Fukubukuro 福袋

Discussion in 'Whatever' started by ultrakaiju, Jan 9, 2019.

  1. ultrakaiju

    ultrakaiju Die-Cast Staff Member

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    Fukubukuro 福袋
    I know, I know. We are all familiar with 'lucky bags,' right*? But really though, as the new year is here, I think it'd be pretty cool to hear stories of other locals' mystery bag purchases. :) Personally, I love the idea (even if it might be sort of a gimmicky thing nowadays). It's just good fun, after all. And hey, if it helps to get some old stock out of the way to people who would otherwise enjoy it, and makes room for new stuff, it's win-win. Who doesn't love a happy bag full of surprises?



    Feel free to share some interesting, enjoyable, or just plain surprising lucky bag items here. Happy New Year everyone!

    Best wishes [toy and otherwise] to one and all.

    * well, some people might not actually recognise this tradition, outside of how it has entered our little toy world
     
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  2. Bob

    Bob Toy Prince

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    Fukubukuro 福袋
    Yeah I had no knowledge of this outside of seeing toymakers do their yearly bags until I saw an article on the BBC news earlier today.
     
  3. akum6n

    akum6n Vintage

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    Fukubukuro 福袋
    I think it's interesting that Fukubukuro has evolved in the vinyl toy scene to become effectively a special release of blind-bagged figures, whereas in the traditional retail sense, it is usually a way to clear out unsold merchandise. (I suppose most of the popular vinyl companies typically do not have a lot of unsold merchandise for Fukubukuro.)

    In Hawaii, many merchants now participate in Fukubukuro due to the large number of Japanese tourists in the islands. This began maybe 10 years ago or so.

    I can't think of any particular standouts, but I can remember the most disappointing Fukubukuro experience. I bought a large bag from a popular bath product store, hoping to get some cheap nice soap. Unfortunately, I chose the bag based on weight and the contents turned out to be two enormous holiday-scented candles.
     
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  4. ultrakaiju

    ultrakaiju Die-Cast Staff Member

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    Fukubukuro 福袋
    Haha, that's perfect! Not the experience of course, I can appreciate the disappointment, but exactly that sort of story. I think we've probably all been there at some point.

    I could be mistaken, but I think some of the earlier LB in the scene were more of a traditional sense, i.e. not really a clearout of leftover stock as such, but blanks which were just extras from production, or set aside for the purposeful intent of having extras/not painting the full run. So slightly diverged from the ones made/pulled now for specific runs as part of LB releases. [And hence the ability to be able to send in some of the LB figures to get specially painted versions].
     

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