An Unexpected Treat

Yeah, its been a long time since my last Kitty post but real-life caught up with me in the fall and I couldn't spend much time cataloguing my bloated collection much less track down what they were supposed to be.

I was planning to post some of my Hina Matsuri charms plus a little history on the festival, but it'll have to wait... Is that bad luck? Hmmm. Have to think about that one! But the good news is that the postman delivered a surprise today: my "Hello Kitty Box - The Complete Catalog - Special Edition". I always hate when they do that kind of stuff to cars, like the Eddie Bauer SE Expedition. However, when it comes to Regional Kitties, I can lose all common sense like the big boys.


What's the big deal? For the hard-core Japan Regional Hello Kitty junky, this book alone is a long overdue and much coveted bible of the 850 (and growing) regional kitties. I have yet to delve into the details in the book, but what I can see is lot's of pics, maps and shots of the artwork for the packaging. The Special Edition comes with a reissue of one of the original mascot netsukes from Hokkaido: Lavender Kitty.


The delivery was an event in and of itself, but the discovery of a retailer in the US that actually had it? How nice is that? I have to give kudos to that annoying amazon.com A9 search engine which tracked down this book at akadot.com. While I have to confess that I bought the last one, they are offering the option to special order this book. The Special Edition is a pricey 35 bucks, but if you request the regular version, that should save you a few bucks. From what I can tell from internet searches, this special edition is sold out and is hitting amazon resellers and yahoo auctions at similar prices. According to the gotochi webpage, people were snatching up to 15 copies for themselves. Ah yes, the power of resale. However, I will not part with mine!

If you'd like to see some pics of the layout and the book's basic approach check out the amazon.co.jp site.