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Checking out merch for Pokemon Day
It started a few weeks ago as it often does, with me searching through Amazon for odd things. It was there I saw it, the hellspawn of Pokemon merchandise: a Mega Construx Pikachu. I had to have it, I had to own this cursed idol of the Pokemon franchise. It was shortly after this PowerA reached out to offer up some bits and pieces towards any Pokemon Day content we might have planned, so here I am to walk you through some of the fun and interesting Pokemon stuff that you may or may not want to pick up yourself.
The Pikachu that started all of this off is is kind of the low hanging fruit here. It’s absolutely abhorrent, and for what it cost, I don’t regret buying it as a cursed idol to sit on my desk. For those not in the know of children’s building blocks, Mega Construx is essentially budget LEGO. Here, you get a small Poke Ball with 16 pieces for you to assemble into your very own Pika-thing. It’s a fun five minutes, and to its credit it is posable. You could certainly do worse.
Moving on from the new, I wanted to give a bit of a throwback to the days of old. The old days of New 3DS faceplates. Nice naming there Nintendo. Naming conventions aside the faceplates of the smaller model of New 3DS were something I had genuine adoration for, and owning two systems myself, I have a large number to mix and match depending on my mood. The ones I want to shine a light on today are the Pikachu plates that’ve been with me for a good number of years now. Though it did take me a bit to get used to their glossy nature, I fell in love with them after realising there was a matching theme. You can’t really buy these easily online now, but I can still live in hope that Nintendo will bring back a more customisable console in future.
I unfortunately couldn't locate my New 3DS for this post, but these lovely things were the plates in question.
Back to modern times, the Pokemon Centre online store finally opened in the UK late last year, and naturally I had to get in on some of that goodness. There was a surprising amount to pick from given it was a new storefront for us. Sure there’s a load of smaller plushies and shirts, but what exactly stood out to me? Well there were two gems. A pillow-sized Wailord, and a giant blob of Piplup. These cost more than anybody should be paying for anything related to this franchise (the Piplup cost £90!), but my God am I happy to have them. While the Wailord is more of a traditional pillow cushion, the Piplup is essentially a giant beanbag, and I am really fond of that. It’s not something I can see many people taking the plunge on, but I adore mine.
On the less official side of the plushie market, I’d be remiss not to mention the definitely legitimate Mega Rayquaza I paid way too much for from eBay. I don’t remember how much it cost me at the time, but this thing is hilarious. It feels cheap, it’s scraggly. But it’s hilarious. Its facial expression is the truest definition of priceless, to the point where I set it as my phone’s keyboard image for around a year. Every time I typed I felt a small happiness.
As I mentioned at the start, PowerA sent a few things across for me to take a look at. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. They sent me five Switch controllers, two of which being wireless, and two Switch cases. To give them due credit they’ve gone above and beyond on Pokemon theming, with there being a huge number of designs to pick from. Some are better than others though, and a few of them seem like they’ve just been slapped together without much thought. The wired ‘Pikachu Electric Type’ variant stands out for this, with the text on the face being warped by the right joystick. The wired controllers are fine, but they do feel incredibly light to the point of being a little uncomfortable because they feel empty, and the fact they use Micro USB makes me sad. The wireless controllers by contrast have a nice weight to them, use USB C, and even wake the Switch up using the Home button. Oddly enough they won't work using a wired connection. Despite this I’d still recommend the wireless variants, but the wired ones just don’t do anything for me here. The Switch cases do a good job in mirroring the controller themes, and they’re probably the ones that use the theming better thanks to the simple flat surface. They’re relatively slim, hold ten cartridges, and perform their role admirably.
Thanks to PowerA for sending these across. If you're interested in them, you can check them out on PowerA's official site below:
Pikachu Electric Type (Wired) | Pikachu Arcade (Wired) | Pikachu Cheeks (Wireless) | Pikachu Neon (Wireless) | Pikachu Cheeks (Case)
While on the note of controllers I do want to shine a light on two alternatives for the Switch, both from Hori. Having picked up the Mario variant of their USB GameCube controller a few years ago, I’ve never really looked back. Where a lot of GameCube lookalikes feel like awkward knock offs, which I suppose they are in a way, Hori’s feels like an iteration. The buttons feel great, with the joy sticks now having a click to them and the D Pad being larger and easier to use. I unfortunately don’t have the Pikachu version handy nowadays, having given it to a friend to play Smash Bros with, but the solid yellow face and translucent yellow back really do look wonderful in person. If you’re a fan of the GameCube form factor and want to show off your love for Pikachu, this is perfection. The second controller from Hori I’ll just touch on is the Split Pad Pro, the best friend of the large-handed looking for a comfortable handheld experience. This one is a bit tough for me, because while I do love the controller, I feel their theming comes across as cheap. For the Pokemon fans among us, there’s a Pikachu and Eevee variant, a solo Pikachu variant, and a new Arceus variant, but none really hit home with me. I do rate these controllers for their functionality, but they end up looking cheap unless you’re wanting to go for one of the simpler solid colour designs.
Before finishing up, I felt it necessary to reach out to our editor in chief Chary to get a snap of her ever-growing collection of Charmanders. It’s a magnificent collection that I don’t think I could match with a lifetime of collecting, and shows there is more to the series than just a yellow rat.
There’s plenty more to talk about in terms of the series and its random goodies, but I didn’t want to go on for too long. If you have any fun or unusual Pokemon-related items, or rituals to celebrate the day, drop a reply and let us know.
Last edited by Scarlet,
