Sailor Moon Collectibles’ Anime Expo 2014 Report!
Hey guys! Just got back from Anime Expo 2014 couple days ago, it was held in LA from July 3 – 6 and it was packed!!! Here’s a quick report along with lots of pictures of all the Sailor Moon happenings! First up is the Bandai Tamashii Nations booth:
SURPRISE! This sign was put up announcing new Sailor Moon Tamashii Buddies figures!
Next up is the Banpresto booth where they only had a few of the recent UFO crane game prizes on display:
When we visited the Toei booth we were disappointed to see it was all about One Piece, there was a huge display, lots of staff and lots of merchandise for sale. It wasn’t until we passed it and saw the back of the Toei booth that we found Sailor Moon Crystal!! It was pretty neglected and empty though..but no matter because it’s what we’ve been waiting for! They also had the Megahouse Petit Chara figures Set 1 & 2 on display.
While we were walking along the aisles, suddenly we heard La Reconquista music playing! It was this booth and they had some Petite Étrangère flyers they could give us!
We tried looking all over for 90s Sailor Moon toys but we didn’t have much luck, besides the toy below we only found 2 shops selling cels & posters. Everything was very pricey!
This is the Jlist booth, they had all of the new plushies, the Moon Stick Proplica and some of the Sun-Star stationery available.
Here are some gashapon machines with the compact mirrors and swing set 2! This shop was relatively cheap, some booths wanted $12 each! x_x
Finally we reached the highly anticipated Viz Media booth. They were the ones organizing Sailor Moon Day with all the festivities! I immediately became a fangirl and wanted a picture with these beautiful cosplayers! ^_^ You could really feel the excitement and love everyone had for Sailor Moon in this booth.
As some of you may know Viz was giving away a limited premiere event Sailor Moon memorial coin. In order to get it you had to get a stamp card from their booth and go around to 4 other booths: Bluefin, Hulu, Toei and Kodansha, to get your card stamped. Then you return to Viz for the final stamp and they will scan your badge and give you the coin. Getting this coin took a little timing and light jogging, on Day 1 they only handed them out at 11am & 3pm, if you weren’t there during those times you’re sadly out of luck. This was done to ration the amount of coins handed out so they won’t run out too fast which is understandable!
This cute Sailor Moon card was also handed out at the Viz booth:
Also if you buy anything from the Viz shop you’ll get to choose a free tote, so of course I chose the Sailor Moon one!
This next part is dedicated to Day 3 of Anime Expo aka ⭐SAILOR MOON DAY⭐
The Viz Sailor Moon panel starts at 10am but fans were already lining up outside since 7am! Time really does fly by when you’re having fun, this was so special to me because I finally got to meet some longtime collector friends in person that I’ve known online for years!! It was a very emotional day :’)
Left to right: Me, Tara (@Brat_zilla), Christina, Cycyn (sailormoon-obsession.com), Brooke (@Ochibawolf)
Left to right: Christina, Cycyn (sailormoon-obsession.com), Tara (@Brat_zilla), Brooke (@Ochibawolf), Me, Lisa (Three-Lights.net), Treavor
Here’s a quick rundown of the Sailor Moon panel! First the 90s dub cast was introduced, they were welcomed with lots of cheering and waving!!
Then the new voice cast was announced! They were each accompanied by a cosplayer of the character they’re playing.
Next we were treated to the exclusive premiere of the all-new, uncut first two dubbed episodes with the new voice cast! (There was a slight hiccup where Usagi mixed up the videos so we ended up watching Episode 2 first, then Episode 1 of Crystal, then 90% of Episode 1 because time ran out XD;;) I personally loved the new dub, I found it funnier than the original, it entertained me and I had fun, that’s all I really want from a cartoon! Luna’s voice will take some getting used to because it’s so different and Umino will make you laugh! Two random things that stuck out to me, Usagi making fun of Mamoru’s ‘purple pleated pants’..haha! and Sailor Moon’s line has changed to ‘you’ll be punished’ instead of ‘I’ll punish you’, I personally didn’t really like that but maybe I’m too used to the old phrase!
We also got details on the new Sailor Moon Blu-ray & DVD, this is for the original anime, remastered and with the new voice cast. Part 1 will include episodes 1 – 23, scheduled for release on Nov 11, 2014. It will come with 6 discs: 3 Blu-rays & 3 DVDs. Bonuses include a full colour booklet and a shimmery box packaging that will house both parts 1 & 2.
Below is the artwork of the shimmery box packaging that houses both parts 1 & 2.
If you preorder from RightStuf, you’ll get this special limited edition coin! This coin will fit into the box packaging.
After the dub episodes there was a brief Q & A with the voice cast! They all seem really cool and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the cast!
Oh! Almost forgot, at the panel this big poster was also handed out to us! It is surprisingly nice paper quality like cardboard and not the usual glossy paper.
And that concludes my writeup of Anime Expo 2014! Hope it wasn’t too long and you guys enjoyed reading it!! ^_^
17 Comments
Jo
I was the Sailor Moon at the booth and at the Crystal/new dub premiere! Thank you so much for coming to the booth and the events! Getting to share all of this with so many people who adore Sailor Moon like we do really made the whole experience special! I love your blog, and I’m so happy you took all these amazing pictures, because we didn’t have time to get to see everything and we couldn’t have our phones with us a lot of the time.
I SEE MY FELLOW GUARDIANS HAVE ALREADY POSTED, USAGI IS ALWAYS LATE TO THE PARTY.
Thank you for this post and all of the amazing memories!
<3 Jo
smcollectibles
Oh my gosh HIII!!! ^_^ I’m so happy to hear the pics were helpful! haha silly Usagi! You guys were all awesome guardians, loved the cosplay!
Anne Lee
I was really disappointed by the SMC section of the Toei booth too! What was up with that?!
smcollectibles
It was so neglected ;~; by Day 3 they just left the stamp on the table un-manned!
Ochibawolf
I just want to say I am so happy you decided to come to AX last minute!!! Meeting you, (although terrible circumstances, waiting in a hot line!), was a joy!!! You are so so sweet in person <3 I only wish we all had more time together. I would have loved for all of us to have gone out to dinner or something. I'm also glad you took pics of all of the SM merch you saw. I barely had time to go through the exhibit hall, and now I can see what all I missed! I'm particularly bummed about not getting my photo at the small SM Crystal booth!! T___T!
Let's not let this be the only time we meet!! <333!!!!
smcollectibles
;~; I loved meeting you too, I still can’t believe it after years of talking online we finally met haha!! You & Curtis are so adorable! Aww..yeah going out to dinner would’ve been amazing, then we would really have time to talk. *cries* it already feels like ages ago but it’s been less than 2 weeks!! YES we gotta do this again..another con or Japan! 😀
Ajana
Whats the name of the shelf where the figures on pic 1 are standing? Where to buy a shelf for figures? This one and a big one?
Patty
Hello, I just wanted to say thank you for this report!
I couldn’t make it to Anime Expo because I had to work the whole weekend and it really bummed me out.
However, I’m so thankful that you shared your experience there! This made my day! 😀
smcollectibles
You’re very welcome!! I’m so glad to hear that ^^
Maia
Thanks for sharing this! I was the Mercury at the Viz booth. I love drooling over the merchandise on your site! I’m glad you were able to go to the Sailor Moon events at Anime Expo. 🙂
smcollectibles
Ahh I’m so touched you guys read this :’) I really wish I had the courage to introduce myself!! u_u;;
Lola
Thank you so much for the report ! Kinda OT but you look gorgeous !!
smcollectibles
thank you so much! that’s so sweet of you to say! >3< ♥
vanessa
Hello!!! Let me first say I follow your blog, and you are a great source for all Sailor moon news, merchandise, and more. I was the Sailor Mars in the booth picture, and if you had mentioned who you were, you for sure would’ve had some of us fangirling cause we love you! Love your work and keep it up 🙂
smcollectibles
=O omgosh no way!!! you just made me fangirl all over again, I can’t believe you guys know of my site!! ♥ you’re a gorgeous Sailor Mars!!!
Suzanne
Chiming in on Nessa’s response!! I was the Venus at the booth, and I’m also a fan of your blog :D! When I saw this post I immediately shared with my fellow senshi cuz I knew they would be as excited to have met you as I was, even if we didn’t realize it at the time, haha ~ love your site!! <3
smcollectibles
Thank you so much!!! I didn’t think you guys would know of my site haha ^^;; You guys were all amazing senshi!!!