the water taste slightly sweet/sour haha, but they were still super cute!
Wah it’s been raining so often here in Florida recently – good thing I have Rilakkuma to brighten my day!!
Cupcake Rilakkuma does just the trick!
Wearing a cupcake, dressed like a cupcake!
The prettiest cupcake I’ve seen!
What’s this key for? Korilakkuma’s and Kiiroitori’s are pink!
I actually love cupcakes, but don’t really eat them with frosting unless it’s cream cheese based. My favorite flavor of cupcake is funfetti! Rilakkuma’s cupcake kinda looks like funfetti hahaha
He’s from the Sweets & Sweets series, which came out in 2011.
We picked him up at the Umeda Rilakkuma Store – did you know the Umeda branch is the oldest? I wonder what they’ll be doing for their 5th anniversary this year… it’s coming up soon (September 13)!
Anyway, continuing with the pink theme… my family bought a Rilakkuma ice tray while we were in Japan!
According to the San-X Net Shop Blog, this ice tray appeared in April 2013! It features Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori!
We filled the tray with raspberry lemonade instead of water so they’d be pink!
In the freezer! The tray has little holes on top so the 3D shape can be as perfect as possible!
We’ll let it sit for the night and see how the turn out in the morning.
Will update with the next Rilakkuma post! Hopefully they turn out well!
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.
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