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Loretta's Pokémon Toy Blog
May 27, 2017

Alola!

Greetings from Komala’s island paradise, Pojo, 

Or so it seems considering all the koala inspired activity during my vacation week! Last week I stumbled across a Banpresto Komala plush on Amazon after seeing them finally showing up on e-Bay. Banpresto is the company that makes all the great licensed UFO catcher/crane toys for the Japanese market—but my local anime importer had not yet seen any Komala toys in stock, so I decided to order from Amazon since the importer on the website was doing their fulfillment via Amazon. Not being familiar with the importer, I felt confident that since Amazon was handling the entire transaction, no shipping from an unknown dealer, I would be safe. In the 9 days that transpired between my order and its arrival (it qualified for free shipping, which we know is not an overnight event!), I hit up McDonald’s for a Happy Meal so I could get the Ty Beanie Boo koala, Mel.

Then, I travelled to the animal conservation/education center I’d visited last year during vacation and presented the koala keeper with a copy of Pojo’s Unofficial Ultimate Pokémon in which my 4 page article bio mentions I was dreaming of a koala Pokémon (well, that book went to press before Komala was announced last year—talk about a dream come true! PIKA!).

The koala keeper loved my “Buddha of the Bush” hoodie which I’d obtained via The Australian Koala Foundation where purchases support koala conservation (they ship worldwide, but if you’re on a budget, September is the best month to order, as they have free shipping for Save the Koala month if you order $50AU+). I also gave the koala keeper some Lotte Koala’s March cookies; purchase supports The Australian Koala Foundation and I’ve discovered Meijer carries the American version here in the Midwest (check Asian foods section) along with many Asian/Japanese markets where you can buy import (check out the green tea flavor, quite exotic and surprisingly yummy!). I was privileged to get to check in on a lovely koala I’d met last year during my visit, too!

Anyhoo, flash forward to now, my Banpresto Komala is finally here! As you can see from the photo, it’s larger (maybe about 50%?) than the two Pokémon Center plush I’d ordered earlier this year, but the fabric is more similar to Tomy Pokémon plush—definitely hug size, though! It came in a large Amazon box cradled by air pillows and enclosed in the plastic bag I’ve yet to remove, meaning it arrived nice and clean and not bumped around, just utterly perfect! Now I’m off to try to enjoy Memorial Day weekend—and unwrap and display the Komala! BELLOW!

Loretta