Pokémon franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary with a partnership with the Spanish luxury ceramics craftsmen.
When looking for a Pokémon to grace your home, the usual choice is between a cuddly plushie or a stylish plastic figure. With the franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary right now, though, there’s another option: a beautiful porcelain figurine.
While the Pokémon franchise’s multimedia mix is diverse enough to include video games, collectible cards, anime, fashion, and food, high-end ceramics are a bit outside the Pokémon Company’s ordinary areas of expertise. So for these figures of fan favorites Pikachu and Eevee, they’ve teamed up with the artists at Lladró, the Spanish company best known for its handcrafted porcelain sculptures.
The Pikachu figurine stands (well, technically it sits) 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) tall, and the preview photos show it to have the eminently smooth texture and liquid-like luster to its glaze that’s become a hallmark of the Lladró brand. The craftsmen took special care to apply just the right amount of finish to the eyes to give them a feeling of energetic brightness but also a sense of visual depth.
In addition to the solo Pikachu, there’s also a figure of the face of the franchise hanging out with Eevee.
The combo piece doesn’t reuse the same Pikachu as the stand-alone, either, as it has its own pose and expression. It’s also larger in scale, with the maximum height, from the bottom of the base to the tips of Pikachu’s ears, being 37 centimeters.
In addition to being the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, this year is also a milestone for Lladró, as it marks 70 years since they started making porcelain figurines.
Of course, as ceramics otaku know, Lladró was actually founded in 1953 and spent its first three years making vases. As ceramics otaku also know, their level of handmade quality comes at a commensurate price, and the Pikachu figurine is being offered for 143,000 yen (US$920) through the Lladró online shop here. No price has been publicly listed for the combination Pikachu/Eevee piece on its page here, but seeing as how its roughly double the size, available through prior reservation only, and limited to 288 production units, it won’t come cheap either, but it will look really, really nice.
Source: PR Times, Lladró (1, 2)
Top image: PR Times, Lladró
Insert images: PR Times
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