Collection Oddities: German Sailor Moon Squeaky Toy

 Sailor Moon was massively popular all around the world and as a result there are some country exclusive items that were made in smaller numbers than any of the US or Japanese merchandise. Germany's Igel company released quite a lot of this small run, unique merchandise including dolls, plushies, figures and some other weird things.

This is somewhere between figure and weird thing:

                                                The Official Sailor Moon Squeaky Toy:

When we bought this we had no idea it was a squeaky toy we just thought it was a cute concept, kneeling moon and inquisitive Luna on a crescent moon base. When it arrived from Germany, we found it was made of soft squishy rubber instead of PVC plastic like we were expecting. Strange sure, but we were more interested in how it unfortunately seemed to have been painted by a very talented factory working who under normal circumstances would have made a beautiful figure, but was drunk while detailing ours. Naturally the not-so-stellar paint job was disappointing, but  it's nothing too odd in Sailor Moon collecting.

At some point we flipped the figure over and found the oddity. We noticed that there was a little hole in the bottom. A little hole that looks suspiciously like the holes in the bottom of our dog's squeaky toys. After a brief moment of disbelief at the concept we gave it a little squeeze...

Squeak Squeak

This left us both amused and dumbfounded. It's not like they just made a toy out of rubber and it happened to squeak as a result, there is a squeaker in it. Meaning at some point while this was being conceived there was a conscious decision made to enable a Sailor moon figure to squeak. Leaving us left to ponder for what or for whom is this item intended?  Is it a Sailor Moon toy for your dog?  For your Baby? Or did Igel just believe that Sailor Moon Fans everywhere were yearning to make squeaky noises? We thought perhaps the tag might give us a little insight into this mystery of who this toy was intended for, but what we found wasn't helpful.

The image might be kind of hard to read, but it says:
  
Mondstein flieg und sieg  

Which if you don't know German Translates to "Moonstone fly and victorious" at least according to both types of translation software we used on it. Which doesn't clear up any questions as to why there's a Sailor Moon Squeaky toy, but does present a host of new question regarding that Slogan. (In case you're curious the back side of the tag just has copyright information which is strangely in English). I suspect the slogan is probably just something that doesn't translate well, but we are looking at a Squeaky Toy after all. Maybe the whole thing is some sort of elaborate plot meant  to confuse. It's hard to say.


Some mysteries probably won't be solved in our lifetimes and for now we'll count this item and it's slogan among them.

It's mysterious, it's odd, and it's squeaky. We're thrilled to get to share it with you.

For those of you really really interested we have higher quality photos in our Flickr account.

~Stephanie


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Sailor Moon Oddities: GermanTattoo Armband

Normally this would be a collection oddities post but we don't own this, nor do we plan to. However, we still thought it had to be shared. So here we have an official Sailor Moon Tattoo Armband:

 Isn't that a nice trip back to the mid-nineties "Tattoo" jewelery craze. Back then, there were Tattoo chokers, bracelets, armbands and anklets in every drug store,  accessory boutique and vending machine as far as the eye could see. Each made of the same cheap breaks-within-days stretchy plastic in a loopy weave made in a sweatshop somewhere to allow the rest of us a few fleeting moments of fashion bliss. It was a magical time. This particular specimen would have been among the creme de la creme of plastic tattoo jewelry with it's fancy bead embellishments.Though, in spite of it's awe inspiring beauty, it does have a small flaw, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Sailor Moon.

  Now here in North America when we wanted market some stupid crap that had nothing to do with Sailor Moon to the fans we slapped a logo, some crappy semi-related art or at the very least some crescent moons on the item itself. Not Germany though, why would they cheapen such a fantastic timeless piece of jewelry by forcing it to be even loosely moon themed?  I imagine the conversation went something like this only in German:

German Marketer 1: Surely marketer 2 you realize that the tattoo jewelry craze completely missed Juban?
German Marketer 2: That hardly matters, have you seen the other items that have been manufactured for this series worldwide?
German Marketer 1: Well, that's an excellent point, but perhaps we should at least put a logo or some crescent moons on it So people know it's loosely affiliated with the Sailor Moon Series?
German Marketer 2: *Scoffs* It's thinking like that that keeps you a  Junior Marketer, while I'm a Senior Marketer. Clearly there isn't room for a logo and everyone knows crescent moons are tacky. We want to make plastic jewelry the young women of Germany can appreciate for a lifetime. Clearly such a feat can only be achieved using a beaded flower pattern.
German Marketer 1: Then why are we even bothering to put it in sailor moon packaging instead selling it as just an armband? 
German Marketer 2:  Naturally so we can charge more for it.  

Sure I completely made that up, but clearly given the evidence, something similar had to have taken place.  It's the only explanation that makes sense.

Meanwhile, if you want this stunning piece for your own collection, it's currently available on  German Ebay Here. I'm pretty sure that seller ships worldwide so for only 1 euro + shipping, you can purchase this fabulous Sailor Moon item and be mid-nintes fabulous no matter where in the world you are. For once I think we'll pass.

~Stephanie



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