Memories of Plush Pokemon

On a message board in a faraway land, we citizens got to talking about Pokemon and the toys that were released at the height of the franchise’s popularity.

Make no mistake, Pokemon is still a powerhouse. Something that’s been consistently popular for ten years can’t be considered a fad; it’s obvious one generation has grown up and moved on, and a new generation has adopted Pikachu as its Lord and Saviour. But sometime back in 1998 and leading up to the start of the new millennium, you could not escape these colourful buggers no matter how hard and fast you ran. I got sucked into the hype as neatly as a Pidgey into a Pokeball.

In my defence, I was still technically a teenager when Pokemon rose into power. I’m also a girl, and therefore one of the few advantages my gender has over the three legged ones is a certain expectation to be attracted to cute things. Coupled with my neurotic tendency to not throw things away (plus the fact that my now-husband made a gift of Pokemon plushes when we first met), I have amassed a huge collection of Pokemon toys.

My favourite is actually the little Vulpix that KFC handed out as an apology to anyone who consumed chicken in their establishment. Canadians could actually acquire said Vulpix through Shoppers Drug Mart chains instead of KFC.

Burger King also had a great promotion with Pokeballs and gold-plated Pokemon cards within. I actually received the entire set from my husband, and it made me realise America’s powerful love for useless but compelling junk.

Best of all, McDonalds missed the Pokemon boat and lamed up their loss with a declaration about Pokemon’s “lack of family values.”

In the pic headlining this entry, you’ll see the infamous Pokemon Death Balls that smothered American toddlers who put them to their face. Well, if a human can’t breathe inside a Pokeball, how is a Pokemon going to be any better off?

These kids died to make an important statement on Pokemon rights.