November Haul

 Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale for our monthly haul post! After amassing quite the collection of trinkets and merchandise over the month of November, I have decided the amalgamate my entire treasure hunt into one single post. As you can see, there are no new figures to the collection this month as figure releases for Mami has been rather slow as of late (with the exception of the her new Nendoroid). Otherwise, let us jump straight into a detailed look at each item from the haul!

Starting with these two clear files obtained from Mandrake Nakano, we have the Easter and Pajamas collection on the left and right respectively. The Easter collection is from a collaboration with Lawson for their Easter campaign of 2016 as is the Pajamas collection but, that dates back even further. Despite having quite the large collection of Mami clear files, these ones in particular are still quite hard to find. Fortunately, Mandarake hardly ever marks up its clear files and I managed to purchase each one for 200 Yen. 

Next one the list was a faux-leather black memo book released in conjunction with the Rebellion film. The memo itself is just like any other that you can find in a stationary store with the only difference being the addition of the Quintet's Soul Gems and the Madoka Magica logo up front. At 1,000 Yen, I was rather hesitant on dropping that much cash on a simple memo book. But seeing as to how I was in need of a new memo book, I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

Officially designated as the Chara Cover Note series, this memo book was manufactured by the Japanese company, A3 (athree3). A3 is a stationary company that produces anime-themed stationary atop of ordinary everyday stationary. The best part is, the book is actually made in Japan which gives some increased reassurance towards the quality of the book. 

The next find comes all the way from a hobby store in Yokohama. While Takuya was busy browsing the large selection of pre-owned figures on sale, I spotted this Mami-themed pouch on sale. Previously, I have had my eye on this pouch for quite a while having spotted it first selling in Mandarake for a cool 2,000 Yen. 

Ever since then, I had spotted the pouch at several other brick and mortar stores for 2,500 Yen and up. So at 1,200 Yen (without tax), this looked like a prime opportunity for me to add even more Mami merchandise to the collection. Needless to say, I was fairly satisfied with both the price and quality of product that, in this case, is manufactured by Movic. 

 

Next thing on the list, are a large collection of Puella Magi Madoka Magica straps with an emphasis on Mami. All of them come courtesy of Mandarake's Nakano store and come with a very interesting story behind them. Moreover, to the best of my knowledge, all of these are straps that I have yet to add to the collection especially the Flower Fairy Series that I have been looking for a very long time!

Last year, unfortunately, I missed out on Lawson's Flower Fairy collaboration campaign with Madoka Magica which saw me miss out on all the related merchandise associated with it. Ever since then, I had been diligently looking out for the series' merchandise especially Mami's rubber strap. With some luck, I eventually managed to find her but, not without her being bundled with the other magical girls. At 1,500 Yen for all 5 of them, I was initially very hesitant. Looking back, I sure am glad I decided to get them as a set as they all look so cute when lined up in a series. Now, all that is left are the clear files and art boards.

The next surprise find was the "Goddess" series which is also a series of product collaboration with Lawson. Unlike the Flower Fairy campaign, this one dates back much further and are now incredibly difficult to find. For Mami's strap alone, I was prepared to pay up to 600 Yen. But as mentioned earlier, Mandarake rarely marked up rubber straps and this rare strap was mine for 200 Yen. 

Here is where things get interesting. Having spotted a large number of Madoka Magica straps in my basket, the cashier in the counter asked if I would like to purchase even more as he pulled out a cache of Madoka Magica straps from behind the counter. Each one were unmarked and selling for only 100 Yen. Unfortunately, I already have many of them and ended up only taking two. Still, the pleasant surprise did not end there as the cashier then offered me an extra item in the sealed bag above. 

The cashier was kind enough to throw in additional Mami trinket, the cup mascot, for free. Sure it only cost 100 Yen but, it was this sort of service and attention to detail which will forever remain etched in my mind when purchasing from Mandarake. 

Luck had been on my side for a fair amount of time, that is until I finally went to Sega's arcade in Ikebukuro. You can read all about my misadventures in the arcade here. Throughout it all, I still emerged a winner of sorts as I am now the proud owner of a Black Hanekawa wallet. Of which, I have yet to figure out what to do with. 

The last time I visited Kanda Shrine, their special Nozomi rubber strap was sold out. On a recent revisit, she happened to be in stock. After wrangling with the thought of having to part with 800 Yen for a single key-holder rubber strap, I eventually added Nozomi to the collection. It may not be the nicest Nozomi rubber strap out there but, the unique factor more than makes up for it. 

With that, the trinket madness finally comes to and end, for now. The month of November has certainly been a very hectic one for me and while there are no figures to show for it, that is certainly not a negative point for me as many of these rarer Mami trinkets are just the thing I have been searching for. As usual, if you have any question about the items of where to find them, please do not hesitate to ask me in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!