Hey Everyone! Happy Spring!! I'm so delighted that the season of flower growth and newly-emerged butterflies and blue skies and cute baby animals is here :) Goodbye season depression, and hello days of being able to read outside in the mild sunshine. I cannot wait to get out and about more with my camera in nature, and for the stores to start filling up with cutesy pastel things! What are you most looking forward to this Springtime?
At the beginning of February, I went on a trip to London with my best friend and her family. It was my first time properly visiting the city. I went there once with my university to go to the Natural History Museum (which is fantastic, by the way!), but it was a straight-there, straight-back kind of trip and I never got to explore the surroundings. This time round I was actually able to experience London, and despite hearing how much of a nightmare it can be for people with social anxiety, like myself, I was surprised by how similar it was to other cities I've visited with regards to how crowded it was (well, apart from how busy the restaurants were!). Even the infamous London Underground wasn't the hellish experience I had tried to prepare myself for, but I didn't actually have to do any of the navigating myself, so that helped a lot! If you're like me, I recommend going this time of year, and also planning where exactly you want to go beforehand, because London is massive and it can be so overwhelming. But this isn't a post about how to survive London as an anxious wreck of a person, so on with the topic at hand, haha :D
I personally love a good haul post, and so I thought I'd share one of my own, for those who are curious to see what I spent my money on whilst visiting the capital of my country. I hope you all enjoy reading anyhow!
So, I didn't actually pick up many things whilst I was in London, or go to many shops for that matter, because that wasn't the main objective of our trip. We were there to go to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour, and we were only staying down south for the weekend, so ended up with just a couple of hours to actually shop. My best friend & I chose to head to Covent Garden, because it's just one of those places that's an iconic part of the city, and I was curious to see it with my own eyes. Plus, ARTBOX is there and as a lover of all things kawaii, I felt it would be atrocious for me to not go! There are not many stores dedicated to 'kawaii culture' in the UK, ones that sell only officially licensed goodies from Japan and Korea, so I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to visit. Now that it's obvious that I went to Artbox, I guess I'd better show you what I picked up from there first :)
The first thing that went into my little basket was one of these Hamtaro Re-ment blind boxes!! I have been a fan of this super adorable anime since I was a kid, and this was my first time ever encountering official merch in person. I could have cried with excitement, and it didn't take me long to circle back around after browsing the store to pop another into my basket, haha! If you want to read more about my love for the anime, and are just a fellow fan of this adorable bunch of hamsters, check out my previous post all about my new Hamtaro nendoroid :)
If you've never heard of Re-ment before, it is a Japanese company that makes miniature toys. Their most well known products are blind box series, like the Hamtaro ones I bought, containing a selection of tiny set ups, which once all variations are collected can be display together to create a scene. This series in particular will allow you to create the perfect little Ham-Ham Club House, with all the furniture and accessories needed to add character to the scene. The ones that I was hoping most to get where set 4 with the little sunflower-print bed & hamster slippers (featuring the characters Howdy & Dexter), and also set 1, which comes with ham-ham desserts and a tiny figure of the main man himself, Hamtaro. To be honest, I would have been happy to unbox any set because I would love to complete the entire scene some day. I'll show you guys the two sets I had inside my blind boxes later on in the post :)
I seriously cannot go anywhere without buying a new notebook! And London was certainly no exception. I picked up this super sweet hamster notebook because how could I not when I had hamsters on the brain? The design is so eye-catching, and the back of the notebook shows the little ham-ham's butt, which made me laugh. It's blank inside so I can use it for anything: a journal, a small scrapbook, a sketchbook for crappy doodles, and it was less than £2 if I'm remembering correctly.
As I rarely get the chance to buy blind boxes by Japanese brands in person unless I'm at Comic Con, I was determined to get a few different ones in Artbox. If I'm honest, I was expecting there to be a lot more selection in store, considering their website is packed full of goodies, but I discovered the shop was small and they didn't have a lot of the products I was hoping to see. I was sure I would be leaving the store with a big plush, and also some Pusheen blind boxes, but that didn't happen. I admit I was a little sad about this, especially because we had to queue outside for half an hour just to get into the store! Nevertheless, it was still fun to finally be able to visit Artbox, and I love the things I picked up, including this Sanrio My Melody & Friends keychain blind box. I kind of regret not buying another one now after seeing how pretty the keychain was!! Have you ever been to Artbox in London? If so, I'd love to know what you bought, and also what your thoughts about the store itself were.
Before I share my unboxing finds with you all, I wanted to talk about the other store that was at the top of my list of places to visit in Covent Garden, The Moomin Store! When I was really young, I adored watching The Moomins cartoon, and still know all of the words to its lovely theme song (which I now have to take a momentary break from writing to sing and get out of my system so I can continue... oops!). I have only ever found a few official Moomins products whilst out shopping, so I was very much looking forward to the array of products I would find in the London boutique shop, and it did not disappoint! Sure, the store is super small and very tough to get around with lots of people also in there trying to squeeze past one another down the narrow 'aisles', but I feel like the size of the store gave it more character. It was so cute! And I adored the way that they decorated in the entrance and up the stairs leading to the boutique. It was really difficult to choose what I wanted to take home with me!
I decided as soon as I walked through the doors that I was leaving with a plush of Moomintroll. He just looked so small and cuddly and precious; I couldn't resist :) I love the simplistic design of these iconic hippo-esque trolls! Who else is a Moomin fan? I'm pretty sure that they had a few other plushies available, but I can only remember Moomintroll and Snork Maiden for definite. I am super happy with this new addition to my plushie collection! He's so smooth and fantastic quality, and he wasn't overly expensive. I was expecting everything to be super overpriced because I've heard that's commonplace in London, but all the items were priced similarly to what I've seen online.
I collect pin badges, among so many other things, and was hoping to find one I liked in The Moomin Store before I even got there, as I was yet to own a Moomin pin but also because I wanted a keepsake to commemorate the trip. I love how cheerful the design I chose is! Moomintroll looks like he's living his best life dancing in the sunshine, and I thought the quote on the backing card was sweet! It says 'I only want to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream!' And it made me instantly think this is something Samwise Gamgee (from The Lord of the Rings) would say, and I just had to have it. I bought the postcard because a) I also collect postcards XD, and b) I wanted something to display in my bedroom that I can look at and have remind me of the trip. This one caught my eye because of how colourful and vibrant it is, and also because Snufkin is on it. Snufkin, the flute-playing guy sitting in the tree, was my favourite character when I was a kid. I also love Moominpappa's top hat, aka the Hobgoblin's hat.
Here's a closer look at the eight different designs you could get inside the My Melody Acrylic keychain blind box. I wish I knew the name of the product to tell you guys, but I think it might be something like the 'Good Friends Share' series, featuring My Melody & Piano. My Sweet Piano was this adorable fluffy little sheep characters original name and she's My Melody's best friend. The charms I wanted to get most were the first one shown, My Melody holding a tiny plushie of her bestie, and also Piano with tiny bunny ears. Am I the only one who thinks it's a little 'weird' for My Melody to be wearing extra bunny ears? I've heard that she's supposed to be a little girl dressing as a bunny, just like Hello Kitty is in fact not a cat, but why wear a bunny hood and then another pair of bunny ears? :D So that's the design that I was hoping not to get, as well as the one with Piano & My Melody's backs facing towards us, because I want to see their cute faces! Who's ready to see which one I received?
YAYY!! I got the one I wanted most! That almost never happens to me, so I was over the moon :) And I was so impressed by the size of these charms! I was expecting something tiny but this keychain charm is big and so pretty. I love the pastel lilac outline, and the way the shading has been done, with an almost airbrushed look. I don't know if that's what it's even called, but I love how the colour is faded around the edges. My Melody's rosy cheeks are the sweetest, but by favourite feature is the tiny plushie of Piano, which I feel like I need for myself in the real life now! The charm itself is thick and well-made, and features the design on both sides. It looks sturdy but I won't be risking putting it on my bags and ruining it. I don't trust those types of keychain not to come loose either. Which would have been your favourite to receive?
As for the Re-ment boxes, here's what was inside the first one I opened. I got number 8, the bench set! How flippin' cute is that bench though!? I need a life-size replica in my own garden :D Even though this set wasn't one of my favourites, I couldn't be more happy to have unboxed one that came with a tiny hamster figure!! This pigtail-wearing cutie is called Bijou, and I'm lovin' that the tiny present matches her in colour. Included with this set are some stickers to decorate the green book, however, I decided not to try to stick them on before I took the photos because I am very uncoordinated and will properly misalign the stickers and mess everything up. My favourite character from the anime series has always been Sandy, and she's one of the tiny hamsters on the pages of the book, so seeing that made me smile! Here's what I got in the final blind box...
It's number 3, which I think is supposed to be a living room type set! As you can see, you get a wooden cabinet, a little lamp(?) type decoration, a picture frame and a tiny Bijou figure! It was a bit of a shame to have gotten another Bijou, however, this doesn't really matter because it means I'm another step closer to completing the collection :)
This re-ment came with some cut-out's instead of stickers, but again, I might ruin them so I am hesitant to try to cut them out. There are two photos to display inside the frame, and also a rug. I love that Sandy is there again, with her rhythmic gymnastics ribbon in hand! The other photo is of Hamtaro munching on a sunflower seed, and on the rug, we have the sister characters, Pashmina & Penelope. My favourite part of this set has to be the tiny Penelope decoration, which I assume is supposed to be a little lantern. What do you think? Penelope always makes me think of a little ghost, so this piece reminds me of a Halloween decoration and that makes me love it even more. For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Penelope is incredibly shy and so she permanently wears a blanket over her head. Sometimes I feel like doing the same when I leave the house, so I vibe with Penelope, haha!
How cool do these sets look when they are displayed together!? And that's only two of them. I cannot wait to see a full completed scene. It will look marvellous! After setting up this photo, I realised how much smaller the other Bijou figurine was so I feel like one of them is supposed to be a plushie of Bijou, because why would there be two of the same character? Plushie bijou is a treasure and must be protected!! I think it's awesome that the cupboard doors can be opened and there's space inside it to store things. So much attention to detail! I need more re-ments in my life! Which is your favourite of the two sets?
So that's all of the adorable merchandise I picked up whilst visiting London, aside from what I bought at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. I am kind of glad that I didn't have much time to shop whilst there because I might have been recovering financially for a long while *insert embarrassed emojis here*. I am really chuffed with everything I got, and I hope you all enjoyed checking out my haul. I wish you all the loveliest of Springs, lots of yummy snacks at Easter time, and months of sunshine wherever you live :)
Thank you for reading!
♥
What was the last cute thing that you purchased?
Have you ever visited London? Tell me your favourite thing about it!
Keep up to date with what I'm doing with my life by following me on social media:
| Main Instagram | Main Twitter | Animal Crossing Twitter |
No comments
Post a Comment