Set: I ♡ Pikachu
Company: Banpresto
Year: 2012
Size: 14 inches (nose to butt)
Main distribution: Japan
This is a laying Pikachu plush from the I ♡ Pikachu line. One of my favourite Pokémon merchandise lines to date. This particular one is the large, fuzzy laying version.
It has the standard :3 face, with open eyes and closed mouth, and perked up ears that stand upright.
The plush is 14″ long (from nose to butt) and has a soft, fuzzy texture with pastel colours. This means its iconic yellow and red cheeks are of a softer colour, and the black eyes, nose, mouth and tip of its ears are a soft brown much like on its tail and back stripes. It comes with a hang string on its neck.
It has a cute mint green I ♡ Pikachu tush tag to indicate its line. Behind it is a much smaller Banpresto Tush Tag with the year 2012 on it.
Its hang tag has a pastel, cloudy and starry, dreamy background and says “I ♡ Pikachu” with the little Pikachu icon next to it. The main image is a pastel image of a sleeping Pikachu. The back features several logo’s and Japanese text.
I absolutely adore the I ♡ Pikachu line due to its cute pastel colours and soft nature. I never thought I was going to get the sleeping Pikachu, so I settled for this one and got it for a good price from a collector in Japan through a Pokémon Facebook Group. A month later I got the sleeping one as well!
This guy has been laying next to me in my bed until my boyfriend finally moved in with me. Now he lays with other sleeping Pikachu on the cupboard in the bedroom.
This fuzzy guy is very soft and its fuzziness makes it look cute. It looks great in a light room and on a bed.
The 14″ plush is a decent size and slightly bigger than the average plush (which I find is about 12″).
It has a nice shape which tapers in at the neck. The proportions on its face are spot on and the slightly bigger head adds to its cute look.
The only negatives I can find in this plush is that the fuzzy texture can collect a lot of dirt, hairs etc. so keep your plushy clean!
I find many of the plush in this line have the same shape / pose, but have a new accessory, a different face or are in a different size, and I’m not the collector who wants one of everything but picks its favourites, which in my case is based on uniqueness. I understand it’s easier to (re)produce something that’s already made and change one small feature, be it face or size, or add a little something extra like a flower, but it’s simply not for me and find it personally a bit of a cash cow. However, I’m glad to own both this one and the sleeping one, and I might get some from the other sets as well, as these are just amazing. The I ♡ Pikachu line might be the exception to my rule!
There are still some cute Pikachu in this line I would like to add to my collection so if you have some for sale you can always shoot me a message.
Got any more details / information you think I should add? Or did I get something wrong? Do you own the same plush? Do you agree or disagree with my findings? Let me know in the comments below!