Today, Pokémon fans looking to buy Pokémon merchandise – whether their favorite plushie or any of the many Pokémon-themed items currently available – are most likely to visit one of the 22 Pokémon Centers all around Japan to make their purchases of official goods. There are even Pokémon Centers in Taipei and Singapore.
But now, to make Pokémon merch easier to obtain in more and more situations, we also offers buyers, from die-hard fans to casual shoppers, convenient opportunities to make purchases through official Pokémon vending machines. The machines can already be found in many airport terminals, at large rest areas along major expressways, and within important train terminals.
These Pokémon vending machines come in two types. “Pokémon Stands” offer a selection of official Pokémon merchandise. “Pokémon Card Stands” vend a continually changing variety of Pokémon TCG cards.
Official Pokémon vending machines respond to the need and desire to provide easier access to Pokémon merchandise for people who are familiar with Pokémon but who wouldn’t normally go out of their way to search out a Pokémon Center. So a team was set in motion to conceive how to reach such buyers, or potential buyers, closer at hand.
First came the development of Pokémon Stands. These give easy access to a selection of popular merchandise sold at Pokémon Centers. A primary concern in developing these first Pokémon-branded vending machines was how, in addition to offering actual products, the Pokémon Stands could simultaneously convey the unique Pokémon worldview and create memorable experiences for the machines’ users.
One answer the development team arrived at was to have Pikachu greet people as they pass by a Pokémon Stand. This was designed to arouse the curiosity of passersby, inducing them to stop for a moment and look at the contents on offer. One hope was that a novel approach like this would create interest even in people who were previously unfamiliar with Pokémon and the Pokémon world.
The development team also strove hard to create unique packaging for items purchased from a Pokémon Stand. Ultimately, the choice was to package purchases in paper bags designed uniquely for merch sold in the vending machines. To prevent the bags from getting creased or in any way spoiled when an item is dispensed, tremendous care went into developing the ideal paper material and just the right thickness of paper coating. The idea was to provide the buyer not only with an item of merchandise, but also with a unique shopping bag that can be repurposed for everyday use.
Equally great care went into deciding where to install the Pokémon Stands. After testing a variety of potential locations, it was decided to place the machines where they would be most likely to catch the most people’s attention: primarily in airports, at expressway rest areas, and inside major train terminals. The biggest response has been from the Pokémon Stands installed inside airport terminals. Here, the machines often attract the interest not only of local Pokémon fans but increasingly also of foreign travelers too.
After Pokémon Stands, the development team next focused on creating “Pokémon Card Stands.” These are vending machines that sell Pokémon TCG cards, primarily in “Booster Packs” containing a random selection of 5 cards. In this case, the machines are located mostly inside major train stations.
This choice of location was made because of the huge number and variety of people who pass through train stations every day on their way to work or school. The development team members felt sure that, for example on a day when a commuter might be feeling a little low in spirits, discovering a Pokémon Card Stand offering a chance to get a desired card, would surely raise those spirits in an instant. In this way, the hope and intent in developing the Pokémon Card Stand was to make Pokémon an easily accessible presence in people’s everyday lives.
To make the Booster Packs sold in Pokémon Card Stands suitable to all budgets, they are priced at a readily affordable 330 yen (around US$2) for a set of 2 packs*. As a result, many people on their way to or from work or school can be found buying cards from a Pokémon Card Stand as a small gift to themselves or as a present to give others. Not infrequently, elementary school students might spot a new product on their way to school, and then purchase the item together with their parents or guardian on their way home later in the day. In ways like this, Pokémon is becoming an ever more common presence within people’s everyday lives.
Of course, we aren’t finished here. To expand the potential for encounters with Pokémon, we continuously consider new locations suited to installing Pokémon Stands and Pokémon Card Stands. Why?
The staff member in charge explains: “Today, people have almost unlimited access to information on merchandise through their smartphones and computers. But by augmenting these online access methods with unexpected encounters with Pokémon merchandise in everyday life – in the offline world – our hope is to awaken interest in Pokémon and, through happy purchases of Pokémon merchandise in ever more casual situations, to build an expanding base of happy fans. And that will make us happier, too.”
Vending machines are a fun-filled way of creating spontaneous encounters with Pokémon, to make lives richer and happier. With that hope in mind, we will continue to seek out new installation points for Pokémon Stands and Pokémon Card Stands in the coming months and years.
