After 10+ years of collecting anime goods, I feel it’s time for me to pick out the handful of products that are the pride and joy of my collection…
My favorite anime goods are the ones that I love the most for whatever reason, usually because they’re also hard to find and I would miss them dearly if I lost them. I’ve come up with eight, numbered below, with #1 being my favorite. Many of these anime goods are Japanese products, while a few are rare quality ones I found here in the U.S.
8. K-ON! mousepad
While visiting Akihabara during my trip to Japan in the summer of 2009, K-ON! was all over the stores. I believe this mousepad was one of Kyoto Animation’s exclusive goods that can usually only be bought from their store. However, they were selling it at Animate at the time. I know anime mousepads aren’t particularly hard to find, but this one is just so cute. It’s made for lazar mice rather than ball ones since its surface is scratchy rather than soft. Its only flaw is that Azusa isn’t on it =P
7. Haruhi deskmat
I bought this deskmat about four years ago at a small, local anime convention. It was the first Haruhi product I bought before I even became a fan of the series. I guess the reason I like it so much is because it’s a good likeness of the SOS Brigade and it’s oozing nostalgia of the original 2006 series. I have a few other anime deskmats (not really sure how to use them actually ~_^), but I prefer to use them as posters.
6. Inuyasha throw blanket
About three years ago, a local Hot Topic store was selling a bunch of anime stuff, including throw blankets like this from different series. Since Inuyasha is my favorite among the ones they were selling, I grabbed this one as soon as I saw it. And I’m glad I did since the store soon stopped selling them, and nowadays they have little to no anime stuff at all. I’ve never seen anime throw blankets again, even in Japan, so this one certainly was a good buy =) I use it all the time whenever I need a little extra warmth on me. I know time will eventually cause it to become too worn out to use (it’s already lost some of its original color and softness), but until then I’ll keep making good use of it.
5. Pokemon reji sheet
I bought this huge Pokemon reji sheet (what is a reji sheet anyway?) about a year and a half ago from the Pokemon Center in Tokyo. It’s a great buy for any fan of the franchise – it’s larger than most posters, features original pictures of 492 pokemon in their Poke-dex order, including extra images if they have different forms, as well as all their names in katakana. Unfortunately, with the recent release of the 156 new pokemon for Black & White, this sheet is now out of date. But I still love it ^^ I couldn’t find any room for it on my walls, so I’ve been using it as a curtain. It looks pretty when the sunlight shines through behind it.
4. Pokemon jacket
This was another lucky find at Hot Topic a couple of years ago. Not only does it feature the most famous old-school pokemon, it’s also quite comfortable and not too warm nor too cool. I wish I got a dollar for every compliment I’ve gotten about this jacket – I’ve worn it many places and almost always I get a nice comment or two about it. It’s only fault is that I can’t put it in the dryer because it’ll shrink (I already did that by accident when I first bought it). Like the Inuyasha blanket, I know it too will eventually get worn down with time, but until then I’ll get my $56 worth from it XD
3. Kagami plushie
Another great find at Akihabara, how could I resist this adorable plushie of one of my most favorite anime characters? Though it’s hard to tell from the picture, the plushie itself is excellent quality, much better than the ones you can find at U.S. anime conventions. She even has the official Kadokawa shiny sticker of approval on her tag, so I know she’s authentic XD I didn’t buy her during my first trip to Akihabara, but I regretted it later so I made sure to go back and get her the second time I went a week later. I love having her on display on my bookshelf, but I really should put her somewhere so she won’t get dusty =/
2. Cardcaptor Sakura DVD collection
I haven’t put any other anime DVDs on this list because character goods are my favorite things to buy and DVDs are relatively easy to find and replace. But my collection of Cardcaptor Sakura DVDs is special to me not only because it’s one of my most favorite anime of all and the first anime I ever watched in Japanese, but because the price I got them for was a once in a lifetime steal. Four years ago, AnimeNation was selling all the DVDs – 70 episodes on 18 discs – for only $75! With most U.S. anime DVD collections ranging from about $50-$75 for only 13 episodes, this was a deal that was too good to pass up. Not only was it a great deal price-wise, but now that Geneon, the U.S. company that released the uncut version of Cardcaptor Sakura, no longer exists, I’d imagine these DVDs are getting harder to find even at their regular price (I later bought the movie DVDs to go with them of course). So yes, out of all my anime DVDs, my CCS ones are the most precious!
1. Haruhi artbooks
Since there are three artbooks here, I know they should technically count as three items, but I decided to group them together. These artbooks are absolute must-haves for any Haruhi fan like me – two of them feature literally all of the Haruhi promo art from various magazines, CD and DVD covers, etc., from 2006 to 2010 (organized by season), and the third one features all of Noizi Itou’s illustrations for the novels up to the fourth volume (I’m currently waiting for a sequel to this book that covers the rest of the novels). For all three books, there are at least 50 full-page, high quality images each, as well as indexes in the back that tell when each image was made and what it was for. I suppose if I ever lose interest in Haruhi, these books will cease to be my favorite items in my collection. But for now, they say Haruhi love more than anything else XD
Feel free to share the pride and joy of your anime collection in the comments below.
Nice post. Well, the gems of my anime collection are:
1- My authographed Haruhi poster with the seiyuu autographs of Hirano Aya, Chihara Minori, and Goto Yuko (A gift from a friend at AX07) (featured in cartoonleap)
2- My Ayanami Rei film strip from Evangelion 1.01 DVD (featured in cartoonleap)
3- My Serial Experiments Lain DVD set inside an official lunchbox
4- Ayanami Rei 1/2.5 scale figure…Thats really a huge one!
4- The final manga of Card Captor Sakura!
5- Azumanga Daioh Osaka plush…a big one.
I think the rest is important as well…my haruhi figures, artbooks, etc.
I think your #1 and #2 item are really cool!
Ah, so you’re one of the few lucky fans who got autographs from the Haruhi seiyuu at AX ’07? I was one of the unlucky ones who spent hours of fruitless waiting for said autographs XP And you’re even more lucky that a friend would just give you a hard-to-get item like that.
And cool, I want a big Osaka plushie ^.^
Nice collection! I remember that Pokemon jacket from May (who knew it was going to be that windy?!). I can second the Haruhi artbooks being amazing. I think once we get the last four books animated (and the tenth one actually out), we’ll be seeing a sequel to the Ito-san artbook.
Once I get the final pieces, I think my #1 will be the full collection of Haruhi on BD and DVD from Japan. Mind-boggling how you could fit that much on one shelf.
Any idea if your Christmas present would make its way on here later?
Yeah, I can’t wait for a sequel to the Itou artbook. But won’t it be years before the rest of the novels are animated? I hope it doesn’t take that long 0_o
And when I eventually move on to blu-ray, I’m sure the Haruhi BD box set will become a gem. The calendar is a possibility too =)
My gems are….uh….lets see…..all I have are 4 volumes of Negima and an InuYasha video game……so I guess that’s it. InuYasha video game is the clear winner there.
If I recall correctly, the only Inuyasha videos games that have been released in the U.S. are the two fighting games for Playstation 1 and 2, and the DS RPG game. Just curious which one you’re referring to. I have the PS1 and DS game. Got halfway through the DS game but never finished. The PS1 game is pretty fun despite being rather outdated (I liked how the U.S. release kept the Japanese voices).
Just anime collections? How about manga? Videogames? Erog-nevermind :D.
Surely, you have a lot more treasures than what we have seen here. Bare them all out!
LOL, I would count manga and anime-related video games as part of an “anime collection” since they’re all related =)
If you want to see more of my collection, I can direct you to a past post where I took photos of my anime-covered room that even got featured on ANN’s Shelf Life column. The post is over a year old though, and my room and collection have changed since then.
I’m male, but I would kill for a Pokemon Jacket. Awesomeness.
Let’s see now, I don’t have much in my collection, but everything’s a gem to me xD
LOL, they had other Nintendo-related jackets like that at Hot Topic for males and females. Unless you mean it’s silly for a guy to wear such a jacket XD
Whenever I spend money on anime, I always try to make sure it’s something I really want and would despair if I didn’t buy it. I’ve had a few impulse buys that I later regretted, but for the most part I’ve stuck to this rule. So I consider the majority of my collection to be gems, it’s just that the ones on this post are my most precious ^.^
Aside from a cool Haibane Renmei poster (in Japanese!) that I bought from a convention, I own almost no interesting merchandise of note.
I’m not even a Pokemon fan but that jacket is amazing and probably the coolest thing I’ll see all day.
Cool, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Haibane Renmei poster. But it’s hard to find notable anime goods outside Japan unless you peruse anime conventions or order online.
And chalk up another compliment for my Pokemon jacket XD
Nice idea with the Reji sheet! I like the K-On mousepad too.
I remember seeing that jacket at hot topic..unfortunately, it was too expensive for me..
Since my walls are totally covered, I was almost gonna hang the reji sheet in the living room, but my mom didn’t like that idea (and then I wouldn’t be able to look at it all the time!) So I safety-pinned it to the curtain and it’s been there since. I never open that window anyway.
Yeah, the jacket was pretty pricey…I remember I didn’t buy it when I first saw it because of the price. But I yearned for it so much that I quickly went back and bought it. Totally didn’t regret it. The one thing I did regret is unwittingly putting it in the dryer when I first washed it and it shrank a bit. Thank goodness it still fits!
I would count my CCS dvds as one of my treasures as well. I have single dvds of the second half of the series that I bought sporadically, and the first box set (shaped like the Clow book!) that I bought before they went out of print. I’m mostly proud of them because throughout college, I’d stick on a random episode that I’d watch with my friends, and addicted many people to the series. They are my most-watched dvds that I own.
As for other treasures, I’d go with my Figma Lelouch and Suzaku. I got Lelouch a couple years ago, but Suzaku I only found last month in Akiba. My other treasure would be my Megahouse Zero Figure. (Three different heads, two sets of arms, and a wooshing cape!) (Can you guess who my favorite character is? >.>)
Nice, I didn’t even know they made a Clow book-shaped box set =D
Yeah, they did a re-release of the series several years ago in two box sets. First half is the Clow Book, second half is the Sakura book. Both weren’t in print very long though. The nice thing is the dvds are exactly the same as the originals.
Hey, those Haruhi artbooks look familiar! =) The pride and joy of my anime collection would be my ARIA artbooks and my ARIA figures — 3 sets of them — that I bought at various conventions, as well as a ceramic mug with President Aria’s face on it. At some point, when I have an apartment with enough space, I’d like to set up a display case for these figures, but for now they’re kept under wraps in a cool, dry place.
Those Aria artbooks you showed me were very nice. I can imagine them being gems for any fan of the series, just like my Haruhi artbooks.
I know a lot of people keep their figures in their boxes for fear of wear and dust. But to me, they’re meant to be on display and how they look in the box doesn’t do them justice at all, especially the figmas. I actually have some display boxes that I bought many years ago for my Beanie Baby collection. Maybe I should break them out for my anime figures…they’re kind of bulky though =/
I’d say my only gem in my collection is an OST of Rorouni Kenshin ;)
Nice artbooks you’ve got there. If only I could purchase pixiv artbooks, they’ll all be in the set :P
You should be able to find pixiv artbooks online if there’s no Kinokuniya or other Japanese book store near you. Or, if you have an account, just print out the pictures yourself, put them in a binder, and make your own artbook XD
I’ve got the CardCaptor Sakura DVD’s, too, including the movie. The last time I found the legal releases for sale bundled someone was selling them for $700! That shit is impossible to find these days. I’ve also got the first two volumes on tape if we really wanna start talking ancient times.
Along those lines, I’m also thrilled to own the first season of Sailor Moon, as that, too, is now out-of-print and fairly pricey. RGU would’ve made the list since I own it all on DVD, but RightStuf/Nozomi’s changed the game on that one… and I know I’m going to buy it all over again.
SOOOOO jelaous of your Pokemon hoodie and Cardcaptor Sakura DVD collection!!!! Cardcaptors should seriously be re-released! I’ve seen the complete DVD collection on sale before, but only at a high price of over 250$, which is something I really can’t afford…..sadness
I wanted to know the name of the jacket I searched Pokemon ,but I don’t see the sweate ;f; it’s not available anymore is it?