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Popples x 6%DOKIDOKI Fashion & Exhibition
On February 12th, Parco Shibuya opened a new exhibition called “The World of Popples”. The exhibition features original artwork illustrations of the Popples dating back to the 1980s and vintage Popples paraphernalia (such as lunchboxes and toys), videos, and other classic Popples stuff. Besides the original Popples items, the show includes a crazy “Popples Room” filled with an insane collection of toys, clothing, knickknacks, random cute stuff, and even a fur-covered TV – all put together by 6%DOKIDOKI. The show also marks the launch of a 6%DOKIDOKI x Popples fashion collaboration – with several of the new 6%DOKIDOKI items available for purchase at the Parco Factory gift shop.
In case you don’t know The Popples, they are a group of super cute and colorful animal-like characters designed in the 1980s by some of the same people who brought Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears into the world. The gimmick behind these characters is that they have pouches on their backs into which they can climb, converting them from a cute character into a cute fuzzy ball. (You might think of them as the world’s cutest Transformers.) The Popples were never as popular as Care Bears, but they still have a loyal following many years later – and this Parco Factory show is hoping to introduce them to a whole new generation of kawaii-loving Japanese fans. The World of Popples is the first major exhibition for the Popples in Japan since the company MindWorks Entertainment licensed them and began releasing official Japanese Popples products last year.
6%DOKIDOKI’s involvement with the World of Popples show included a special pre-event where several of the 6%DOKIDOKI shop girls held a fashion show with costumes incorporating Popples plush toys. There was also a talk by 6%DOKIDOKI’s founder Masuda Sebastian on the culture of Popples. Over 100 people waited in line outside of Parco Shibuya for the chance to attend the pre-event fashion show and talk.
The 6%DOKIDOKI x Popples fashion collaboration includes four tops (a lined hoodie, a polka dot top, and two t-shirts), a hair scrunchie, and a clip-on bow. All of the items feature cute Popples artwork. The clothing items are adorned with a “Popples x 6%DOKIDOKI” logo on the back. We’ve got pictures of most of the 6%DOKIDOKI x Popples collaboration items for you:
And here are a bunch of exclusive pictures from the World of Popples show at Parco Factory in Shibuya:
Most of the pictures above can be enlarged by clicking on them.
The World of Popples show runs through March 1, 2010 at Parco Factory (on the 6th floor of the Parco Part 1 building in Shibuya). Hours are 10am to 9pm everyday, and it costs 300yen (about US$3) to get in.
For more information, check these Popples & 6%DOKIDOKI links:
Mimi (February 16, 2010)
Ahahah, I used to have a PC and a Puffball Popple as well as the tapes if the show! Great have a trip down memory lane! Maybe I’ll stop by on my next break!
Popple Purist (February 16, 2010)
That is so neat! I wish they’d make that kind of comeback here in the US. We have a few of these items shown!
Renee (February 16, 2010)
I forgot how much I missed these until just now. I want to go to there.
Sara Mari (February 17, 2010)
I love this feature soooo much! Thank you, thank you for covering this event, I really wish I could’ve seen it for myself but your great photos tide me over hehe.
I was not really into popples when I was little, but I still have a plate from that tea set in the background of one the photos^^
PetitLolita (February 20, 2010)
lol @ Renee
Yeah i never got a Popple when i was a kid… :(
but those tee designs are so cuuuuute!!
~<3
Kimmie (February 22, 2010)
My sister had Potato Chip but I don’t remember which one I had! Loved the Popples – I’m obsessed with your site! As the Editor in Chief of Kitten Lounge, you have officially been included within my Google Reader!
kui kuma (February 23, 2010)
Holy! I remember popples! It makes me feel so old! I remember having one and also does any one remember lots of legs and pufflelumps? And of course Rainbow Brite and Jem? I had almost all of the dolls I still have a Jem doll, I even had Jem’s boy friend Rio but his head fell off same with a member of the misfits Jem’s foe’s. Oh my God these Popples brought back memories! Now I want my Poppel back! I still do have the old my little Ponies the original ones up in my attic some where. And I have an old school Funshine Bare from the care bares. The Care Bare movie use to put my brother to sleep as a kid =)
kui kuma (February 23, 2010)
oops I spelled bear wrong oops my bad
raynorshine (March 4, 2010)
Oh my gosh! I love Popples! We still have our old ones somewhere. Mine was Puzzle Popple, my sisters had Puffball and P.C, and my cousin had Pancake and Prize. I would totally go to Japan just to buy them!
6%DOKIDOKI Girls in the Popples Room (March 6, 2010)
[...] Factory in Shibuya recently hosted an exhibition featuring The Popples. As we reported previously, the World of Popples exhibition showcases original Popples artwork, vintage 1980s Popples toys, a [...]
Andrea Coffman (March 31, 2012)
I wish they would come back on the tv so my grandkids could watch good cartoons I’m going to be 50 in May and they just don’t have good cartoons any more. Cartoons like this showed love and caring for others now its rude to the world cartoons.