Evalana goes shopping

So, I went shopping yesterday for the express purpose of finding the following: Sushi Pack books and Maryoku Yummy products. You see, I recently learned that two Sushi Pack books were released back in January, both of which are available on Amazon.com, but since I got a Borders gift card for my birthday, I figured I'd see if I could find them there. I was only able to find the first one (based on the episode Rex Marks the Spot) and not the second (based on Wassup Wasabi), so I may be placing an order on Amazon sooner rather than later. You can see images from the first book here and the second here.

Not too long after I learned about the Sushi Pack books, I noticed a couple of press releases on AGPbrands.com that pertained to Maryoku Yummy. One mentioned the upcoming animated series and a March debut, but I haven't been able to find any information anywhere else about this, so I'm assuming it got delayed. But the other, more recent one mentioned that you can now find Maryoku merchandise in Justice/Limited Too stores, so I swallowed any embarrassment I might have and went straight to the front of the store. There I saw a few products including mini-plushes, pins, lip gloss and lollipops. As you can see, I got mini-plushes of Maryoku and Hadagi (of course) and a set of pins. The mini-plushes are very cute, and they have elastics on the back so you can tie your hair up with them if you so desire. Hadagi is definitely too magenta and not purpley enough. You can buy the mini-plushes and large plushes (which I didn't see in the store) on the Justice website.

Sushi Pack Goods are Go!

I am the happiest Evalana ever, seriously. I was tipped off that Sushi Pack merchandise was already in stores, so I hopped down to the mall and sure enough, there in the Carlton Cards was a whole section of Sushi Pack merchandise!
First off, the plushies. I got a little one of Tako, but there are also 12" ones and really big ones of Wasabi only. Designwise they look all right, but Maguro ended up looking like a monkey. All the Wasabi plushes have some vinyl to represent his flame, just so you know.
There are also keychains of the Pack like my Kani one up there, with silver outlining (it doesn't really show up on the photo), and coin purses of Kani and Wasabi. And the cutest purse of Kani's head that I totally would have bought if a. I were just a little younger and b. I wasn't limiting myself to $20. The best part of the bag was that her pigtails were actually little pockets that closed with velcro!
As for stationary, there are little notebooks with an elastic closure like I got, along with little spiral pads with the characters and a phrase on them (e.g. Kani's say "Pinch!" and Wasabi's say, "Pow!" I think Tako's say "Zap!" but I don't remember the other two), and post-it notes of the character's heads. And stickers! Not to mention gift bags and wrapping paper.
The oddest thing there that I saw were the canvas art. I didn't see how much they were, but I don't really see them selling a lot of them. But then again, just because I have no interest in it doesn't mean no one does.

As a special promotion, you get a free DVD with any Sushi Pack purchase. The DVD has one episode, "Every Body is Some Body," about Mayor Martin and Wasabi switching bodies (which is actually funnier than it sounds, even though you have to get through some ridiculous backstory to get to it). I'll put up a review of it and the bonus features (which mostly include things you can find on the website) later tonight, hopefully.