Anime Merchandise

Seems like dakimakura is always the high point of the anime events like this and Comic Market. What a wonderful world?!

There is only one event that I know, nay, heard about, but I found out about it after it ended. It was held at the Neal Blaisdell center, so can't comment on the quality.

Lots of Clannad items that I saw. Me wants! Looks like you made off with lots of free loots.

they rarely announced any anime event here, even there are, it really suck compare to tokyo anime fair.

to many sasuke cosplay or bleach cosplay, which is disgusting, in otaku way (because naruto are stereotypical lame famous anime, i dunno about bleach tho)

Wow, looks like a whole lot of fun there ^^. I saw a lot of stuff I would buy, lmao. And yes I have attended somewhat of an anime event before, Comic-con in San Diego. I've attended there for maybe 5 years in a row now. This year I'll be going there for 2 days and this year I will also be going to Anime Expo in LA. This is my first time at AX and I'm only going 1 day this year but... should still be fun :p. I'm hoping to find some of the things you post about there, maybe I'll buy my first figure there xD lmao.

wow danny thats one big truckload full of goodies you came home with...
man i wish i was there...

I got the same load of bags and flyers ;p Just missed one bag though,that I wanted. There are two with Gurren Lagann on it, one with the whole group, and one with just the main character. Missed that last one ;(

And no, they weren't handing out drinks, not that I've seen. I think they would be out of drinks very quickly with all those people.

I now have only one problem, getting these bags into my suitcase, cause there's this one bag from Soul Eater that is bigger than the others. It will be a puzzle... (with all the other manga and merchandise I have to get in there...)

*Boohoo, sob, cry*. Soo many FREE goodies to get, man T0T, I really need to get to Japan at the time of a show like this. I want to suddenly acquire stuff

Any anime events over here, you ask? I've never even seen the word 'anime' uttered in any kind of media, much less an event and certainly not as large as this. I believe there are things in Germany sometimes, but I have no idea of the scope and scale of that...

Man, you have all the fun taking a tour around the fair while Im stuck here sulking as I can't go there..

But from what I see, your bag looks small to put all those things in it..

But anyway, the experience of attanding such event is already enough to make me happy..

cool! will be heading to the fair tomorrow (my friend told me is lesser people on the last day >_<)

Wow , seems like there's alot of goodies for those who go :)

i'd like to attend to one of these Anime Fairs , theres alot of Sydney but i never been able to go.. maybe cause of work or so

lol oh well :)

thanks for sharing Danny :)

I want a Kanu dakimakura ^^. Lol they really give loads of goodies at these places.

Yes im attending a convention,... This one!! :D I cant wait! Tokyo anime fair tomorrow!! :D my first anime fair... I think this is a good one to start with, ne? ;)
I want picture with storm trooper please xD haha!

"Girl with red hair is nice - name that girl."

>> Akari Himuro from Night Wizard The Animation ;)

Wow. It seems they focused a lot on bedroom material this time (or is that you who wanted to show that to us so badly? *laughs*)
Yeah, it seems you quite looted a lot there... Very nice!
Don't ever let Mirai-chan get printed on pee-poo paper or I would definitely make a frown at you everyday. ^^;
And finally each time I look at Kotonoha, I have deep feelings of sadness... She's so cute and had a nice personality (was my type), until... you should know the rest. *No spoiler policy!*

We only got one big event, called uppcon. Though, it's not close to this kinda event.

Never attend any anime events before. hopefully one day...^^

I really like those dakimakura

unfortunatly here in italy we dont have many anime events...sometimes there's an event about manga. rarely...T.T

The girl in red is Akari from Night Wizard anime.

I was at TAF two years ago, and it was great! :D Thought that I'd see cosplayers, but I could't spot any. Was it forbidden to cosplay or have I searched in the wrong places? XD

Anyway, we have some big cons here in Germany and I plan to go to Connichi this year.
I am also planning a one-month-holiday in Tokyo and Kyoto next year, from the middle of March to the middle of April, including TAF 2009 and hanami! ^o^

Uhhh that Clannad pillow is so nice... i would love it... so cute. ^^;
And all that free stuff, jeez.. but i recall back the years when i was into the scene a friend in tokyo did send me a bunch of stuff too... enough flyers to plaster a wall in my house - didn't look bad (better then a boring white).

Hmm i didn't attend any conventions for a while, german anime conventions tend to be rather boring and not filled with information as the japanese ones. Though they have had some mangakas and interesting special guests, those would be the only thing i would be interested in but then... geting a hotel and all that just to see someone i could see when i go to japan too? nah... rather save the cash for the japan travel. :)

do want the dakimakuras. shame they don't sell things like this in my country...

Being a ryugakusei for about 8 weeks, naturally I still have only minimal knowledge of the place where I live, and consequently.. I wouldn't be likely to attend to any local event in the near future. >_<

Here in Sweden their is ONE major anime convent, it´s taking place every june in a city 2 miles outside the capitalcity of Stockholm. It is a growing convention with around 2.000 visitor.

I´v been there two times.

We've got Anime Central coming to Chicago, in a month and a half, which is pretty much the only con I can afford every year. And is usually what takes the most prep time for me, either designing a new costume (Nothing this year :( ) or prepping my old ones (Gotta still make 100 soap tokens for the No Face costume). And hopefully, I'll get the request to work with Funimation again this year, working thier booth in the dealer's room.

If I was there I think I'd buy msot of the stuff they're selling. You're so lucky you get to have those stuff for free.

Those pencilboards and that Kanu dakimakura are on the top of my list. ^^

Well the closest anime convention for me would be 2 states away at Dragoncon in ATL. Never been yet but one day.

My school's anime club actually goes to the AnimeNext convention every year in June. It's moderately close by, only an hour or two away and it's where I get a majority of my gunpla. Although, some of the folks in the dealer's room overcharge way too much (90 US dollars for MG SF FBM...)

What you didn't get any of the mini-dakimakuras? Awwww.... I want the one on Kyou!

As for anime events held in the country we're in, sadly Singapore doesn't really have a major one, maybe the annual event held at Expo in Dec if you would consider it. So far for a big event, the last comiket would be considered my maiden trip. Too bad there's no anime events held in Tokyo during the June period (I'm going in early June!!).

anime north for me <3

SO MUCH (free?) STUFF!!!
(I'm guessing quite a bit was free, if not all, seems like the Norfolk Show only SO MUCH BETTER!!! At the norfolk show you get free stuff, but not like that.... lol)

I want the Hayami-chan Dakimakura!! Kyaaaa so much awesome stuff!! :wants:

And yes, conventions, I'm saving for the London Expo in May lol. I hope to have over £300 to spend, I want to get a Haruhi figure and probably a Tsuruya too!! The London Expo isnt just anime/manga/etc, but its kind of taken over most of the convention lol. There are always so many more anime cosplayers than Star Trek or Star Wars etc.

Hmm, CLANNAD pillow and School Days merchandise. Me do want.

In my country, there's one called "Hataw Hanep Hero" by ABS-CBN. But unlike the other anime conventions, it seems that a portion of it is for marketing of their so-called "merchandise", which is not needed for an anime convention. And it seems that they cater it for everyone (no anime NSFW merchandises). But still I attend it just for fun.

In late June there is a big anime convention at GVSU (Grand Valley State Unvercity. It is hosted by the anime clubs of other colleges too.

It is called the inconvetional convetion because there is no entry fee. The vendor like that because people will spend a little bit more at there stands.

I am planning on spending at least $300 in merchandise.
(I don't know what I plan to buy but I will know at the stands)

we have a few conventions here in a year but there's not much merchandise sold there, mostly common ones like figurines, gashas, mangas and have to becareful with bootleg products. and i definitely going to buy everything if i could find somebody selling eroge items.

well i've been attending an event here in CA called Anime-Expo for 4 years in a row what can i say that's the meaning of my life, being there every year getting free goodies like Danny says. i never miss a free goodie i'm always getting 3 or 4 of the same stuff ^^ and YES i'm also attending this years in July (OMG CAN'T WAIT!!!!)

CLANNAD pillow case WANT! O_O

if everything goes well, i'll be attending Tokyo Anime Fair next year since I missed out on a tour package to the show this year. hope the tour agency has the same offer next year.

anyway there's not anime fair in singapore. orz

looking fwd to being at anime expo and san diego comic con this year!

i love swag!

So many anime goodies, I would be happy if I could be there, the nearest anime event is about 100km of my town and from I have heard they are quite boring and small -_-.

Want those pillows ...but the price for one is insane!!!Hundreds of dollars for one!!!

OMG! That pencil board pose... I was sketching that exact pose for Mirai LOL (Had variation in arm positions though).

Hard thing was to get the skirt to look naturally flowing witht he wind >.<;;

I go to Anime North every year, and I like that convention. There's actually a anime convention somewhere in North America almost every weekend, but I only go to a couple. My wallet cant take that kind of hit more than once or twice a year.

Here are several events on year, but normally aren`t really worht, because don`t have very stuff that you usually can`t see on normal shops. But I guest only for see so many freak together(and the cosplayers)I continue to go this events, lol

I would have definately gone to anime convention in my region if it was ever held. but sadly it sucks that nothing happens of such sort. i am promoting anime in lots of people .make them like me is my motto hehehe

Here in Portugal, anime is still not very popular, but there are some events from time to time, but they are still very small compared to the Asian ones (it also lacks of good organization sometimes). ^_^; In the bigger events, you can find few small stands that sells some merchandise goodies, but they are usually kinda outdated compared to the present merchandise in Japan.

OMG AT THE GURREN LAGANN MOVIE POSTER!!!! IT LOOKS SOO COOL ^_^

I finally got the complete sets of the gurren lagann trading figures 1:2, 2:1 and 2:2 today ^^ Now my set is complete...must get more gurren lagann stuff xD

Here in Brasil the most famous events are placed in Sao Paulo dc. They are Anime Con and Anime Friends(that i know), there are a lot of stands of games and anime. the most part are stands of specializer shops of imported anime and manga etc. Too expensive to buy figures here.. the only advantage are the dvds shops to search "that" anime what are you looking for. I like the events but they are 3 hours of distance + traffic + queue of me. Very difficult to go every year but i try get oportunits to come out. ^^

The biggest one that I know of in the US is Anime Expo. I went last year, had alot of fun. Its big enough to get companys like Bandai, Funimation to show up and have huge booths. In '06 Clamp came and in 07 the big event was the SOS invasion tour. Waited in line for 4 hours in the California sun in the middle of the summer to see it. Aya hirano and the other voice actors from both the japanese versions and english versions came. Aya sang all her songs from the anime, that was more than worth the long wait in the burning sun. Yuki's voice actress also sang some of her songs. Great times, I'm going back with my friends for all 4 days.

Forgot to mention, there were around 8000 people lind up just to see Aya and the rest of the cast. Total attendance was almost 50,000 people. Another con that I frequent is Ani-Jam back in my home town. Its a tiny convention thats trying to build itself up, its gone from just 500 people to over 1300 in just 2 years. biggest one in the Central Valley.

I've been going to Anime Expo here in SoCal for the past 5 years. It's gotten a lot bigger, but their organization needs work. It's a lot of fun. This year they're going to be at LA Convention Center which is huge so I'm sure there will be a lot going on.

I definitely go for all the autograph signings that are available and the merchandise.

There will be one next month where I live. Hopefully there will be goodies like those in the post.

Affirmative regarding next pose for Mirai-chan

points at pic 14389... waht anime is that boy and a girl in front with each other, head to head and hands to hands in snow? is that bokura ga ita? if so... new season? mushy anime~~

There needs to be contests where we can win stuff that you bring back, Danny.

Why are pillows and pillow covers always so much money? I always see a big deal about DAI MAKURA KABAA! and like, they're always crazy amounts of money. I just happened to notice the picture of the mini makuras that you said were normally 2700 yen and were less at the show. The oppai mousepads also seem expensive, the cheapest I've ever seen one of those for was 4000 yen, and it was from Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. Conversely, I have a body pillow cover from Fortune Arterial and it came with a magazine I paid like 1500 yen for, heh.

Fully agreeing with zoniku!
Contests makes everyone a winner! (I guess ^^)

probably not going to an anime convention this year, b/c not many of my friends had "fun" there, and neither did I, although it was interesting. But after Comiket, I feel that I can virtually do anything...

100 unique daily visit? Oh, I have that on my blog too!!! Too bad I'm not in Japan. =(
I hope we have similar event in my region.

Yuuuuup I sure am- my first Otakon. I am going with a friend and his girlfriend, both of which I havn't seen for a year or so.

I will be covering the event and reporting when I get back on my blog :)

Yikes! some of those prices sound harsh. Even with me being over in Japan, I would still watch my money and spend wisely, 2700yen for that tiny thing? I could get a high quality 1/700 battleship for the same price that I would rather have, or manga, or anime, or mmmm.. figures/gunpla perhaps?

Who is that girl with the red hair on that dakimakura?

wow, alot of nice stuff. The dakimakura look nice..

I believe that girl (red haired girl) is Akari from Night Wizard

There are a few yearly anime conventions of varying sizes in the UK - they are mostly fan run however and although we like to involve the trade, it's not the main reason why they happen - cosplay and party events are the thing. Also we prefer to keep them small - apart from being more friendly and easily manageable this way, there are very few venues in this country that can accomodate more than a thousand people for a convention!

now those are really a lot of merchandise and bed sheets. =S I see nanako!

i've been following anime events here ever since the very first major anime event in 2000 and now i'm part of organizing some ^____^

some events are a mixture of good and bad and i can't blame it 'coz imo we're still an infant when it comes to anime and cosplay events and we've a lot of room for improvement and a long way to go compared to the anime events in the other countries like the US and Japan where anime events have been happening since the early 90s ^^;;;

i would love to attend events outside my country and see and maybe even learn how other countries organize their events and maybe i could incorporate some to one of my events ^^

btw Danny, may i ask if Good Smile Company might be interested to participate at one of events here? ^_________^

I can't bear to buy a dakimakura. Night-weather in Singapore is more unpredictable than the worldwide stock market, so I don't wanna ruin the sheets with my sweat. Call me a fanatic, but hey, that's me.

For the past two years, I have attended Anime Expo and Comic-Con, all around the southern California region. But this year, I am heading to Japan for the summer, so I am going to miss out on both events. Not to worried about it, other pals are avoiding Anime Expo due to the location (south central Los Angeles).

._. Gosh. anime stuff. get me some anime stuff man. singapore doesnt have any. boo

Most likely I'll be going to Anime Expo this year to see how it will fare in the hustle of downtown Los Angeles. It's been a few years since my last attendance.

I wish there were more conventions in NY. Or that I had more time ><

If I ask nicely, can I have some of that stuff for free?

Wether it's anime or film conventions there is ALWAYS super awesome goodies floating around.
Take your time, and don't fell guilty...your regret it!
:D

I'm inclined to say Sia from Shuffle, but I'm not completely sure.

Yep, Already been to Katsucon earlier in Febuary, and I've already made plans with a few friends for a weekend's stay for the whole event of Otakon in August this summer.

Ahh I love my conventions, and the chopping opportunities are just amazing, since they sell everything from your typical anime stuff to Swords, Airsoft guns, import games and ero stuff, but I guess the ero stuff was included in the anime section lol.

There are some here in my country but they're definitely not as cool as those in Japan T_T

Anime Expo in LA this year.
Comic Con in San Diego.
No plans for the latter even though it is bigger.

Today at dawn I returned from one, in Cracow. Met A few nice people, but the event itself was quite poor compairing to the ones in Japan ^^' Still, I'm glad I could attend that one (I bought lots of Ero posters and an "ToHeart" artbook XD).

So many bed sheets.....
Damn!!!!! That's a lot of goods. Now I wish I went to Tokyo Anime Fair. Too bad I live in Canada. >_<
I wish the trip to Japan would come soon...

I will be going to the AniméNext Convention, at the Meadowlands Expo Center, Seacausus, NJ, June 20th - 22nd.

I'd like to join the Cosplay Chess as Nabeshin, from Excel Saga, and others.

If you're in northern New Jersey, or the NYC area:
http://animenext.org/

E^D

Yep... already did, and will again.
Great merchandise collection... I see lots of stuff I'd buy.

Anime North, but I never got the courage/time to go. They charge 50 bucks admission I believe. If one day I do decide to go, I want to cosplay as a cradboard box robot with "I love Jesus" bumper stickers all over :).

I really wish I was there :(

I recently went to my first anime convention, which was Fanime 2008 in San Jose, CA. It was fun due to the fact that everyone was really nice and allowed me to take multiple pictures of them. I bought a nikon d40x exclusively for that show and was trying out some of the different settings. Did anyone else goto Fanime?

I also went to my first convention this summer, Anime Expo in LA. I think AX is the biggest anime convention in the country. If not, it's certainly one of the top five. Over forty thousand people attended! It was awesome. They ran anime on four different screens for 24 hours a day the whole convention, and also had a 24 hour arcade. Additionally, they had workshops on all kinds of stuff ranging from photoshop coloring to resin kits to traditional Japanese dance, and several guests held panels. I could only make it to the panel held by Mega 64, but those guys are so awesome I can't complain. There's even a dedicated section of the exhibit hall where artists will sell prints and on-site commissions. And there were cosplayers EVERYWHERE. Seriously. Even in stores and restaurants as much as three blocks away from the convention center, you could hardly turn around without finding one.

I loved it so much that I'm already planning for AX 09. =P Any surprises there?

Just when I want to, I can't find that a recent post of yours about your childhood. In any case, Danny, I think that was one of the deepest pieces of blog writing (combined with the pics etc) I've read in a while. Past, present, compassion. You've got some wisdom to share. I also really identified with the 70s Buck Rodgers (and have a Corgi Starfighter to prove it!). Undermarketed by a longshot, I recall Erin Grey being a very early TV crush (w/ Morgan Fairchild in close 2nd). Twiki was a force unto himself, voiced by Mel Blanc if Im correct. Kudos to you.

I think there's one on Sunday here. It's kinda far...but if I have someone to go with then that's awesome

I love anime merchandise!

Wow, thats alot of freebies... 0.o
Just how big was your bag anyway? Haha.
I've got lot of these events going around in town but I always miss it~! =.=
They end up in the reviews of magazines and I start to have wishful thoughts.lol. >.<

Here, there isn't a single anime event. In other provinces there are though.

not a lot of anime conventions here, merely toyshops organizing "convention" to sell their merchandise. Some, like "Hataw Hanep Hero", give a little more effort to be more than just a toy flea market.

I would of bought that Clannad Pillow since i love that anime and Kan-U from Ikki Tousen is looking good. ^^

I would never do that to my Shita Jiki ;x
Shita Jiki was popular because it's one of the first few merchandise you can get in the early days before wallscroll became popular. I still have some of my earliest collection of Shita Jiki and they almost date back 20 years!

cool haul my friend

Wan´t a Dakimakura *cry*
but as always here in germany this stuff is very rarely and expensive.

Just came back from momocon^^;

it was so-so, i wonder how different conventions/fairs are in the US vs. Japan...

Quite a few conventions in Sydney. Animania, Mini Animania, Smash! and Supanova which is more of a sci-fi confention but has quite a lot of anime stuff. Mini Animania is coming up next week. There isnt anything as nice as the stuff you've posted though. I mainly go to see the cosplayers.

Dakimakura haven

wow i want some

Would love to go to an event, but unfortunately I do not know of any in Ohio.