Captain Tsubasa by DAICHO (2001)

Around 2001, a new Captain Tsubasa anime was on air.  Series title was just "Captain Tsubasa" but most people and fans call it "Road to 2002" since that was the manga subtitle on which this anime was based around the time.

It's one of the rarest plush sets I've seen. The reason is that during this almost 8 years I've collecting UFO plushes, I've just found one character from the set and the keychain mini plushes set alone. Just one time and that's it. Maybe the reason is that the company that launched this is a not very known one (from DAICHO I've only seen some RC cars on eBay)

Here's the picture of the Forever Alone plush and his keychain companions:

I'm not a fan of plush keychains since as you can see, the character proportions are more deformed than the normal plush ones.

And the tags with important info:

Aside from DAICHO logo, Howdy International seems to be a subsidiary from AVEX Inc, which is a well-known japanese media company.

 

 

Kuroko no Basket - Hand cushions by Bandai (2014)

Kuroko no Basket is not a 90's anime but is the most popular after Slam Dunk around this sport, so I checked it and became a fan of the series.

The Generation of Miracles has a lot to carry over their shoulders...

In 2014 Bandai launched a series of plushes based on the series with an interesting twist: These are meant to be used as hand cushions under your wrist while using a mouse, in order to get more comfortable using it. This can be seen in the back of the tag:

I've never seen so much information in the back of an UFO plush! Most of these are just indications on how to take care of the plush and not to give it to children under 15...

There were 4 different sets from the series but since they were launched almost around the same time, I'll put all them in this same post:

You can identify the set by looking at the character tag:


Tetsuya Kuroko - Our main protagonist. He was the Phantom Sixth Player of the Generation of Miracles at Teikō Junior High. He specialises in misdirection and passes. He now plays as a regular with Seirin with the goal of bringing the team and Taiga Kagami to the top of Japan.

Taiga Kagami: The ace player of Seirin High. Kagami has exceptional basketball talents and has been called "The Miracle who did not become one of the Miracles".

Ryota Kise - Ace of Kaijo High. He is well known for his copying abilities, as he can copy any techniques he sees, often with more power than the original. He also works as a model.

Aomine Daiki - He currently plays as the ace and power forward of Tōō Academy. He and Kagami are sworn rivals after their clashes in the Interhigh preliminaries and in the Winter Cup

Now to the second set:

Shintaro Midorima - Shooting guard of Shutoku High. He specializes in 3-point shooting.

Takao Kuzanari - is Shutoku's first year point guard. He is Kuroko's natural enemy, as he has the Hawk Eye and is able to see Kuroko even if he uses his misdirection.

Yukio Kasamatsu - Kaijō's third year Point guard and Captain.

Shoichi Imayoshi - He is Tōō's third year point guard and captain

Third Set:


Atsushi Murasakibara - He was the Generation of Miracles' center. He now plays for Yōsen High.

As a side note, this plush is larger than all other ones since the character is the tallest in the series.

Tatsuya Himuro - He is Yōsen's second year shooting guard. He was Kagami's brother figure back in the States.

Junpei Hyuga - He is Seirin's captain and shooting guard. He is a clutch-player and mainly excels at shooting.

Teppei Kiyoshi - He is Seirin's founder and its previous ace. He is known as Iron Heart  and is one of the Uncrowned Kings.

And the fourth and final set only has 2 characters, which I only have one...

Seijuro Akashi - He was the captain of Generation of Miracles. He is the only person that the Generation of Miracles knuckles under. He is now the point guard and captain of Rakuzan High.

Makoto Hanamiya - is the coach and captain of Kirisaki Daīchi High and is one of the Uncrowned Kings. He is known for his foul and underhanded play and the cause of Kiyoshi's knee injury last year.

Image taken from Google.

*All character descriptions were taken from Kuroko no Basuke Wiki

Slam Dunk Series 3 by Banpresto (1994)

Let's get a look into the third set launched by Banpresto for Slam Dunk:

This time Shohoku shares more than half of the set with Ryonan school.

Now he really looks confused here...

Rukawa looks friendlier than other sets... which is not right!

Akira Sendoh always cool and friendly

Now here they come new characters:

Kicchou Fukuda - Power Forward from Ryonan.

Look at that expression! LOL

Jun Uozumi - Ryonan's captain. Almost as scary as Akagi.

Hikoichi Aida - He is somewhat a manager to Ryonan since he gathers a lot of intel about other players and teams.

His notebook says "Things to check" and then "Notes on Shohoku"

Tag front with Ryonan as main protagonist in the set.

Tag back

Welcome to my Anime UFO Plush showroom!

So, in the last few years I've been collecting a lot of UFO anime plushes from Japan.

For those who are new in the subject, UFO machine prizes are a big hit there. Today, you can find a lot of different types of prizes from plushes to candies and action figures. Here's a short video of two guys winning some Dragon Quest plushes:

The UFO term comes from the appearance and movements from the claw or crane within the machine

The 90s and first years of the New Millenium are commonly known between anime fans as The Golden Age since world famous titles such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Evangelion, Ranma 1/2 and One Piece were presented for the first time. You can be sure about the impact of those series when looking at the big amount of remakes today, right?

Then, UFO plushes started as a very interesting form of collecting merchandise related to those famous series. There was a big challenge for UFO players "hunting" these items since one set consisted on four or more different characters from the same series. Today is very difficult to find complete sets so the collector (my) challenge is to find piece by piece until each set is completed!

Yes, the also "Golden Age" from eBay is long gone since some 5 or 7 years ago when you could find this sets in affordable prices. Even japanese sites like Yahoo! Japan has complete plush sets from time to time, making the search a real adventure...

Why collect plushes and not action figures like everyone else? They are more detailed and character-alike! (and easier to gather in boxes...)

Well, I really like the chibi form from this characters. Also, they are made in almost the same size and appearance which makes them look like being made from the same company, which is not the case, and that doesn't happen with plastic action figures which have more an individual appeal, as I see it.

Ok, ok. So, are you selling your plushes using this blog?

 

Not for the moment. My objective is to show these amazing collectibles from the past and present in order to get new collectors interested in this kind of vintage merchandise since I haven't found any other site like this blog pretends to be.

So, welcome again. I'm sure you'll find something interesting to remember and maybe to start collecting your own!!

This is one part of my entire collection. This will be fun, indeed.