Hottopic & Tamagotchi Friends DreamTown

[nattsplat27]

I agree with gbenz, though bandai america may target girl audiences these aren't just 'girl' toys. Any toy is for anyone of any gender or age, and it shouldn't matter if a bloke likes 'girly' things or a woman likes 'manly' things. If you like something then you like something, if you don't then respect that others do. I don't like things being conformed into what society tells us is right and wrong and what you should and shouldn't play with etc, do what makes you happy in life

I live in england, took ages to find a tamagotchi friends dream town that could be sent here, (and although i quite like flowers/plants/nature designs I'm not very girly and i like all the more neutral or interesting shell designs).

Tamagotchis are pretty much non existant here, in terms of the only shop that sells the tf wave 2 is argos and you have to search through a magazine to find those...I've not seen any adverts since i was a kid.

Yet when i start to show people my tamas or talk about them no one has realised they're still made, progressed somewhat and are still being sold and released. Everyones been amazed by them, the vintage tamas have made people feel nostalgic and the colour ones have got them engrossed and grinning and going 'you can do so much'...

I agree that tamagotchis aren't advertised or known about much, especially outside japan or america, and thats a shame cause i think there would be a huge market for them if they were advertised right and brought out more versions like the p's idl's or 4u's.

However i am very grateful that i can still purchase tamas from anywhere around the world and thoroughly enjoy them, even if it does mean waiting hehe

 

[cmarie]

For those saying they should make the colors more plain or less girly or flashy....For me, it really doesn't matter what colors come out. I am still a fan of the overall product and still buy a handful of each version once they come out. With these shell designs, you can actually remove the paper design behind the front face plate and replace with your own to make it more personalized...or you can just leave it without the backing and have a solid colored case...not that big of a deal.

They are marketed to little girls because that is the vast majority of their market and it has to be cutesy and flashy to get their attention. I for one am 27 and still collect Tamagotchi, every year I come on here and find out what new versions are being released so that I know when and where to start looking. Periodically I will go and search at Toys R Us to see if anything new has been released, or if there are any on clearance. I collect some and play with others. But it never really matters what designs are available to me, I just pick from whatever they have on the shelf since we don't have the luxury of waiting for different designs to come out. Here in NoCA if you don't get them when the first wave comes out, they're gone. Occasionally an older version one can be found at Ross on a steep discount...and once I even found them at Big5 near the register. But not the newest versions...

Just yesterday I went into my local Hot Topic in search of the newest ones and they were not there nor did they know of them arriving etc. I called the next HT store which was about a 45 minute drive from me, and they had 4 in stock...That's it. 4... FOUR. That is what has me worried about this is the stock is next to nothing. How can they plan for this toy to take off if it's sold in a Teen - retro toy - Rock style type kind of store? Well, at least I bought 3 of those 4 so I am happy, but I would really love to see this take off again. I shared on FB last night and friends my age range had no idea they existed so I am doing my small part to help!

 

[Wagassiertchi]

I think Bandai should look into plainer, less gendered designs for tamagotchis. The glittery jewels and the hot pink cheetah print patterns are cute but they're clearly aimed at girls. Looking at this forum, it's apparent that there are a bunch of guy collectors too, some of whom may not be too excited about more super feminine designs. If they went back to the vintage, more gender neutral designs, they'll be able to appeal to a wider audience.

Im a guy collector and I totally agree. I would be thrilled if they made like a pokemon or digimon or anime sort of shell

 

[horse_raisins]

I think Bandai should look into plainer, less gendered designs for tamagotchis. The glittery jewels and the hot pink cheetah print patterns are cute but they're clearly aimed at girls. Looking at this forum, it's apparent that there are a bunch of guy collectors too, some of whom may not be too excited about more super feminine designs. If they went back to the vintage, more gender neutral designs, they'll be able to appeal to a wider audience.

As much as I would like to see new designs and less marketing for girls (I find that it insinuates that girls should stay home and look after children) I always get annoyed at people who say stuff like "Oh! They have to stop making stuff so girly!" since it means they're too scared to be seen as less manly or whatever. It's kinda like the whole "More male ponies!" argument. This stuff is marketed for girls, and with so much male oriented junk everywhere (in the media and productwise) I think it should be okay for girls to have their own stuff without men complaining that its unequal. I'm all for gender equality which means I'm often torn between these conversations, since not only should stuff be equal but men should also suck it up.

 

[Igel-Fullmetal]

I think Bandai should look into plainer, less gendered designs for tamagotchis. The glittery jewels and the hot pink cheetah print patterns are cute but they're clearly aimed at girls. Looking at this forum, it's apparent that there are a bunch of guy collectors too, some of whom may not be too excited about more super feminine designs. If they went back to the vintage, more gender neutral designs, they'll be able to appeal to a wider audience.

They did. It's called the Tamagotchi 4u.

OHWAITTHAT'SBANDAIJAPANNEVERMIND.

 

[user 211414]

There were 8 Tamagotchi Friends: Dream Town devices at the Hot Topic in Schaumburg (inside Woodfield Mall). I purchased 2 of them on Saturday, and the "Buy 1 Get 1 50%" promotion the store was heavily advertising applied to the toys. They had 4 of the 6 designs: Floral Gem, Green Leopard Gem, Kira Kira Gem, and Zig Zag Gem. (No Pink Lace Gem, whyyyyyy... ;____; ) This store displayed them on the top of the shelf to the right of the cashier's counter. They were pretty easy to spot, because they were on top and several boxes directly faced the register. I didn't experience any negative commentary from the sales associates. ^_^

I do find having Hot Topic as the only retailer worrying, but I suppose one of their corporate buyers thought having the toys would make sense for the "80s and 90s nostalgia". I'm glad it's available somewhere, but this is going to make it very hard to convince children who are not familiar with Tamagotchi to buy into the brand.

 

[Kittywolf13]

i went to order one or two online today from HT only to find its no longer on the site. ;___;

 

[user 211414]

I don't think anyone has ordered these on the Hot Topic website. So far I've only heard reports of people finding the Dream Town versions in-store.

 

[Kittywolf13]

People have posted here about ordering them but not being able to chose the shell. It was random

 

[melohel]

i would like to comment as someone who works at hot topic, as someone who is re-obsessed with her tamagotchi, and as someone who says "f* gender roles" on a normal basis. when we got the tamagotchi friends: tamagotchi dream town packages in shipment, we (the four managers) pretty much lost our minds. it sucks that the hot topic you bought yours from merchandised them so poorly, but we put ours right up at the front by the registers. we sold out within a week of receiving them (granted, the managers bought like five out of six, but hold on there's more) and we keep making web orders to get more people tamagotchis. because it's all that me and my co-workers talk about, we've been able to sell them pretty easily and even some of our associates are getting on board even though tamagotchi was a little before their time. also, the girly design has not stopped the guys from buying them. they're all for it, too.

 

[cmarie]

i would like to comment as someone who works at hot topic, as someone who is re-obsessed with her tamagotchi, and as someone who says "f* gender roles" on a normal basis. when we got the tamagotchi friends: tamagotchi dream town packages in shipment, we (the four managers) pretty much lost our minds. it sucks that the hot topic you bought yours from merchandised them so poorly, but we put ours right up at the front by the registers. we sold out within a week of receiving them (granted, the managers bought like five out of six, but hold on there's more) and we keep making web orders to get more people tamagotchis. because it's all that me and my co-workers talk about, we've been able to sell them pretty easily and even some of our associates are getting on board even though tamagotchi was a little before their time. also, the girly design has not stopped the guys from buying them. they're all for it, too.

That's great news!!! How often do you get shipments in, or does it vary between stores? I went to my local HT to get mine about a week and a half ago...I would love to get another.

 

[Kittywolf13]

i want to get a dream town... but i keep putting it off to try and see if they have it in the store vs ordering online... even though its cheaper online.

 

[cmarie]

I am the same way! It is more fun to walk in the store and leave with it then it is to wait for the mail. haha.

 

[MagicMimitchi]

I went to my local Hot Topic last weekend, it's about 30 minutes away from where I live. I asked if they had any Tamagotchi Friends and I was told they got 5 Tamagotchi Friends first came out. Only 5? That seems like a really small amount. The girl told me they sold out pretty quickly though. The reason is that people saw them, got nostalgic and bought them on the spot. At least they're popular! But that was over a month ago. They haven't gotten any other shipments of Tamagotchi Friends yet. I was told that Hot Topic gets shipments of items Monday thru Friday. They took my name and phone number and said they would call me when they got a shipment of tamas in. The sales girl told me they would hold all of them for me so I could choose what colors I wanted. I haven't received any calls yet. Hopefully my local Hot Topic will get some in soon.

 

[Eternal Mametchi Fan]

Well it's understandable they didn't produce many because of the lack of retail interest, but at least they're selling pretty good. That might mean the potential color-screen release could be successful.

 

[MagicMimitchi]

Well it's understandable they didn't produce many because of the lack of retail interest, but at least they're selling pretty good. That might mean the potential color-screen release could be successful.

I guess Bandai wasn't really confident on this version either or they're testing the waters to see if they should ship more to Hot Topic. The Hot Topic sales girl I talked to is a Tamagotchi fan and remembered having one back in the 90's. We talked for a while about Tamagotchi Friends and I mentioned Bandai America making a color screened tama and that seemed to spark her interest.

 

[asmexus]

Found some at my local Hot Topic today, only three. They were way up in the front of the store, and were kind of difficult to find. My friend and I each bought one. Hoping that last one gets bought by someone soon, and that Hot Topic continues to recieve more.

 

[Doremi]

I think tamagotchi should be "cute and girly", I would be disappointed if tamagotchi didn't have a cute pink shell choice, also pink doesn't have to mean childish and only for girls...

 

[MagicMimitchi]

Hottopic called me on Thursday and left a message saying the Tamagotchi Friends were in. I picked them up yesterday. I bought the 3 designs they had in stock: Green Leopard Gem, Kira Kira Gem & Pink Lace Gem. Hottopic's current sale is buy one get one 50% off. Since I bought 3 and there wasn't a 4th design for me to choose from; I ended up buying an Olaf Sunshade for my car that I'd been eyeing for sometime, which I got for free.

 

[melohel]

so after hot topic king of prussia sold out of the first six tamagotchi we got and continued to make web orders for them, we received a second shipment probably like two and a half weeks later, this time of like ten of them. as of yesterday, there were three left. we keep them right next to the registers so that when people come up to check out they definitely see it and 7/10 people (male or female) will pick it up laughing and start a conversation about it. i think bandai getting with hot topic to sell these was a really smart move bc like. idk, everyone still thinks ht is the "goth" store, but for real we sell licensed disney merchandise (for cheaper prices than disney does too!). i always describe hot topic as the best pop culture store you can imagine. literally everyone shops there. when i go out in public, i see hot topic merchandise everywhere i go. not everyone shops at toys 'r us, you know? toy collectors, moms and dads, kids (tamagotchi was so far before their time). i think hot topic is literally the perfect place for it, espeeeecially with the 90's throwback trends that are happening right now.