ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ Teddybears ʕ•ᴥ• ʔ

Hey!

It feels like ages since I've done a collection post. I was experiencing a little bit of a writers block and couldn't decide on what to blog about next. To solve the problem I decided to write about a topic that is very close to my heart and thereby very enjoyable to discuss. If you didn't skip the title you might have guessed that the topic of the day is, indeed, the wonderful Teddy in my Pocket series.

Picture from here

Like other in my pockets, the teddies are also a product of the toy company MEG. It's really hard to find any proper info about in my pockets online, but as I was a TIMP fan already as a child I'd say they came out mostly in the mid-90's. Probably around 1995 and 1996. A wonderful in my pocket checklist and collection website, 90's in my pocket, lists 71 different teddies so there's plenty to collect.

Like I said, I was well-acquainted with Teddy in my Pockets already in my early childhood, when the original in my pocket series were all the rage. In addition to the actual playsets, some teddy figures were available as Kellogg's cereal prizes in Rice Krispies, Coco Pops and Ricicles boxes. Oh how I miss the golden age of cereal toys...

I don't know if it's all just for the sake of nostalgia, but I feel like there is something about the vintage in my pocket series that makes them really nice toys. The figures aren't necessarily very cute, the sculpts can be a bit wonky at times and the same few paint shades are used repeatedly throughout the sets. But they're just so... playable I guess. And very nice to collect, of course. They are nicely sized so storage is not an issue and the vintage teddy bear -look is really unique in comparison to the popular cutsie-wootsie rounded bear style. Not that there's anything wrong with modern, cute teddies - the vintage look is just refreshing.

Rilakkuma, Vintage plush

Unlike with my love n sparkle Puppy in my Pockets, I was smart enough a child to cherish and hold on to my precious teddies. Thanks to that, I'm still a proud owner of the complete picnic set ʕ♡˙ᴥ˙♡ʔ !!! Definitely a grail of mine:

The picnic bears are from 1995 and include the father Gordon, the mother Amanda, the son Russell and the daughter Katie (holding a "kitie" ha ha!). I used to think that the stove top/ toaster/ grill on the blanket was a radio ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ. Anyways, I'm really glad I still have this set because it would probably be nearly impossible to find the "picnic area part" anywhere outside eBay.

Besides the picnic set, I owned one other teddy in the 90's. Grandad George (in the middle) is one of the Kellogg's cereal box teddies from 1996. Later I've found Sarah (honey jar) and Nicholas (sunglasses) to accompany him. These Kellogg's figures are slightly more cheaply made than the store bought teddies and even the plastic used is a little different. Whatever.

My final teddy figures are Harry, from the 1995 Bear Watch set, and the flower-holding Emily. I'm a little confused about her since in old promotion pictures she is one of the cereal box figures, but unlike the others she doesn't have a Kellogg's stamp on her back. Her included, I'm only missing the grandma Emma figure to complete the cereal set! Mwahaha! Besides Emma, I'm most interested in finding figures from the Wedding set, the Lullabear set and obviously the Love n Sparkle set.

It is downright impossible for me to decide what In my Pocket series is my favorite. I definitely like the vintage, hard plastic series more than the new flocked figures but the teddies, puppies, kitties and even ponies from the 90's are all equally amazing. Like everybody probably already knows, I'm a huge sucker for all things childhood so above all I'm interested in collecting the exact figures that me and my friends used to own.

Now make me jealous and tell me about your In my Pockets! I was about to ask you to tell me what you have in your pockets... but... that is... not what I mean ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ✿✿✿ Tuuli

Nuts about Natoons

Holla!

I realize Kinder's Natoons sets have come up in my posts a few times but I have yet to delve into them properly. Natoons have a special place in my collection since getting a moose-Natoon from the arctic animals set in 2012 was probably what got me into toy figurines in the first place.

I've mentioned before that I'm a biology student (on the brink of graduating, I might add!) so when I opened an egg, half certain I was gonna get a puzzle or something just as lame, I was ecstatic to find out Natoons existed! The moose itself was a solid figure and it came with additional information on the species. What else can an emerging biologist wish for?

Natoons is a fairly recent series of Kinder toys. The first sets came out in 2011 and since then, new ones have cropped up frequently. Because I refuse to hoard, I don't go after every single one but rather carefully select the nicest sets - usually the ones that showcase realistic animals. My sources tell that as of now there are 23 different sets of Natoons in total and I collect twelve. Not too terrible.

I planned to advance in chronological order but I noticed I had inadvertently merged two sets in the same photos. Apparently i'm not only a moron but also lazy so we'll just have to go with that.

The very first Natoons were the Animals of Africa. It is a huge set of eleven figures, seven of which I own. They came out in 2011 and belong to Kinder's "DC-series" (a serial number of sorts, nothing to do with superheroes). The ones I have are the elephant (DC 007), rhino (DC 001), buffalo (DC 010), lion (DC 003), crocodile (DC 006), dromedary (DC 011) and chimpanzee (DC 009). The set is missing a hippo (DC 002), leopard (DC 004), gorilla (DC 005) and a gorgeous tortoise (DC 008).

The remaining five in the pictures below are from the Animals Around the World set, from the FT-series released in 2013. These are the platypus (FT 005), tiger (FT 002), black panther (FT 003), ostrich (FT 008) and panda (FT 006). I'm still looking for a kangaroo (FT 001) and a koala (FT 007). You might notice that FT 004 is missing and that is because for some reason Ferrero decided to reuse the crocodile (DC 006) from the African animals in this set. Now back to being chronological.

Another set from year one of Natoons that I'm collecting is the Plush Animals set (DC-release, 2011). These fuzzy cutsie wootsies are all flocked and SUPER ADORABLE. Full set has seven figures and currently I own four: the elephant (DC 018), rhino (DC 024), panda (DC 022) and polar bear (DC 023). Can I just say that the rhino is my favorite Natoon so far and it is so. stinking. cute. that I feel like clawing my eyes out. The hunt is still on for a (lion) cub (DC 019), little monkey (DC 020) and hippo (DC 021).

So far I have completed only one set of Natoons and it is indeed the Arctic Animals set that initiated my Kinder-craze. The set is a part of Kinder's TR-series, came out in 2012 and consists of the following figures: Moose (TR 008), Seal (TR 003), Arctic Fox (TR 004), Polar Bear (TR 005), Otter (TR 006), Wolf (TR 002), Walrus (TR 007) and Penguin (TR 001). As to why there is a Penguin in an arctic animal set - I have no clue. It's cute though!

In 2012 Ferrero had undoubtedly some smart employees making toy decisions, since they came up with the "Young Arctic Animals" set. These little bebes are made of a nice plastic with a rubbery finish and they just scream collect meeeeeeeeeee. It is also pretty peachy that they sticked with the same species as in the "adult line" because now all my little animal babies can have animal mommies, too! I have the polar bear (TR 013), arctic fox (TR 012), otter (TR 014), penguin (TR 009), walrus (TR 015) and seal (TR 011). I'm only missing wolf (TR 013) and moose (TR 016). Somehow I find it comforting that my adult figures are missing their babies and not the other way around since it would be sadder to have offspring without parents than parents without offspring. I really do think about these things, yes.

Because young animals are the bee's knees, I also collect the baby versions of the Animals Around the World set I showed earlier (also from 2013). Again, the young animals are the exact same species as the adults, including the crocodile already familiar from the very first Natoons set. These have not been too easy to encounter and I only have the platypus (FT 013), panda (FT 014) and kangaroo (FT 009). I do not yet own an adult kangaroo and it breaks my heart a little ☹. Sure enough, I am missing the tiger (FT 010), panther (FT 011), crocodile (FT 012), koala (FT 015) and ostrich (FT 016).

2013 did not fall short on the Natoons front since a set of hugging, flocked pet friends, the Plush Pets, was released. Next year the pets were followed by their wild counterparts in the form of Natoons Forest Animals (inspired by Discovery). It is perhaps quite obvious I collect them both. With a passion. I said before that the flocked rhino was my favorite Natoon, but I really can't decide between it and these hugging hamsters (FT 025) from the pet set. The rabbits (FT 024) are also adorable and I cannot wait to get my hands on the missing doggies (FT 022) and kittens (FT 023). From the forest animals I own squirrels (FF 006) and foxes (FF 007) and am missing ducklings (FF 008) and bears (FF 005). 

2014 also introduced felted Natoons with another "Animals Inspired by Discovery" set. The koala (FF 149 [don't ask]) has felt ears, the fox (FF 001) a felt collar, the monkey (FF 004) felt ...hair and the lion (FF 002) a felt mane. I am only missing a parrot (FF 003) also rocking a felt collar.

The next set is from 2015 and was one of my top wants this Easter. I believe the sets name is Dangerous Predators even though I think maybe "big cats" would have suited it better. Anyways, as I stated in my Kinder Surprise Spectacle, I own the lynx (FS 019) and the lion (FS 022) and am very much looking forward to finding the tiger (FS 023), cougar (FS 020) and black panther (FS 021). The lion and the tiger can also be found in a flocked form which is suuper nice!

The remaining set is likewise an old friend from the Easter blog post. Natoons Junglebabies (2015) was an instant hit for me - now I can get the parents AND the babies simultaneously! I really hope it will not be a pain to find the duos intact second hand, since I only managed to get the "lioness with cub" (FS 147) and the "male chimpanzee with young" (FS 151) from my own Easter eggs. I'm still missing the "lion with cub" (FS 146) the "female chimpanzee with young" (FS 150) and all the ring-tailed lemurs (FS 148 and 149).

The 12th set of Natoons I collect is one of which I'm still missing every single figure. It is the Natoons Jurassic Minis set from 2015 with six different dinosaur figures (FS 152, 153, 154, 238, 238 and 240).

Picture from Catawiki

Like I said, I have not taken a liking to every set of Natoons. They really come in all styles and forms and generally I enjoy the simpler sets without a "catch" such as an additional water color pan. Here's a few examples of Natoons that I am not particularly fond of:

Pictures from Catawiki

I think its pretty amazing Kinder has come up with a series of figures that are a 100 % playable, educational and nice to look at. In my opinion, not many sets tick all three boxes. Different sets of Natoons are very combinable and kids and collectors alike can expand their animal collections each year with the new sets. The quality of Natoons figures is generally A-OK, whether we're talking about the hard plastic figures that need a little assembling (e.g. the Animals of Africa) or the rubbery ones that we're seeing more and more often with the new sets (e.g. Junglebabies).

I've noticed there are quite a few species of animals that repeatedly appear in different sets, such as lions, rhinos or elephants, and this could be boring to some. I myself think it is sort of fun to see different representations of the same animals in different sets.

As for my own collection, I don't think it's the biggest or most dashing of Natoons collections, but considering I don't find excitement in buying complete sets off of Ebay and rather enjoy the treasure hunt, I think I'm doing really well!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on Natoons and Kinder Surprise toys in general. Are they worth collecting? Do you have favorites?

✿Tuuli

One Hundred and One Collections

Sometimes I feel like the things I collect and the things I would like to collect are two very different affairs. Meaning, of course, that in an ideal universe I would collect so much more. Because time, space and money are limiting factors in one’s life I have to stick to the so called cherries on top in order to avoid hoarding and bankruptcy.

I mentioned in my first blog post that collecting is coded in my DNA and indeed the trait does run in the family. I don’t know if it’s due to growing up surrounded by my dad’s comic books or if it’s actually something magical running in my veins, but since… well, forever, having things to collect, organize and complete have brought me great satisfaction. Even if I’ve only recently gotten into toy figures, during my 25 plus years of being alive I have already had time to collect a number of things. So the question of the day is, what are these cherries o’ mine?

My oldest hobby that counts as a collection is probably BB gun ammo. Yyyeah. So I must have been about seven when I first learned about the ozone layer and obviously got crazy worried that humanity was doomed and my family was certainly going to die if I didn’t do anything to fix the depletion. The clever child that I was, I figured if I picked up all the garbage tainting our suburban neighborhood the problem would be as good as gone. Candy wrappers and plastic bags were quickly taken care of but the teeny weeny BBs took a while – they are plastic so they count as trash amirite? It was the moment when I should have disposed of them when I decided they were too pretty for just that. I’m not seven anymore but what can I say, the habit sticked. The ozone layer has improved since the 90’s and still continues to do so. I’m just saying.

picture from Google

I might have the tendency to pick up trash but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in the non-trashy stuff found outside. Plants are a HUGE interest of mine and it was obvious that I wanted to continue collecting them after the compulsory herbarium I had to (got to) collect in uni. In short I find different plant species (not the endangered ones), identify them, pick them up, press them dry and flat and attach them to a sheet of paper alongside the necessary info that makes them scientific specimens. So far I have collected around 600 different species of plants. I also take tons of pictures outside and sort of view my photos as a collection too. I love collecting bugs on film! Through these collections I get to play my very own treasure hunt (get it? get it?), be outdoorsy and learn A TON. That’s a good hobby if you ask me.

a few shots from last summer

What else. I collect Disney classics and Pixar movies because if you don’t you should. I get into a Disney movie watching mode every couple years and they never get old: collecting justified. I also am a little hoardy when it comes to yarn, because I crochet quite a bit. I might see an amigurumi blog post in the future, hm. Pretty much in some way or another I make most aspects of my life collectable – I sort the anime I watch in my myanimelist-account and have an excel file dedicated to chronologically organizing the Barbie dolls I owned and wanted to own as a kid.

Sometime ago my dad found out that if you buy Kinder (and such) figurines cheap, collect complete sets and find the right buyers you can make some money. A fun pastime and good motivation to be active (he bikes everywhere). So I first got into Kinder’s Natoons-sets and then got the permission to rummage through dad’s finds and keep the ones I like. The current situation is that I have a “priority” list of 41 different sets of toys that I’m collecting plus multiple lists of “possibly interesting sets” and “if I find one I might start collecting these” lists. In addition, I’m up for anything Pokémon, Sanrio or Puppy/Kitty/Teddy in My Pocket if it’s reasonably priced and sized. Lately I’ve been really excited about the zodiac Hello Kitty series found in Dolci Preziosi surprise eggs, Zaini’s Disney Animal Friends surprise egg figures and getting a Bandai Kids figure of all of my favorite Pokémon. I plan on sharing these and many more here on this blog as I go on with the hunt ☺.

I don't yet own any Zizzlingers which is wrong on so many levels!

I also wanted to mention that it’s Easter in a couple of days! I have in total 30 Kinder surprise eggs reserved for the festivities and I very much plan to blog all that.

Stay tuned!

✿ Tuuli

Gotta catch ’em all™

In Finland the easiest second hand Pokémon to encounter (heh) are definitely the Topps candy container figures, most often referred to simply as the European candy figures. If there is a random Pokémon inside a 1€ bag of toys at a thrift store, it is 99.9 % surely one of these guys.

So let’s start things with a little history lesson. Topps started distributing these blindbag… blindbox… blindpokéball figures right when the Pokémon fever was first raging in Europe in 1999. The containers were indeed shaped like pokéballs and included a random figure accompanied with obviously not as interesting assortment of candy. During 2006 a sticker sheet was also added to the jumble. The set of collectable figures changed annually or biannually and usually consisted of six to seven different surprises. During the 13 years of action, Topps released altogether 15 different sets of Pokémon.

picture from http://pkmncollectors.wikia.com/

In 2000, the 9-year-old me lived and breathed Pokémon, which was kind of rebellious of me since the parents of the popular girl of our elementary school class were deeply religious and proclaimed Pokémon as a Satan-worshipping cult. I wasn’t up for being brainwashed and even got my hands on some Topps figurines that still, after all these years reside in my collection. Lately my set of European candies has been expanding and boy oh boy do I want to catch ’em all!

The creme de la creme is naturally the release of 1999/2000, the generation 1 if you will. Three of the set of ten have found their way into my possession, Charmeleon being one of the ones that I’ve owned since childhood and Psyduck and Charizard being later purchases.

From the 2001/2002 release I own only Mantine and Togepi. And the Remoraid attached to Mantine HOW CUTE.

The 2003 Advanced set is completely unrepresented, whereas the Pikachu of the 2004 Advanced-2 set can be found on my shelf. Isn’t it astounding that the first candy Pikachu was introduced in as late as the fourth set (EDIT: the first Pikachu came in the first release, woops)? Pikachu here is accompanied with the 2005 release Lotad, who is also missing all of its set friends.I’m not missing many figures from the first release of 2006. So far I’ve found Poochyena (mint mint mint), Volbeat (missing its antennae, not so mint) and the funky Deoxys. Only Machop, Wobbuffet and Castform are absent.The second release of 2006, the one that introduced stickers, was to promote Diamond and Pearl. Snorunt and Chimecho are the only ones been caught. So far.Buizel, Dialga and Mamoswine here are all from different sets and until the unforeseeable future the only representatives of their sets. Buizel is from the 2007 Diamond and Pearl set and Dialga from the 2008 set. The Mamoswine is from the 2009 ”Pikachu edition”.In addition to these 15 Topps candies, I have found three mystery figures that are also referred to as European candy figures in the depths of the internet, but cannot be found in the Topps candy list (complete list below if anyone is interested). If somebody knows where the heck these Meowth (1999), Prinplup (no year mentioned) and Palkia (2010) came from please let me know. Pretty please.

*EDIT: Apparently the Meowth is a Topps figure from the first release. Seems like the pkmncollectors wiki article on Topps figures is not complete since I found an Italian site with quite a few extra figures. I still have no idea where Prinplup and Palkia came from, though. Anyways, I have now updated the checklist below.

All in all the Topps figures are not as fancy and consistent in quality as for example Tomy figures but somehow they just creep inside my heart. Some of them, like the Snorunt, are purely amazing and could pass for a Tomy anytime whereas others (Psyduck I’m looking at you) are rubbery and a little weird but not at all less loveable. And they are Nintendo licensed so no booties here. Honestly, the one thing that bugs me the most is WHAT GENIUS DECIDED TO PUT THE NINTENDO STAMP UPSIDE DOWN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF LOTAD'S FOREHEAD??? That aside I think that the encounter rate (sorry too funny) of these is just perfect making the hunt exciting yet satisfying and the number of different figures is neither crazy high nor disappointingly low. Good times.

Topps candy container figures

1999-2000 Release(s): Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, Blastoise, Clefairy, Psyduck, Vulpix, Poliwhirl. Charizard, Mewtwo, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Meowth, Jigglypuff, Eevee

2001-2002 Release(s): Croconaw, Mantine, Misdreavus, Steelix, Magcargo, Entei, Lugia, Elekid, Phanpy, Delibird, Houndour, Togepi, Slowking. Chicorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Igglybuff, Marill, Bellossom, Octillery, Heracross

2003 Release (Advanced): Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip. Latias, Groudon, Kyogre

2004 Release (Advanced-2): Sceptile, Blaziken, Marshtomp, Skitty, Wynaut, Pikachu

2005 Release(s): Taillow, Rayquaza, Lotad, Plusle, Minun, Beautifly

2006 Release 1: Poochyena, Machop, Volbeat, Deoxys, Wobbuffet, Castform

2006 Release 2 (Pre-DP): Snorunt, Glalie, Wurmple, Munchlax, Chimecho, Corphish, Manaphy (limited)

2007 Release (Diamond and Pearl): Weavile, Lucario, Bonsly, Mime Jr., Buizel, Mantyke

2008 Release 1: Dialga, Palkia, Chatot, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup

2008 Release 2 (Darkrai Edition): Darkrai, Electivire, Croagunk, Mesprit, Cranidos, Lickylicky

2009 Release 1 (Shaymin Edition): Magmortar, Rhyperior, Azelf, Regigigas, Shaymin, Shaymin sky form (also clear variation, limited), Giratina (origin form)

2009 Release 2 (Pikachu Edition): Pikachu (also clear variation, limited), Abomasnow, Froslass, Mamoswine, Uxie, Hippowdon (male), Heatran

2010 Release 1 (Arceus Edition): Grotle, Monferno, Prinplup, Dialga, Palkia, Gizamimi Pichu, Arceus (limited)
2010 Release 2 (Ho-Oh & Lugia Edition): Ho-Oh, Lugia, Swinub, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile

2011 Release (Jirachi Edition): Entei, Raikou, Suicune, Feraligatr, Meganium, Typhlosion, Jirachi (limited).

So let me know, is there anyone else collecting these? What do you have and what are the biggest, most tempting wants?

✿Tuuli