Valentine's Fumo

It is Valentine's Day again, and see what we got here! It's Valentine's fumofumo san! Where is mugugu? Didn't get chosen again....

Pictures taken from http://www.shinada.net/pickup.html

The Fumofumo san from the greens?

A new fumofumo san is coming in March 2011! This fumofumo san's name is Heiji（ヘイジ）。I have no idea what it is, but I am guessing it could be a porcupine (probably not because of the ears, haha!) or a buffalo. Shinada's website did not provide much information on what they are suppose to be. One thing that we know is that they love the greenery. What could they be? Their back kind of look like they are creatures that wears Fuwa fuwa suit (see previous entry).... I don't know, you have any ideas?

Pictures taken from http://www.shinada.net/pickup.html

ふかふかスーツ (Fukafuka Suit)??

Fukafuka suit is the newest invention by the Shinada company for fumofumo san. So what is a fukafuka suit?

In Japanese, fukafuka means fluffy, so together, it means a fluffy suit. So far, three different fumofumo san are dressed in a fluffy suit and are released. They are sumomo the rabbit, momosuttsu, a fumofumo san with a teardrop shape head, and nikoragureesu, a fumofumo san that reminds me of the Christmas elves.



What really interested me is why those three? Logically I would think that the frog would be chosen over the the unusal momosuttsu and nikoragureesu.... I wonder what mugugu will look like in a fukafuka suit....

Maybe like this???


Pictures taken from shinada.net.

Fumo Fumo San Expo 2010!

A Fumofumo san Expo! I can't believe it, too bad it is over already. The expo was only nine days long and took place in Yamashiroya, a sixth floor high toy store right across from the Ueno JR station in Tokyo. Let's see what they have....

Fumofumo san absolutely everywhere!


Mascot to play games and take pictures with.

Fumofumo chocolate??!!


And who are they?


How come I don't see any mugugu????!!!

Picture taken from http://www.e-yamashiroya.com/f/2f/humohumo/event_6/report/index.html

The Snow Storm Is Coming (and It Comes the Snowmen)

雪ダルマちゃん (Yukidaruma chan) is the name given for a group of extremely cute and soft looking snowmen designed by Shinada for the Winter of 2008.
雪 (yuki) means snow
雪ダルマ (yukidaruma) means snowman
ちゃん (chan) is often used behind a child's name. SO in this case it sounded like "the little snowman".

雪ダルマちゃん came in five different sizes, and six variations of colours. The largest one is as tall as 50 cm! Can you imagine cuddling with this half meter snowman? Ever since their appearance, different versions of these lovely snowman were also launched.


雪ダルマちゃんカラーシリーズ (Yukidaruma chan colour)2008


雪ダルマちゃん変身 (Yukidarama chan henshin <-makeover)2008 and 2010


雪ダルマちゃんfor you (Yukidaruma chan for you)2009

There are just so many possibilities with these snowmen! Keep them coming! Unfortunately, I still couldn't get a hold on one of these lovely mochi* looking creatures, so I will just have to satisfy myself in my dream.....

*mochi - sticky rice delicacy, a type of Japanese dessert.



picture taken from http://www.shinada.net/.

Give Us Some Clothes!

As we all know, fumofumo san are naked, just like many other stuffed animals. As the main function of a stuffed animal is to be hugged, exposing as much as their soft and smooth surface is perfectly normal. Fumofumo san, who have especially soft texture, this is one of their ultimate weapons to capture the heart of the user. Consequently, there is really no need in decorating them with the extra gadgets, as it will only take away the aesthetics (specifically the sense of touch) of these lovely creatures.

Nevertheless, as we all see, the Shinada company thinks otherwise, and I do have to admit that some of them are quite creative. For example, the onsen (hot spring) monkeys is definitely my favorite.



The Eskimos attire and the rain coats are simply cute too.



However, imagine hugging them, it wouldn't feel the same, would it? The stickiness of the raincoat, the roughness of the Eskimos attire, the extra decorations that doesn't go seamlessly with the the body of the stuffed animal, etc.



The special editions are cute in itself, but I think it is taking away the charms of a fumofumo san. I would be more than happy to get one of these editions, but they will be admired in a different way (i.e. sitting on a shelf as a collection item). Obviously, this is from an adult perspective. To a child, the extra gadgets are playable items too, one that can be exchange in the sacrifice of the pleasant touch of fumofumo san.

All images taken from http://www.shinada.net/

Monochromatic Rules

Don't get confuse and think I am showing you a black and white picture. What makes it look black and white is actually the fumofumo san themselves. In fact, this is the "black" collection of some of the previous launched fumofumo san. They are most likely popular among the fumofumo san, that's why they were made into special editions. Other editions included the white, pink, blue, sepia, pastel, and rainbow.

What I really like about their approach to these special edition is that everything has a story that goes with it. For example, the pink edition we see in the picture above came from a story like this: On one lovely Spring day, the frog, monkey, and rabbit went to the so called Pink World to pick flowers, and then somehow they got themselves pink. The story ends abruptly here as these creatures found themselves a little bit cold, so they decided to go home.


Pink Theme

These stories although is short, but it is a perfect way to give little hints of where the inspiration of the design came from. In return, the users now knew the design intention, would be able to appreciate the product more. Finally, because these stories are very short and without much details, the user can then use their own imaginations to complete their own stories. The use of your imagination towards a product, can potentially increase your attachment towards the product. That's why we all love them so much!

Blue Theme: This time it seems like they went to the blue world...

Sepia Theme - these fumofumo san comes from a sepia world.

In the description of the discovery of Blue world, it said since there is a pink world, it is likely there will be blue world and others. So, we can expect to see more colour themes coming! What other themes would you like to see?

(All images are taken from http://www.shinada.net/)