Collection Oddity: Sailor Moon Furoku Pocket Tissue Holder

It's been awhile (like over a year) since I've made a blog post but I actually have some free time on my hands so I thought it was a good time to rectify that. Today's collection oddity is a Tissue pack holder that was a furoku (promotional item packaged with a magazine or similar in Japan) with Nakayoshi back in 1994 when the Sailor Moon Manga was running in the magazine. We've actually had this item for many years but haven't talked about it in detail in spite of the fact that it's got some of out all time favarite art of Serenity. Here are the original Photos we took of it about 7 years ago:

Pocket tissue packs are super common furoku items that often have unique art on them, we have a bunch in our collection and a bunch for sale in the shop from various anime series. What makes this one odd is that it's a just a holder with no tissues in it. Presumably you either stick an entire tissue pack that's less cute on the inside or possibly take the tissues out of a boring one so you can carry around this super cute one. Frankly it's A bit of mystery as we haven't seen anyone using one.

Also a bit odd the art, the main of serenity and the cats is undeniably ADOREABLE, but the background art is confusing. I've decided I think it's supposed to be abstract daisies, but really that's just probably me looking for meaning where there is none. Regardless of that weirdness though it's overall a great looking piece. I recently edited a scan of this so this art (which is unique to this items) could be seen in better detail.

If you want one of these super cute, and slightly odd items for your own collection we currently have one available for sale in the shop right now.

~Stephanie

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Avane Shopping Guide 2015: 10 gifts for Sailor Moon fans

We've been collecting Sailor Moon for a long time so it should be no surprise that we have a ton of Sailor Moon items in our store. If you've got a Sailor Moon fan on your holiday shopping list, we have a huge selection of  vintage Sailor Moon items available. We have everything from Sailor Moon comics to Sailor Moon dolls to sailor Moon Stationery & Stickers and just about anything else Sailor Moon you can think of!

Sailor Moon Sailor Mars Doll in Box:

Sailor Moon Sailor Mars doll for sale

Sailor Moon is in the midst of a very successful reboot with tons of new Mechanidse, but one area that's been largely neglected is dolls. So give your favorite moonie this awesome vintage Sailor Mars doll. This a European release by Bandai, and is new in box. This is a great vintage doll sure to delight any Sailor Moon fan.

Japanese Sailor Moon Bottle Opener:

Sailor Moon Bottle Opener for Sale

There's a whole variety of Japanese Sailor moon kitchen items for the Moonie with Culinary interests but this bottle opener is great even for those who's cooking tends to be more about opening a take out menu. This bottle opener is still new on the card a great gift for a Sailor Moon fan who has almost everything else.

Sailor Moon Sailor Moon Twinkle Dolly Strap:

Sailor Moon Twinkle Dolly Strap for sale.

This Sailor Moon is relatively new release from the Japanese Twinkle Dolly set of Sailor Moon straps. This is Sailor Moon sitting on top of her wand. The one we have in stock is new in the box and is a really cute piece for any Sailor Moon fan.

Japanese Sailor Moon S Sliding Puzzle:

Japanese Sailor Moon Puzzle for Sale

This is a plastic sliding style tray puzzle. It features a great Sailor Moon group shot that includes: Sailor Moon Sailor Chibimoon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Luna and Artemis. This is still in it's original package with the toei seal on it.  A fun little toy and an uncommon item perfect for any Sailor Moon fan.

Sailor Moon Artemis Plush:

Sailor Moon Artemis cat plush for sale

This cute stuffed Artemis is part of the first US Sailor Moon merch revival of the early 2000s. Artemis doesn't have as much Merchandise as his female companion, Luna, so this is one of the few really great pieces available. This super cute plushie is still in the original box and is sure to make any Moonie's day.

Sailor Moon Furoku Notebook:

Sailor Moon Furoku Notebook for sale.

This adorable little notebook was once furoku that came with Nakayoshi magazine. Furoku referes to little gift given away inside Japanese magazines, especially the ones that run manga. This is from Sailor Moon's original manga run in Japan way back in 1992.  A lot of the Sailor Moon furoku items are hard to find these days and this is a very cute little book with delightful art sure to delight any Sailor Moon fan.


Sailor Moon Tea Set Miniature Tea Cup:

Sailor Moon Mini Porcelain Tea Cup For Sale

This tiny teacup was part of a Sailor Moon gashapon miniature tea set. This cup is a little larger than a US penny and is the perfect size for dolls or just as a display piece. A really cute unique gift for any Sailor Moon fan.

Sailor Jupiter Hina Doll:

Sailor Jupiter Hina doll for sale

This part of a line of Sailor Moon dolls made for the traditional girl's day celebration in Japan. Jupiter is dressed as one of  the traditional Hinamatsuri Ningyo court musicians. These little dolls are hard to find and are unique mixture of traditional Japanese culture and Japanese pop culture. A lovely addition any Sailor Moon collection.

Sailor Moon Super S Movie Promo Bag:

Sailor Moon Super S Movie bag for sale

Promotional bag for the Sailor Moon Super S. This was probably a giveaway at Japanese stores around the time the film came out. Really great choice for a Sailor Moon fan who collects unique items or possibly a great gift bag for another gift.

Sailor Uranus and Neptune Button set:

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune Buttons for sale.

Super cute pair of buttons with one of the Sailor Moon fandom's favorite couple's, Sailor Uranus & Sailor Neptune. These are hand drawn images and are an adorable one of kind gift perfect for any moonie who loves this pairing.  


Those are some of our top picks, but we have loads of other Sailor Moon Merchandise available we certainly have something wonderful in stock for your moonie fan.


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Shop Spotlight: Anime and Manga Furoku and Zenin

If you've been collecting anime and manga related items for a long time you're eventually going to come across a furoku item. Furoku is a gift item given away with the purchase of a Japanese magazine often one of the phonebook style Shoujo magazines such as Ribon or Nakayoshi but do occasionally pop up with other releases. In the same vein there are zenin items which are items you mailed in for using coupons from the magazine. Due to these items never being commercially available they're often some of the rarest collectibles available.  We carry various Furoku and Zenin items:

This is a Sailor Moon Single Band-aid with and all over pattern of Usagi with Luna and Artemis on the packaging from Nakayoshi Magazine. For $5 it cane be one of the most unique pieces in your collection.

This adorable hand towel was a furoku from Afternoon magazine in the early 2000's. It made of lightweight fabric and has an all over monochromatic pattern of the goddesses.  It seems too pretty to use as a towel, but it would probably be beautiful framed or even just tacked to a bulletin board. It's $13 and could be a beautiful new addition to your Ah! My Goddess collection.

This Mermaid Melody box from Nakayoshi is probably one of the cutest pieces of Furoku we've ever seen with adorable images Rina, Lucia and Hanon in bathtubs.  It's light weight Cardboard that pops up into a fairly sizeable box, perfect for holding office supplies, jewelry or any other treasures you can think of. It can be making your desk, dresser or work station cuter for $9.

This Full Metal Alchemist Poster is from June 2005 issue of a Japanese magazine, but we're not sure of which one. It's double sided with this fantastic image of Roy and Riza on one side and an unknown to us anime on the other. Other than the original magazine folds in good condition, having never been displayed. A great piece for your collection for $9.

Stitch from Lilo and Stitch has quite a large following in Japan so we actually have several rare Japanese items featuring him. But this small plactic mini bag is on of our favorites. It would make a unique gift for any Stitch fan and is only $2.






 We have lots of various Furoku available (especially if you're a Sailor Moon or Disney fan) so it's likely we have a rarity you'd enjoy adding to your collection.

~Stephanie


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Collection Oddities: Sailor Moon Nakayoshi Luna Pencil Case

We really like collecting the Sailor Moon items that were Furoku or Zenin for Nakayosi Magazine. Most of the items feature unique art not found on any other items. Although they're unique most of these items aren't particularly weird. The Luna Pencil case however is an exception.

Somehow I remember Luna looking more like a cat less, like a fuzzy sausage.

This fuzzy black thing is a pencil case that's suppose to resemble Luna, though really the only indication of that is pointy ears and a crescent moon. I'm not sure what's going on with the little pink bowtie, you'd think they'd have at least wanted to make it yellow since that's the only ribbon you ever see her have. It is still pretty cute in a completely ridiculous manner.  The inside is probably the better part though:

It's hard to see because of the camera flash but the inner pocets have an all over pattern with Luna's head and Nakayosi. There are 5 compartments in all, but it only comes with two desk items, a pencil and a ruler. What they lack in quantity though they make up for in quality:

It is physically impossible not to fall in love with winking Luna. You might think you're immune to her charms, but you aren't. Notably we haven't actually tried to use either of these items, so we're not sure if they're functionally high quality, but in cuteness quality they're clearly a 10/10. The only weirdness is why Artemis' head is on top the pencil when it's otherwise a completely Luna set.

This item isn't completely cracked out insane like a lot of the other items we feature as it does have legitimate art and a pretty reasonable purpose.  A plush pencil case does sort of push the bounds of reasonable in general, but it's mostly the why the fuzzy sausage that only vaguely resembles Luna, that really makes it weird. It's cute in it's own way and we're pretty committed to getting anything with the moon cats on it so it's perfect in our collection.


~Stephanie

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