Pokemon? In my Tomopop?

11:10 AM on 09.06.2008   |   Emily Smalara

Okay, okay -- I'm sorry for the horribly old and tired opening line. Still, after a quick archive search turned up absolutely nothing on the critters so many people love to hate, I felt it was my duty to shed some light on the little guys. I've been a fan of Pokemon for over a decade now, and I thought it would be appropriate for my first post in Tomopop to write about something particularly close to my own interests. Specifically, a little known but wildly popular figure line commonly known as "zukan." Hit the jump to find out just what's up with that name, and why they're so darn popular amongst the collecting community.

Some of you that aren't too proud to admit it might know that "zukan" is the Japanese name for the Pokedex, that Poke-centric encyclopedia,  and it's an appropriate name for one of the very few figure lines that is comprised of almost every single existing Pokemon. That's right, almost all 493 of the monsters get the zukan treatment, and it's a set unlike any other. See, compared to the toys you might see hanging on a rack in your local big box retailer, the zukan line is pretty special. Across the board, every single one is crafted perfectly to 1/40th scale, letting fans know precisely how each and every Pokemon compares to any other.

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That's hardly the only reason why collectors go crazy for the zukan line, however! Also unlike most toys you might find here in the states, the zukan come specifically from gashapon machines, giving the buyer a random capsule with every coin. On top of that, the zukan are released in sets of 5-7 capsules, and once those capsules are gone, they're gone for good and it's on to the next run. If you're lucky you might find someone selling a full set, but unlike many gashapon figures a full set of zukan can run you anywhere from $50-$90 and even higher. The bad news? That's just the newer sets. Why, you ask?

For some reason, it's almost impossible to find zukan stateside. Online stores shun them, ebay sellers have hardly heard of them, and you certainly aren't going to find such creations in American toy machines, no sir! Thanks to this, many highly sought-after capsules from an older run can set the collector back as much as $60 or more, the same you might spend on a typical pvc figure...only one inch tall instead of eight, or nine.  Sure, the larger Pokemon might reach as high as two and a half inches, but for the most part we're talking about dropping at least twenty bucks on something the size of a thumb tack. 

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As you can probably imagine, given the attention to detail, the "gotta catch 'em all" mentality, and the sheer rush that comes from finding a long sought-after figure, zukan prove that Pokemon can be anything but "just for kids", and they certainly hold their own against the most designer of toy lines.