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The lack of merchandise outside of Japan/US (in particular plush)

Treacle

Started with Bulbasaur
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
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I can't be the only person who is really disappointed with TPCi's ignorance of a market outside of these two countries (since the US actually gets some PC merch). After almost 6 months they still have no notion of opening pokemoncenter.com to people outside of America. (and yes I did ask)

Using Amazon UK as a guide (it's not perfect but it gives an idea), it's not until the 3rd page in popularity that you actually reach plush they bothered to release in the UK. It's not just collectors either, many of the reviews are by parents etc buying plush for their kids, and having to resort to buying it from Japan or getting dodgy bootlegs because they can't get it anywhere else.

It's like they would rather have people spend extra money (that they maybe could have bought another plush with) buying from amazon/ebay scalpers, than actually sell anything elsewhere. There's obviously a market for plush beyond their usual 'Pikachu + Starters, that's it' formula. (I think they did one shipment of Sylveon/Dedenne then canned them too) Clearly they would rather have bootleggers (who are filling the obvious gap in the market) get the money instead as well.

Wantever happened to this? - Tomy International brought on board to help international merchandise - Bulbanews (I know not all the plush is made by Tomy, but there's still a LOT of Tomy stuff that isn't sold outside of Japan)

What an empty promise that was...
 
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You're telling me. There's nothing I want more than a Greninja plushi and yet I can't find one anywhere and Pokémon Center doesn't sell them here.
 
You're telling me. There's nothing I want more than a Greninja plushi and yet I can't find one anywhere and Pokémon Center doesn't sell them here.

It's really annoying that they are so out of touch with what the fanbase actually wants. (not even just the older fanbase)

This is the 'solution' that was suggested to me -

Hi,

We appreciate your feedback very much! We apologize that at this time the Pokemon Center does not ship outside of the United States. The products sold on Pokémon Center are manufactured, tested and labeled using guidelines for the United States only and therefore can only be distributed by us in the Continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.

Any changes to this policy will be announced on the website in the future.

Thank you for supporting Pokémon! If you have any additional questions or comments regarding this inquiry, please do not hesitate to update this ticket.

Sincerely,
Pokémon Center Support Team

Yeah because you aren't literally selling relabeled Japanese Pokémon Center stuff or anything... -_-
 
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I kinda wish they did away with pokemoncenter.com and just had a Japanese store that would sell local merch all over the world. The North American store may look like they sell the same plushes like what they sell in Japan, but they really strike me as non-shabby factory rejects while the really good stuff went to Japanese Pokemon Centers. Case in point: I have two Mega Charizard Y Pokemon Center plushes, one from Japan and the other from the US. Wanna guess which of the two looks better made?

Still, I don't see why they can't sell internationally on pokemoncenter.com. I mean, I can understand region-locked games and things that require lithium batteries being a hassle to ship internationally, but plushes, figures, and stationery items? That makes no sense.
 
I kinda wish they did away with pokemoncenter.com and just had a Japanese store that would sell local merch all over the world. The North American store may look like they sell the same plushes like what they sell in Japan, but they really strike me as non-shabby factory rejects while the really good stuff went to Japanese Pokemon Centers. Case in point: I have two Mega Charizard Y Pokemon Center plushes, one from Japan and the other from the US. Wanna guess which of the two looks better made?

Wow that's really sneaky of them if they actually did that... Do you have a comparison photo? I'd like a European store if only so I don't have to pay either import tax or loads on shipping everything individually to avoid it...
 
I don't live in the places they ship products to.

Have you tried eBay? I buy most of my stuff from sellers on there. Japanese sellers aren't extreme when it comes to postage prices either (whereas a lot of American sellers on there really love to charge stupidly high postage in my experience). Though I guess you'd have to check with them before hand if you live somewhere remote or whatever.

Edit: Well I guess this thread is about the lack of official sellers outside of Japan/US, so my post might be considered stupid I guess :p
 
I live in the US, but for the time between having the Pokemon Center in NYC and online until we got the newly-instated one, everyone had to buy their Pokemon Center merchandise from either Japan itself, or merchants across the country (Disneyworld for one, conventions, other people who had bought the plushes from somewhere, and eBay). It was hard to find plushes with their prices not jacked up into oblivion, and I feel your pain. There's two stores in mind that I immediately think of.

Pokevault: Plush Toys Pokedolls is an awesome place, but his prices can be pretty high. He ships to a lot of places, but I'd shoot him an email to get the entire story.

Another option is using a Proxy (To directly buy the plushes from Japan). My favourite is http://www.fromjapan.co.jp/, which I've happened to make a guide for on Bulba. I'm pretty sure they ship worldwide, also. Since it is a Proxy, you can expect high prices for shipping and other random charges, but the prices you can get some plushes at is phenomenal. Along with that, since it is a Japan-based site, the chance of actually buying a bootleg plush is lowered.

Other than those two, I'd recommend buying second-hand plushes. It may sound kind of weird, but there's a plethora of Pokemon Buy-and-Sell groups all over the Internet. I'm on a few on Facebook, and people post their merchandise hourly. You can find some great deals, and most groups force sellers to state if their merchandise is fake or not.
 
I was kinda hoping there'd be more Pokémon merchandise in the UK than where I used to live before, but that was false hope D:. Most places only sell the most recent set of TGC boosters and decks, if even those. I think The Entertainer is pretty much the only place with even a decent range of different Pokémon toys, but usually the prices are ridiculously high (although they have pretty amazing reduced prices at least in stores when they want to get rid of older products, I got a big Oshawott plushie with £6).

I mainly buy my Pokémon toys/plushies from ebay - I've noticed especially the sellers in Hong Kong have really low UK shipping rates, usually the shipping's free or less than $5.
 
So instead of complaining about the lack of merchandise outside of Japan/USA I have done something about it.

EDIT: I got a reply and here's what they have to say on the matter:
Hello,

I am very sorry, but at this time The Pokémon Center does not ship outside the United States. The products sold on Pokémon Center are manufactured, tested and labeled using guidelines for the United States only and therefore can only be distributed by us in the Continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.

Any changes to this policy will be announced on the website in the future.

Thank you for supporting Pokémon! If you have any additional questions or comments regarding this inquiry, please do not hesitate to update this ticket.

Sincerely,
Pokémon Center Support Team
I'm now not sure what to suggest as the problem seems to be with American law.
 
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Ahh... They started releasing monthly special pikachu's at Japanese PokeCenters this year... and you don't know how badly I want them! Like there's even a special pikachu with a raincoat, and a business pikachu! (seriously adorable)Monthly Pikachu Plush Doll (マンスリーピカチュウぬいぐるみ) - Pocketmonsters.Net)

But lone behold... they're exclusively sold in Japan. Gahhh. Even if they were sold in the US, I wouldn't be able to get my hands on them since I'm in Canada.. it's really frustrating. I know there are people who buy products from Japan and sell them, but come on, there's always that little sense of paranoia that comes with online purchases from third parties. XD I wish there was someway they could do international shipping.
 
Did you try contacting Nintendo Europe? Pretty sure if they get enough buzz, they would think about selling in Europe.
 
I'm really baffled by that too... living in Hong Kong, it's not just the plushes, but even the cards - we only get the standard Theme Decks, Tins, and Boosters, plus a few promotionals, but no blisters, Trainer Kits, Boxes, etc, etc. Really disheartening.
 
I live in Canada, so it's really annoying when you see something on the Pokemon Center but can't get it because they won't ship to Canada. :/ I really don't get why they don't have that option, we're right next door!
 
Hi guys! I actually own a small otaku girl clothes site and I got some of my stuff (including pokemon tops, they are rather cute) straight from Japan/Korea, which I do not seem to have found anywhere in the US even... It's called Lana Para, let me know if you guys would like to see plushies and other stuff (PM me! :) would love to add to my shop! I ship worldwide too!
 
There's Pokémon merchandise in this part of the Caribbean. It seems that Pokémon merchandise isn't "commercially viable" in Europe (or at least Ireland, the place were TC hails from).
 
I can't even remember when was the last time I found anything with Pokemon here that wasn't just the games. We used to have a bit of merchandise when Pokemon just started out, but when the fad wasn't as strong anymore, it completely disappeared. I don't even know if the anime still airs. It's kind of sad honestly, because there are still many people that buy the games around here.
Needless to say, it's often hard to find online shops that ship here, let alone find e-shops selling Pokemon merchandise.
 
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