Earthbound Toys Can Be Appreciated Without a Translation

gregoryg

Mad Scientist
Jul 13, 2010
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Earthbound Toys Can Be Appreciated Without a Translation

Earthbound fans may want to prepare their latest petition now: A line of toys based on the series lands in Japanese arcades this August.

At an arcade event [http://earthboundcentral.com/2010/04/giant-mr-saturn-event-round-up/] held last year, Japanese toy manufacturer Banpresto announced a line of figures based on the cult-favoriteMother series of games (known as Earthbound in the west). Today, the company revealed the first two sets of figurines and outlined a schedule of releases for the rest of the year.

The toys are based on the first two Mother games, and are modeled after the clay sculptures of the characters used in promotional artwork for the franchise. Both full-sized (12 cm/4.7 in) and miniature versions (8 cm/3.14 in) of fan-favorite characters like Ness, Jeff, and Paula will be released.

The bad news is that, like all great Japanese toys, these are only attainable from arcade crane machines. If you want a complete set, you may want to start saving your spare yen now.

Non-Japanese gamers will want to keep their eye on import sites. As much as fans would love to pick these up from a local store, Earthbound's spectacular history of commercial failures in western markets has ensured that you have a better chance of winning a lottery than finding merchandise outside of the series' home country. Not even a massive fan campaign could convince Nintendo to release the most recent entry of the series, Mother 3, in western markets. Ultimately, that same fan community put hundreds of hours of work into translating the game itself.

On the bright side, toys need no fan translation.

Source: Kotaku [http://earthboundcentral.com/2010/07/earthbound-figures-coming/]

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SUPA FRANKY

New member
Aug 18, 2009
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Now if all three Earthbound games could come bundled on the DS or Wii. I could finally die happy...

When a Shadow hearts 4 comes out.
 

Super Toast

Supreme Overlord of the Basement
Dec 10, 2009
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I demand a Giygas toy! Or... maybe not. I don't want my nightmares getting worse.
 

Optimus Hagrid

New member
Feb 14, 2009
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What really surprises me is that they are still making merchandise for a twenty year old game! I think that certainly says something about the popularity of the Mother series in Japan. Personally, I can't wait for the Starman figures to be unveiled, though I won't be buying them.

Also, giant Mr Saturn.

 

Tiswas

New member
Jun 9, 2010
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Meh. not that hard to get. I use AmiAmi, HLJ or even Playasia for all my One Piece merch and it's never steered me wrong yet. I'm sure they'll appear on one of those.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
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Damn you, Japan! Damn you for doing this to one of the most creative video game series ever!!! And by "doing this to," I mean "not exporting." DAMN YOU!!!

supertoast099 said:
I demand a Giygas toy! Or... maybe not. I don't want my nightmares getting worse.
We already have those. They're called "Mewtwo figurines."
 

FungiGamer

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Apr 23, 2008
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gregoryg said:
\ As much as fans would love to pick these up from a local store, Earthbound's spectacular history of commercial failures in western markets has ensured that you have a better chance of winning a lottery than finding merchandise outside of the series' home country.
A HISTORY of commercial failures? I'm pretty sure there was only ONE GAME released in America, I don't know why you classify that as a history of failures if there was just ONE, and time has changed, it has a cult following now!