2016 is the Year of Milestones!
Seriously, this year, an INSANE amount of pop culture media has had a major anniversary! Elvis first shook his hips onscreen 60 years ago, both the Batman and Star Trek TV series blasted onto the scene 50 years ago, Rocky ran up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps 40 years ago, Top Gun(and Tom Cruise's "pretty boy" roles) taught us the joy of shouting "DAMMIT, MAVERICK!" 30 years ago, Rugrats crawled onto TV 25 years ago, the Macarena became an annoyingly awesome dance craze 20 years ago, the James Bond series was relaunched 10 years ago with Daniel Craig taking up the gun to shoot the audience in the face, the Harry Potter movies apparated onto the screen for the first time 15 years ago and for the last time 5 years ago, and cult horror/sci-fi series iZombie celebrated its first anniversary this year. ...Not to mention 30 Rock, The Ten Commandments movie, the Nintendo 64, the end of the Beatles, the deaths of Osama Bin Laden, Tupac Shakur, and Steve Jobs, Yu-Gi-Oh, The Oprah Winfrey Show, the beginning of the end for O. J. Simpson, Silence of the Lambs, Thelma & Louise, Nirvana's "Nevermind", Hannah Montana, and so on and so forth, all having anniversaries divisible by 5! It's been a year to look back, remember the good times, and realize the most important thing about ourselves and growing up with what have been staples of our lives at one time or another:
But there is one certain thing I want to focus on that has had a milestone anniversary this year. Something that started on the very small screen when the best resolution money could buy was 160x144p; the thing that remained the best selling series across the life of the Game Boy line, that basically kickstarted the whole "collectable cute monster" game genre, that has launched its own trading card game, more than a dozen movies, an anime and manga series that continue to this day, as well as several spin-off shows and comics, two killer apps for smartphones and tablets, dozens of video games, an almost endless line of merchandise and fan art, and an ENORMOUS amount of controversy and adoration from fans and critics alike:
Yes, Pokémon, the franchise where somebody probably watched an illegal dogfight at some point and said to themselves "You know, this concept could involve another 720 species."
I'm kidding! Despite what soccer moms, attention-starved preachers, and YouTube commenters who probably only hate it because they always lost in link battles say, Pokémon is not just centered around animal brutality and "cockfighting." It's a franchise based on the simple concept of collecting that creator Satoshi Tajiri was inspired to make based on his hobby of insect collecting. It's based on exploration and relationships, discovering new creatures and befriending them to boost the stats of both trainer and Pokémon alike, not just through battling, but also through various contests, training, and overall growth and maturity. It's no different than owning a pet, like a dog or a cat, that you'd like to enter in a pet show. ...If the pet was 20 feet tall, breathed fire, and the contest had a strict "No Ground-types" ruling.
And this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Japanese release of Pokémon Red & Green for the original Game Boy! ...Which we in the USA would sadly not see for another 2 years and Europe wouldn't see for another year after that...
It's really hard to think of a time before Pokémon, as it's one of those franchises, along with Star Trek, Star Wars, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and the Marvel and DC universes, that's become more than just a worldwide phenomenon and has basically evolved into a part of our everyday lives. You'd have to delve into the deep heart of nowhere to find someone who hasn't seen or heard of Pokémon in some shape or form, and even people not interested in the franchise are still familiar with the name, concept, and creatures(or at the very least, they can recognize Pikachu.)
The games in the series, main series and spin-offs, have sold hundreds of millions of copies, and has turned a simple game about collecting and gaining experience into a multi-billion dollar franchise!
And for those who'd like to bring Pokémon trading and battling into the physical world, the revolutionary trading card game has sold millions of cards depicting thousands of different Pokémon and assist items.
And recently, the world was introduced to the immensely popular Pokémon GO!, where now we can practically live our dreams of becoming trainers, wandering the world, finding and capturing Pokémon, and physically entering buildings and areas designated as gyms and stores! It's not quite the real thing, but it's a far cry from the days of controlling a tiny head on legs on a screen that boasted "4 shades of gray..."
But it's not just the games that have gotten acclaim. This year has seen the NINETEENTH Pokémon movie released in theaters! That's more movies than the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Star Wars, and Aliens COMBINED!
Heck, not only has it also gotten a live stage show
But if the people at Legendary Entertainment are to be believed, within the next year or two, we may actually finally get a live-action Pokémon movie!
And, of course, the fan base centered around Pokémon is VAST! It's common for me to see people walking around wearing a Pokémon shirt or hat or carrying a little Pokémon or Pokéball key-chain or some other merch on their person.
Just do a quick Google search and the results for Pokémon art is seemingly endless... even the stuff you wish stayed unknown...
Fan tributes and parodies are widespread, ranging from the funny to the downright offensive(which the above video series is both.)
And tell me that you haven't seen at least six or seven Pokémon cosplayers at the last convention you went to!
Pokémon is NOT a series that's going to vanish anytime soon. It may have its rises and falls, its increases and wanes in popularity, its Pokémon Stadiums and its Pokémon Rumbles, but as long as the quality and fun is there, this is a series that may just span the decades, going beyond the reaches of what games are capable of today and, perhaps, even into the realm of reality...
"But wait," shout the few people who care, "What's your opinion on the Pokémon franchise?" ...Well, I LOVE it! ...Sort of...
Admittedly, the days of me being a devoted fan to the series are pretty much over, but when I was about 9-13, it was nothing BUT Pokémon for me! I got my own original Game Boy when I was 9(which was outdated even then, but I didn't care) and one of the first games I got to play with it was my friend's copy of Pokémon Blue. From there, I got my own stuff and went crazy with it! I played Pokémon Yellow and Silver relentlessly, I watched as many movies and episodes of the TV show as I could find on VHS(as we didn't usually have TV broadcasts, and when we did, I preferred to watch Toon Disney), I collected the cards and battled others with them at every opportunity, and I even had a Pokémon-themed birthday when I was about 10 with a Charmander and Pikachu cake(not pictured, but close enough)!
When I got my own Nintendo 64, I played Pokémon Stadium 1&2, Pokémon Snap, Hey You Pikachu, and even Pokémon Puzzle League. I even called one of my best friends and fellow Pokéholic "Jono-Ash" because of how into Pokémon he was. ...Remember, I was, like, 10 at the time, and that counted as "cool"...
But as I got older, I found myself more interested in other games and hobbies(mostly RTS, simulation, and early video making), and my interest in Pokémon basically fell by the wayside. I remember playing Pokémon Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond, but I don't remember much about them or being particularly excited about the gameplay.
I only watched the first 4 movies and the first TV series and I actually found myself hating both of them, since it just felt hypocritical that they constantly preached against capturing and battling living creatures in a franchise DEDICATED TO CAPTURING AND BATTLING LIVING CREATURES!
My trading cards got lost, but at that point, I was living in a podunk town with nobody to play with, so I didn't care. I found a copy of Pokémon SoulSilver a few years back for a decent price, and, since Silver was one of my absolute favorite games, I tried to play it a few times... and I couldn't bring myself to do it and ended up giving it to my brother.
And I've just lost track of how many Pokémon games there are and I feel overwhelmed by there being nearly three times as many Pokémon now than what I grew up with. So for me, the buzz about Pokémon is basically gone.
But that doesn't mean that I've completely pushed it from my life. I sometimes watch a TV special(like Team Go-Getters) or the original movies that I watched as a kid, and I love watching other people online talk about their opinions on Pokémon(Suede and Linkara's reviews are some of the more hilarious I've found.)
I watch parodies and throwbacks to the classic Pokémon and jabs at just how many Pokémon there are and some of its goofier traits(allowing a 10-year-old kid to wander the world unaccompanied to capture titans of the elements for example.)
I'm currently reading the Pokémon Adventures manga and marveling at how different it is from the TV series(and just what they can get away with in comic form) and sometimes I read fanfiction and creepypasta to see what ideas other fans have brought to the world.
And I find myself really liking the spin-off titles over the main series(Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon Trozei, Pokémon Colosseum & XD, etc.) As of this writing, I play Pokémon Shuffle on my smartphone on a daily basis while I'm traveling(since Pokémon GO! doesn't work on my phone...), so Pokémon still plays a welcome part in my life.
I guess that today, I'm more a fan of the legacy of Pokémon. I still appreciate the franchise for the effect it's had on me and the people around me, and I remember it for its creativity and nostalgia, which is still going strong as the franchise progresses. I may not understand everything it's doing now(like what is a "Mega-Evolution" and why is it important?), but I appreciate its lasting impact on its fans and the high-quality, yet simplistic, gameplay that both first timers and veterans of the series can enjoy. Pokémon is something determined to stay relevant in the public consciousness, and, as long as they stay faithful to what makes the series great, they are welcome to stay for as long as they want.
Which FINALLY brings us to the point of this post. To celebrate Pokémon's 20th anniversary and pay tribute to its long legacy, and because this is the last month I can dedicate the entirety toward a theme and the last chance I have to ride the hype train, we're going to look at something not many of you probably even know exists: Pokémon building bricks.
Yes, hidden among the countless lines of shirts, hats, plush toys, figurines, electronic games, cards, books, and the thousands of other items that bear the Pokémon name, one overlooked niche they've gone into are building bricks. ...Though, to be fair, there's a good reason.
Instead of letting a major company like Lego release sets based on Pokémon, their marketing geniuses for some reason decided to give the license to more obscure building brick companies. As such, at least here in the States, sets featuring Pokémon are hard to find. First you need to know that they exist and they have a company behind them, then you need to find a store that actually SELLS them, which is more likely to be a smaller independent specialty toy store you'd find in a mall than your local Walmart or Toys R Us.
...And even then, since the lines and the companies aren't well known, there's not a whole lot of selection or quality available, so once you find one, you're most likely left with a small set of pieces that don't fit together properly and whose paint job is atrocious.
It's these companies that keep anything interesting, like this Lego Ideas Pokécenter, from being created...
So is it any wonder that recently, knock-off companies have started producing their own Pokémon-centered building bricks and minifigures?
Yes, what used to be a niche market even for bootleggers has recently erupted into a wide range of unofficial minifigures based around trainers and their cute, collectable monsters, thanks to the reinvigoration of the Pokémon franchise by Pokémon GO!
Now people can have their pick of Nanoblocks, Lego figurines, entire sets, etc.
And yes, they've even produced the real thing of the Pokécenter I mentioned. ...Which I don't have since they're asking a lot for it and I've ruined my budget for this month already, so that'll have to wait until another time.
Obviously there are quality defects and we're supporting a market that's not on the up-and-up, but at least we're given a choice between companies wanting to be Lego and companies actually pretending to be Lego. ...There is a difference.
And that's what we're going to be looking at this month. Being a fan of Pokémon, I've amassed a collection of official and unofficial sets based around the franchise, and I'll be showing off as many as I can for the month of November.
Obviously, I can't show them all since my collection is...
 |
| Complete collection NOT pictured due to space limitations |
A bit large...
But I'll show off what I think best exemplifies both the real and the knockoff figures and sets and we'll probably look at some more somewhere down the line.
And yes, I'm dedicating this month entirely to building bricks. To the extent of my knowledge, there's only ONE Pokémon-themed Plug n Play game, and it's either super rare or just a prototype since this is the ONLY evidence I've found that this exists... So I figure I'll just have November be a theme month based around building bricks and we might have a theme month solely for Plug n Play games later, who knows?
So sit back, brush the dust off that old Game Boy Classic, remember to blow on the contacts of your old copy of Pokémon Red to make it work, and welcome, everybody, to PokéMonth!
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