With over 1000 Pokemon, it’s inevitable for many of them to end up underutilized and under-appreciated. Thankfully, creative merchandise can help give some of these Pokemon their five minutes of fame, and the sweet and silly Swadloon has been the recent benefactor of such a phenomenon.
Pokemon Center merchandise stores have cropped up around the world and online, but Japan is still the place to be for anyone looking to snag some Pokemon swag. The Japanese locations still produce the greatest variety of merch collections and items to go along with them. The recent “BUG OUT!” collection has the kinds of items you’d expect out of any line, such as stickers, pouches, and articles of clothing. The Bug-type Pokemon chosen to grace these trinkets run the gamut from well-loved—including Volcarona, Snom, and Scizor—to Pokemon that don’t see nearly as much focus, including Dottler and Pheromosa.
The real star of this show, however, is an adorable hood shaped like none other than Swadloon. The entire Sewaddle evolutionary line of Pokemon centers around sewing and bundling up; it’s honestly surprising that it’s taken until now for a hood like this to be released. But as the saying goes, it’s better late than never—in fact, the wait may have positively affected the hood’s design. The models shown in the product’s images are each over 5 feet tall, meaning the hood was made for adults in mind rather than children. Although Pokemon merch for older fans isn’t rare, it was much less common back when Swadloon was new.
The only point of concern surrounding this hood is whether it will ever be sold in Pokemon Centers outside of Japan. The nearly three-foot tall (and over three and a half feet long) Larvesta plush from the same BUG OUT! collection has made its way to the United States Pokemon Center website as a pre-order item—but thus far, nothing else has be added along with it. Out of all the recent Pokemon collaborations and items—such as the Krispy Kreme and Le Creuset collabs—this piece of merch has the best chance of being released internationally, even if it takes a while. All we can do is stay hopeful, or make like a Swadloon and try our hand at sewing a hood for ourselves.
