Review: Pikachu

Thanks to Tomy for supplying the following item for review.

Remember the 90s? Were you one of those children in the playground fighting over Pokemon cards? I know I wasn't - I was heading off to university by the time Pokemon made it big in the UK. I did have a flatmate who emerged from his room from time to time and declared he'd captured suchandsuch a character. Everyone else acted very impressed and he went back into his room, a happy little bunny. And I did go to see The First Movie at the cinema, for reasons I cannot imagine. From what I recall, the main film wasn't too bad - it was never going to win any Oscars, but it passed the time fine.

But I did almost walk out after suffering through the pre-film Pikachu special.

Imagine your worst nightmare. Imagine Forces of Nature, but worse. That was the horror that was Pikachu's Vacation.

Which brings me nicely to this little Pikachu that was kindly sent to me. At first I was going to take out my revenge for the 21 torturous minutes of his vacation...

But ultimately decided this was too cruel a fate for someone so darn cute (although, according to his label, he is machine washable). Instead I handed him over to the children. They were confused, at first, for while Pokemon is very much still around (the 15th(!) film was released a few days ago in Japan), my children have yet to really encounter it. They have watched a couple of episodes of the cartoon on TV, but didn't link that with the toy I handed to them.

Reviewing soft toys is a little difficult. It's not like they really do anything. I guess there's commenting on the quality of the manufacture (which is very high) and how cuddly it is (very - it's 100% soft and suitable for the tiniest person to chew on), how close a likeness it is to the character (very) and the machine washability (a very useful feature for a child's toy).

Hmm, guess there is a reasonable amount to say about soft toys after all.

Pikachu is now something of a cultural icon and definitely the most (in)famous of all the Pokemon. With such an extensive history, Pikachu is going to be bought by a wide range of people. Adults who remember the original games & associated merchandise, children who are playing the new games today, and everyone in between. I cannot fault this toy and if you like Pokemon it's definitely worth picking up.