Slam Dunk - Other UFO prizes by Banpresto

I have some other Slam Dunk UFO prizes that are not complete sets but are worth mentioning:


Here are 2 items from something more "interactive" plushes than the others I posted. In this case, you can write your name or something like that in the cardboard ball and hang them in your door.

This collection is named "Message Plush" in the tag.

Looking at them you can be sure what Ruwaka is thinking about Sakuragi when he says he's a genious XD

We can see in the back of the paper tag that there are other usable plushes like those doorknobs hangers!

Although I'm not pretty sure what are those Mitsui and Ryota for...

Tag says "Message Plush" so you can understand what this set is about.

Next, here's a little Rukawa made of taffeta. He's the only one I have from the complete set, which you can see in the tag photo.

Slam Dunk Series 1 by Banpresto (1994)

Here's the first Slam Dunk UFO plush set released by Banpresto in 1994

This set has one more Sakuragi in school uniform figure which I don't have.. yet.

The individual shots:

Hanamichi Sakuragi - Our protagonist has a little basketball net attached behind him which is a very nice detail for this figure.

That little sweat drop goot a little too under the forehead, now it seems like a tear...

Haruko Akagi - She's the girl who introduces Sakuragi to basketball and... to an eternal Friend Zone! XD

With that joyful expression when sees how tall Sakuragi can jump...

Takenori Akagi - Haruko's brother and Shohoku's captain.

His nickname is "Gori" for.. Gorilla.

Kaede Rukawa - Best player of the team. He looks as annoyed as when someone wakes him up from a nap... riding his bicycle.

Coach Anzai - A little less fatty than Series 4 but still is funny to look at him.

Finally, here's the one I don't own yet. Sakuragi with his school uniform:

Now let's look at the tags:

Front of tag with the "toru-toru catcher" and Banpresto logos.

Back of tag with characters names and little bio.

It seems that this ones have also a difficulty level of 3.

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.