A (Belated) Birthday Surprise!

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale, the home to all things Tomoe Mami! After my recent surprise, I figured I have had enough of pleasant surprises for the year. Little did I know, there was another waiting right at the corner. One that had been waiting for me for the better half of a year as my love for all things Mami clearly influenced this surprising turn of events.

Having celebrated my birthday in the first quarter of the year, I had already unwrapped my fair share of presents and eaten my fair share of cake. Eagerly awaiting the next year, I had not expected to get another gift this late in the year. But, that was exactly what happened when a good friend of mine and serial-ghost contributor to Tiro Finale, OG, asked me if I would like anything from Tokyo. Yes, this was the summer trip to Tokyo that I sadly had to miss because of work-related commitments.

Not eager to let the disappointment of not actually being in Japan pull me down, I pointed OG towards the coveted Mandarake Nakano. This was after a quick browse in Mandarake's online stores pointed towards a newly available Mami product that I had been wanting to get for quite some time now. That product in question is the Super Groupies x Madoka Magica collaboration backpack which is just one of the many available products from the long-standing collaboration between the popular themed apparel brand (Super Groupies) and the Madoka Magica series.

For those who are new to Super Groupies, I strongly recommend you check them out as they are an awesome outfit which primarily makes anime-themed clothing and accessories. Unlike other brands like Cospa who also make anime-themed apparel, Super Groupies' products are much more subtle and fashion-focused which make them that much more sought after, in my opinion. Rather than feature a printed tee-shirt of the series in question's characters, Super Groupies goes the extra mile to make products which use the characters as inspiration for the basis of their designs. 

In fact, often there is very little to suggest the product is even anime-themed to begin with. In the case of this backpack, the only indication you would get of it being a Mami-themed bag would be the stamped Soul Gem on the "belt", a small patch referencing the Holy Quintet and Mami's signature bright yellow highlights throughout the bag. Depending on the featured character, the color of the highlights change too. Blue for Sayaka, red for Kyouko and pink for Madoka. The saying, "those who know, know", could not be better embodied in Super Groupies' products. 

You will have to forgive my excitement as this is my very first piece of merchandise from the brand (Super Groupies). Having had no prior experience with the brand besides pictures and the odd opinion of two online, I was reserved on the actual quality of their products. But all of those worries immediately vanished the first time I got my hands on the bag. 

The bag's canvas outer was a thick, durable canvas with the stitches neat and tidy. Meanwhile, the interior was lined with a soft polyester fabric that included many useful pockets and cut outs. There was even an included giant bow (!) if you felt like adding more flair to the bag. Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of the bag's construction and practicality which certainly served to justify their asking prices.

Of course, the products that Super Groupies makes are not just limited to one character (Mami) or one series (Madoka Magica). Within each particular series, you can expect to find themed-apparel for all of the main characters. And they even cover a large number of series too with this particular collaboration with Madoka Magica going way back. 

Aside from the usual mass-produced items, Super Groupies also occasionally drops limited edition collaboration goods which are sold out the moment the per-determined units of production are accounted for. Once they are gone, they are gone and the only way to find them are through re-seller's such as Mandarake here. While this has always been a sore point for me and fellow overseas collectors, the good news is that Super-Groupies now ships worldwide as I am already strongly considering getting my hands on more merchandise from them!

Anyway, back to the story of the bag before I veered off into my earlier ramblings. When it comes to Super Groupies merchandise, they tend to only sit in Mandarake's stores for a very short period of time before they are promptly purchased. The reason for this comes down to Mandarake's heavily discounted price for them and the fact that they are fairly hard to be found in the re-seller's market, especially the limited edition ones. 

Aside from being sold out, this bag originally retailed for 10,800 Yen. In Mandarake, this new and unused bag was going on sale for 5,000 Yen. How new? It even had its original plastic bag and paper wrappings! So when I found out that OG went all the way down to Nakano for the sole purpose of getting me this bag, I could not be more appreciative. Only that I could. Because I then found out that this bag actually turned out to be a birthday present for me.

First the Prize A canvas and now this? While the year may have been a long one, I could not have asked for a better way to close out the year. What does this mean for the future of Tiro Finale? For one, you can certainly expect to see more coverage on Super Groupies x Tomoe Mami goods. And as always, we will do our best to keep you updated with all things Mami-related. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!