Hello Kitty Kiss Plushies

Sanrio have just announced that they will be making Hello Kitty cross-over plushies based on the American Glam Rock Band Kiss. The Hello Kitty plushies are all based on the album cover of Kiss' Dynasty album.

The dolls will be sold by Sanrio, but Kiss singer Gene Simmons has announced they will also be selling them at their concerts. A price and date have yet to be set though, but we can only assume it will be within the next few months.

This is not, however, the first time that Sanrio have created a cross over Hello Kitty plushie with a rock band, they have previously based them on Japanese Visual-Kei band X Japan, cleverly named 'Visual-Kei Kitty'.

Life-Size Fist of the North Star Figure Sells for 3m Yen

A life-size figure of Kenshiro, the main character from classic anime Fist of the North Star, has sold in a Japanese auction for 3 million yen. However, 10% of the final bid has been donated to the Japanese Red Cross to help the country recover from the terrible earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last year. The figure is more than it seems though, as it happens to be inlaid with 500,000 Swarovski crystals also. The worth of the crystals alone is 10 million yen, so the man has got himself a bargain!

The winner of the auction was a self-employed married man in his 40s, who lives in Fujieda City in Shizukoa prefecture (Southwest of Tokyo). He said that all of his family are Fist of the North Star fans, stating "I'll make the statue a family heirloom". He also did receive his wife's consent to complete the purchase.

The figure itself is 73inches tall (185cm) and is now being protected by a custom-built case to ensure no dust ever gets on it, and it should also protect it from earthquakes.

Super Mario Tanooki Plush Doll

After the release of Super Mario 3D Land on the Nintendo 3DS last year, San-ei Boeki have announced they will be releasing a plush doll of the Tanooki costume from the game. For those older fans of the series, the Tanooki costume was first included in the 1988 game Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES. There will be two sizes available, a small version which will stand at 9 inches (22cm) tall, or a medium version which will stand at 12 inches (30cm) tall.

The price for these plush dolls will be 1,400yen for the small version, and 2,600yen for the medium version. Both of the dolls are planned to be released in April.

One Piece Chess Set - Pictures

Megahobby, a Japanese company who used to produce a popular range of Chess Piece Collection games, have made the decision to bring back the series. This relaunch will be started with the popular anime series One Piece getting the chess game makeover, which will be released in April.

As you can see, all the pieces are very well crafted and painted with such attention to detail that this would make a perfect present to any anime otaku, One Piece fan or not (i personally haven't watched much of One Piece but i love how this set looks).

All of the pieces measure at 3.5 inches (90mm) and come with either a black or white base. There are also some close-ups of the pieces below, where you can really see all the detail put into these pieces.

Naturally, Luffy is the king of the set:

Nami is the Queen piece:

Sanji plays the role of the Bishop:

 

Zoro is the Knight:

 

Usopp takes the position of Rook:

 

And, last but not least, Chopper takes the place of the pawn.

Life Size Hatsune Miku Statue at Sapporo Snow Festival

There will be a special guest at this years Sapporo Snow Festival, in Hokkaido, which will be a life size statue of vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku. The statue will be on display at the festival between the 6th to the 12th February.

Hatsune Miku will also have a line of Snow Miku goods produced that will only be available at the festival. These will be co-created with the Hello Kitty company Sanrio. This will include two plush dolls and a limited run of 3,000 Nendoroid Snow Miku Fluffy Coat Ver. figures.

Another collaboration with this event is a special railway service called Yuki Miku Densha (which translates as 'Snow Miku Train') which will be running between 19th December and 30th March. This is completed by Hokkaido Prefecture Sapporo City, who also redesigned the trains last year with Hatsune Miku.

K-ON branded Pet Food bowls and Golf Club Covers

The online shop of Japanese production company Pony Canyon, Canime.jp, have begun selling new K-ON! merchandise, including branded cat and dog food bowls. These will be selling for 1,500 yen for the smaller bowls, and 2,000 yen for the medium sized bowls.

Another novelty item they have started to sell are Golf Club covers, which are plush dolls of the girls with the cover behind them:

I personally am quite tempted to get my dog one of the food bowls, but am not too sure how my wife will take it ^_^