A Tropius Keychain

What I like about many Pokémon merchandise is that they often form a series. That means they consist of many related items that may also look very similar. This also applies well for official and independent merchandise alike. Such is the case with this Tropius keychain, which I obtained from the two-day theme event that was as equally fun as it was problematic - for me personally, that is. I couldn't stand to leave it without some kind of memento, and I chose this one.

This keychain bears some similarity to a couple of keychains I discussed in an older post, namely the ones involving a couple of ghostly Pokémon. In fact, the stand carrying this keychain had the same Marshadow keychain up for sale, which indeed means that they are from the same vendor and maker. Yet that's not necessarily a bad thing, because it means I'm getting one more from the same series to add to my collection. The vendor even queried me to recheck which ones I had gotten, which was simply a matter of looking up the previous post.

The featured Pokémon of this keychain is Tropius, which I had discussed in a post about Pokémon edibles and such. The facial expression seems a bit shy and the fruits on its chin are not very showy, but its leafy wings appear quite prominent, which sort of makes up for it. It is, of course, done in the same art style as the other two keychains, which firmly establishes them as being part of the same series of Pokémon keychains. I suppose that is quite appreciable.

Actually, there's another reason why I chose the Tropius keychain. As I've noted in my April event rollup for Pokémon Go, the Singapore Safari Zone had taken place. One of the Pokémon featured in it, besides the ones that everyone else also had access to, is Tropius. Thus the selection of Tropius was slightly to commemorate this event, as well as the fact that I received one by trade from a friend who went there. It's a noble purpose for an understated keychain.

In that sense, this keychain serves as multiple mementos: of the earlier keychain, of the theme event, and of the Pokémon Go event. For all of those, the art couldn't have been any better, and it perfectly ties into each one. The keychain is also part of a fine series of merchandise, one that I'm happy to own. Future encounters with other members of this series might demand another to fill the exact same purposes, including for completeness.

One year ago: Cosplay: J-COSHOKAI 3 - Saikou no Yorokobi
Two years ago: Shuffling Stages