Classic Japanese character merch stars of the late ‘90s and early 2000s make comeback with San-X

Tarepanda and pals are back to put smiles on the faces of old fans and make new ones too.

There are a lot of parallels between the character goods scene and regular human show business. Not everyone is lucky enough to go on to be icons of the industry like Hello Kitty, whose fame continues to rise and rise even decades after their debut. Some characters instead enjoy a brief period of intense popularity, but then get pushed aside by trendy newcomers who become the latest fad.

But just because they’ve been out of the spotlight for a while doesn’t mean those character are forgotten by their fans, or that they can’t attract new young audiences who might be seeing them for the first time. So this fall a quartet of characters who were major stars in the character merch boom of the late ‘90s and early 2000s are hitting the comeback trail.

All of them come from character goods company San-X, with the first being Tarepanda, who debuted in 1995. Tarepanda’s name comes from tareru, meaning “to droop,” and the tuckered-out/laid-back panda who flops from place to place has never moved faster than 2.75 meters (9 feet) an hour, even to get some of its beloved suama rice cake sweets.

Next is Kogepan, or “Burnt Bread,” a bit of singed baked good scraps with an inferiority complex born of being not as fit for consumption as more skillfully made slices and debuted in 1999.

On the other end of the personality spectrum is Afro Ken (ken being one of the ways to say “dog” in Japanese), who first appeared in 2001 and whose disposition is always as bright as his hair, and who feels drawn to afro-shaped objects.

And last, Nyan Nyan Nyanko (meaning “Meow Meow Kitty”), or just Nyanko for short, a cat who’s been imitating food and other everyday items since 1999.

San-X is releasing new items for all four characters this fall, with compact strap plushies (1,760 yen [US$12.60]) and larger stuffed animals (2,200-2,860 yen) of course part of the lineup.

▼ The Kogepan plushie comes with its own bread bag…

▼ …and Afro Ken’s afro is removable.

In a nod to modern merch trends, there are also acrylic character standees (770 yen)…

…and clear files (660 yen for a set of two patterns for each character).

For on-the-go fans, there’s a collection of handbag-style pouches (1,980 yen)…

…and it wouldn’t be a proper character merch project without stickers and stationery, would it?

▼ Memo pads with four paper patterns each (385 yen)

▼ Pens (1,100 yen)

▼ Tile sticker sets (440 yen)

The whole lineup is schedule to go on sale in early October, and to be offered n both physical stores and through the San-X online shop.

Source, images: PR Times
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