Set: I ♡ Pikachu
Company: Banpresto
Year: 2012
Size: 14 inches (nose to butt)
Main distribution: Japan
This is a sleeping Pikachu plush from the I ♡ Pikachu line. One of my favourite Pokémon merchandise lines to date. This particular one is the large, fuzzy sleeping version.
It has a relaxed sleeping face, with closed eyes that point upwards and a closed, happy “3” mouth, with drooping ears that fall alongside its face.
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 baby pink 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, but then I found it for a good price from a collector in Japan through a Pokémon Facebook Group.
It is by far one of my favourite plush! It’s so soft, and looks so relaxed. It makes me happy looking at it.
It looks cute and comes off 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 laying 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!