A Look Back At The Bandai Kirby's Dream Land 3 Plushes!

the kirby series is a treasure trove of unique and creative characters many of which have had their likenesses made into plushies or at least that was the case for a while during the mid to late 2000s as well as the early 2010 Kirby plushies were pretty generic the company Sanae had been handling the license for years and yet they really only released a handful of characters if they're right back at you inspired Kirby Meta Knight and didi have become iconic but it certainly felt like there is some untapped potential here it's great we got plushies of so many copy abilities from them but what about characters who aren't Kirby thankfully Sanae who to this day still make Kirby plushies have really stepped up their game and have started to release many fan favorite legacy characters under their all-star collection plush line characters like Marx maggle or Suzy tyronza and more are now getting plushies and that's great many of Kirby's friends and enemies deserve plushies and it's great to finally see them being made Sen a shot to the entire world at Tokyo Toy Show 2018 by revealing plushies no one thought would ever be made brand new plushies of Kirby's main three animal friends Rick kine and COO set for release in September 2018 these are very exciting to see I've been waiting for new plushies of these guys for years and with their reintroduction as playable characters and Star Allies the time felt right and it finally happened however this isn't the first time these three got plushies and that's what I'm here to talk about today with the release of Kirby's Dreamland 3 a game that focuses heavily on Kirby's animal friends the company Bandai released this set of plushies featuring Kirby as well as for animal friends Rick kind COO and choo choo are all here unfortunately the likes of pitch na goo and somehow even GUI failed to make the set but these five are certainly good enough so let's talk about one of the most obscure Kirby plush sets of all time and with that said welcome to way a look back at the Bandai Kirby's Dreamland three kirby friends plush set [Music] this set of five plushies had a pretty unconventional release released in 1998 by Bandai in Japan these plushies were available at a retail coming packaged in these boxes I'm not sure if they were necessarily blind boxes as I've never seen one close up I imagine they weren't and you could see which one was inside I'm imagining either the name was printed on it or there would have been a check mark near the character on the box not sure what I am sure of though is that these boxes look really nice the front has a unique logo saying Kirby friends in Japanese which is the official name of this set below that is some text and the Dream Land 3 logo then we have this incredible set image which shows off the plush as well there's also Kirby artwork here and the Bandai logo there as the back of the box shows a similar set image as well as some production info like a barcode and the esti stamp reading st8 proving these were released in 1998 the sides of the box show the plushies as well as corresponding character artwork the entire box is very well stylized and looks great these plushies retailed at an incredibly low 200 yen which in USD is less than 2 dollars along with that these plushies were released in seemingly very limited quantities as I rarely see any for sale I imagine they had a very short print run and as such have become very rare today also and this is a very crucial point these boxes didn't just include the plush but also candy now forgive me I don't have any images of said 1998 candy but according to bandai site for the plushies which by the way is still up to this day that they came with the ramu neighs sweets pretty basic candies but they sure made for a great bonus to what was already worth the 200 yen there really isn't too much documented about this set online so these plushies have remained fairly unknown for years hopefully this video can help spread some light on them I personally don't own any of these plushies though I've regrettably come close without buying them several times so I apologize if the quality or quantity of images on these plushies seems lacking not a lot of images of these plushies exist online so I'm just using what I can however a majority of the images I will be using in this video come from Knight RAM of the video game memorabilia museum so huge thanks to him for helping me out with this a link to the source of those images will be in the description below so with that said let's take a look at them starting of course with Kirby [Music] now in a set containing characters like rick the hamster kirby couldn't possibly be too noteworthy but still this is a very unique and great looking plush remember that these plushies were 200 yen each so they are fairly cheap looking but banned I managed to capture the characters excellently given what they had to work with another thing to note is that these are very small plushies if you're aware of SK Japan's newer Kirby mascot plushies released in UFO catchers if they're around the same size according to this eBay listing Kirby stands at just 6.5 centimeters we're just under three inches tall they managed to pull up some great designs for plushies so small though Kirby is rocking a pose similar to many seen on Dream Land 3 artwork with one hand down and the other up Kirby's eyes are made of plastic with the proper white shines at the top however despite them being incorporated as far back as Kirby's superstar Kirby does not have the blue highlights in his eyes this was probably done either to save on cost or maybe these plushies were actually based off the sprites or something Kirby's opened mouth and blush marks are made of overlays and are not embroidered though they look good they can show their age over time with them cracking or fading this is a very well proportioned Kirby plush his feet are rounded and his hands are thin but still well sized and stuffed Kirby has a loop of white string connected to the top of his head which all these plushies have well what would have costed more I feel like metal chains would have worked much better allowing for these many plushies to be used as keychains these plushies of course never had paper tags but they do have touch tags which read copyright 1997 how laboratory Inc slash Nintendo and that's pretty much all there is to say on Kirby he's good and certainly it looks unique but compared to the others yeah Kirby is kind of a boring one out of the set as for his rarity once sold on eBay for $45 plus $10 shipping back in April of 2018 well I feel that is pretty expensive for a plush this small I'm gonna be honest I was kind of considering buying it when I saw it for sale these plushies never show up and if that listing was for any character in the set besides Kirby I totally would have bought it now I did see another Kirby on eBay once and this time he was significantly cheaper the listing was a lot of miscellaneous goods imported from Japan putting some Pokemon erasers as well as this kirby frosh if the guy had first listed it for something like $50 which I guess going off of this one would have been worth it but it never sold so they kept lowering the price and toe it got down to just $15 and then somehow I still didn't buy it and it's sold I really regret not getting that that would have been such a good price oh well I hope whoever got that $15 Kirby is really enjoying it and giving it the great life it truly deserves but that's enough about Kirby let's move on to the plushies people are probably more interested in of all the Kirby characters out there not really compared to the sheer power of rick the hamster this guy right here is absolutely one of the top tier characters ever crafted by man and it's really one of the all-time greatest tragedies that he doesn't have more plushies however this Bandai Rick plush can certainly fight among the best of them and here's why once again this guy is standing at a Stuart little 3 inches tall and is looking like an absolute champ Rick's eyes and nose are made of hard plastic his eyes feature the classic pie shaped eyes shine and his nose is an accurate pink color he even has his whiskers a detailed with hardwired Rick's body is absolutely perfect he looks like the good round boy he is and his proportions are all there Rick's back has the proper orange spots which contrasts his white body very well this set as a whole despite being so small and costing so little is very well made all of these guys look pretty much perfect and they all capture the style of Dream Land 3 very well all of rick is very well stuffed including his hands and feet nothing on these plushies are really inaccurately flat they all have depth where they need it making them look very high-quality Rick here highlights the sets pastel color scheme just like that shown in Dream Land 3 itself Rick's feet are a light pink color and his orange isn't as deep as is sometimes shown the whole set uses soft and appealing colors and they all look great for it as for Rex rarity I'm gonna be honest here I've barely seen any of these plushies for sale and that pains me so much because I'm sure any Kirby fan would really want to have these original animal buddy plushies but unfortunately as is the case with many old beep lush sets the set has fallen far into obscurity and they barely show up for sale nowadays with that said however as I was making this video this lot showed up on the Japanese site Macari this is a listing of the four animal friends from this set for just three thousand seven hundred yen or roughly thirty three dollars and 37 cents USD that is insane and this listing was the first time I ever saw characters like Rick and kind for sale but this was a fluke listing the seller didn't know what they had these would have gone for way more if they were up for auction and not just a set price unfortunately this listing sold before I found it so whoever did get this got an incredible steal I've never seen many of these guys for sale outside of Lots like this so I can't really accurately give a value for these though Kirby alone sold for $50 so I'd price Rick at around fifty to a hundred dollars a hundred does seem like a lot for such a small plush even if it is Rick so let's go with $75 but if you think of this Rick plushies rare there's actually a second official Rick plush that's even older than this one I have barely any concrete info on this original set so most of this is just speculation but these guys have been shown off at various Kirby events much like the Bandai Kirby's Adventure plushies you can see Rick kind and COO as what was a Kirby holding a leaf I actually have seen that Kirby for sale before but it wasn't a lot that one for way too much for me so I was unable to get it which is unfortunate because if it has a touch tag I'm sure it would tell us everything we need to know about the set anyways yeah there's actually two official plush sets of Rick who and kind from the 90s this set looks quite different than the dreamland three set but it seems like there are similar size I have no idea who made these or when they were even released and given their similar size and build maybe Bandai made these as well though given the gold hang strings that makes me think they might have been made by Takara and assuming these were for Dream Land 2 which was released in 1995 I'd say these were probably released in 1996 hopefully someday I'll be able to find more info on these guys I'll make a video on them for sure if that ever happens to close this mystery but yeah for nearly 20 years these two plush sets were the only sets containing the animal friends that's insane considering how popular they are with Kirby fans and while they unfortunately haven't had a major role in the games four years before Star Allies merchandise of them definitely would have sold they were even in right back at us so yeah it could have worked oh well at least we are getting new plushies from Sanae at long last but anyway I'd say Bandai did quite a nice job with this guy I would love to get one someday but for now I think I'll settle with the newson a wreck the next plush we'll be looking at is none other than kind kind isn't as popular as the other two original animal friends but Bandai put just as much effort into him as they did with the other plushies these plushies really are completely accurate to the character designs from the game there's just no flaws I can see with this plush Kines main blue body is a perfect circle and his mouth is characteristically opened wide with his orange lip shaped well with the inside colored red kinds eyes are made of plastic and are placed symmetrically on his body and the white shine in his eye is even close to his mouth accurate to where it's placed in dreamland 3 artwork kinds fins are yellow pieces of felt so they could get bent out of shape easily but when taken care of they look really good the black lines on them also make them pop very well there is not too much to say on kind he looks accurate and really good but that's about it as four kinds rarity I could see him going for a little less than Rick but not buy too much kind isn't as popular as Rick or Koo but you'll still need him to complete the trio I'm gonna say fifty to sixty dollars would be a good price for him now it's time for Koo is the last of the original three animal friends this guy's pretty interesting because as you can see he's gray and not the purple color he's known for despite being purple in dreamland too and games that followed Koo was gray in dreamland three apart from a few pieces of artwork I'm not sure why this was the case and he would return to his more recognizable purple color in future games but it certainly makes this plush standout this is a pretty complicated plush for something that retailed for so cheap if they captured whose expression down perfectly his eyes are the correct shape making him look properly fierce and while his beak doesn't really show any emotion his eyes get the job done and make the plush accurate to his in-game sprites who uses felt for some details such as his tail which looks good he also uses cutout patterns for his eye and stomach details at the top of Coos head looks particularly impressive with each tough being individually curved and bent whose feet also have stitching so they're not just a blob which is a nice touch his wings are spread out and accurately only have detail on the front the only real flaw I can find with ku is that the back of his body has some pretty rough stitching though that is the case on Kirby as well and is excusable given the price of these really it's just so impressive to me that band I was able to get so much detail on these tiny cheap plushies they did such a nice job with these as for cooze rarity here's a listing of a lot on the Japanese site Macari from june of 2018 in which koo and choo choo were bundled together for just 600 yen which at the time of me making this video is around five dollars and 48 cents that's barely over the retail price of these the listing once again sold before I found it so I was of course unable to get them with that said once again I'm assuming the seller just didn't know what they had and this price while incredibly good wouldn't happen at auction I'd pray schoo at around the same value as Rick so 75 dollars hopefully more of these show for sale in the near future now Rick kine and Koo are the animal friends everyone knows the original is from dreamland to if they had to be in this plush set but out of the dreamland three newcomers choo choo was the lucky one picked to get a plush an interesting choice but one that I completely understand choo choo has a simple design so she would be cost efficient to make and she has a very appealing and pleasant design much like Kirby himself while I would have loved to see plushies of Nago pitch and especially GUI who again I'm surprised isn't here considering his major role in the game I guess choo choo was deemed the most marketable out of them all as for the plush itself it once again looks nearly perfect her eyes stand now compared to the rest of the set as they have the most detail I felt like Kirby she's once again missing the blue highlights in her eyes I guess that gives the set consistency though my one complaint with choo choo is that she doesn't seem as vibrant as she should be I'm not sure if all the ones I've seen are just really badly sun-faded but she doesn't have that vibrant pink she should her mouth is a simple overlay and is closed which is unlike most of her official art so that's an interesting choice now I'm gonna be honest before making this video I had no idea what choo choo was supposed to be but apparently she's a flapjack octopus so I guess what would be her arms are well done to save on cost if they're a piece of felt that's been curved around her body they pull off the look well though I do sort of wish they shaped her body around them instead of having them be made of felt her bow is large and is stitched in the back of her head making it look like two pieces I'm not sure if that was intentional but it does add to the look her bow is completely flat however but this is once again a cost-cutting measure and it does look fine choo choo is definitely the most unique plush out of the set as this is currently the only plush of her we have because of that I'd price her a little higher than the others I'm sure if she was in perfect condition and up at auction there's probably some die-hard choo choo fans that would pay close to $100 for her so let's go with that I guess we won't know for sure until someone lists them for auction though anyone can list a Ric plush for $1000 buy it now and I wouldn't dare judge a man who'd spend that much money on a Ric plush but the only way we'll know for sure what their true value is would be through an auction likely on Yahoo Japan until that day comes though we can really only speculate and that's the set it's a very small but important Kirby said I hope that one day we'll see not only more of these for sale but maybe even better pictures of the box they came in I would love to own a complete new in the box one of these it hurt to not open but that would be such a cool collectible if you're after any of these plushies really all you can do is wait it out I'm sure in the future more of these will show up for sale though with that said if you just want plushies of these characters Sanae has now made four out of the five well they don't look anything like these ones they're certainly better made and are overall better plushies this dream line 3 set is great but if you simply want Rick kind and COO plushies get these instead one thing I briefly mentioned earlier is that Bandai's official site page for the set is still online I guess Bandai officialy archives most of their product pages including this one this is where a majority of the info we have on this set comes from it's a miracle this site is still up I'll link it in the description while we are getting new plushies of the original 3 that does still leave out choo choo and of course the animal friends who never even got plushies in the first place hopefully the Rick kind and COO plushies do well enough to warrant plushies of the others or at least maybe GUI will finally get his time to shine while this band I said is incredibly hard to find to the point where it's basically non-existent nowadays it's still a very cool and unique kirby plush set and is absolutely worth getting if you can [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: PatMac

Views: 95,016

Rating: 4.9529409 out of 5

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Id: SO60X1BbraE

Length: 18min 3sec (1083 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 09 2018