Japan’s chocolate Poké Ball DIY Pokémon cooking toys are about to get even better with new version

https://ift.tt/qiuDXNa Casey Baseel

The Pokémon Choco Tama series continues to evolve.

It’s pretty clear that Japanese toy company Takara Tomy Arts took inspiration from prize-filled chocolate eggs for its Choco Tama line of confectionary-making kits. But while “Tama” is close to tamago, the Japanese word for “egg,” tama itself means “ball,” in keeping with the spherical shape of the Choco Tama mold, and also with the fact that several of the Choco Tama kits are for making chocolate Poké Balls!

Currently Takara Tomy Arts offers three different Pokémon-themed Choco Tama kits, with a fourth on the way soon. The first is called the Choco Tama Pocket Monster Pikachu and Friends Set, but Pokémon fans are probably more likely to think of it as the Kanto set, as in addition to molds for making chocolate Poké Balls and Pikachus, it includes molds in the shape of the original starter trio set of Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur, plus a selection of other Pokémon species from the franchise’s fictional Kanto region, such as Eevee, Snorlax, and Slowpoke.

In keeping with the chocolate egg tradition, the inside of the Poké Ball is hollow, so you can put the Pokémon species chocolates inside of it, just like how the spheres store resting Pokémon in the anime and video games.

In addition to the Pichaku and Friends set, there’s also a Sinnoh region set, which includes chocolate molds for Gen-IV starters Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig, along with other special Sinnoh guests like Buneary.

▼ Pikachu is also part of this set, because, really, he’s friends with everyone.

There’s even a Choco Tama set for Pokémon Peaceful Place, also known as PokéPeace, the line of Pokémon merch with extra-cute designs to appeal to especially young kids.

As for the fourth kit we mentioned, sometime later this month Takara Tomy Arts is rolling out a brand-new Pokémon Choco Tama kit, this one for the Paldea region seen in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, featuring those games’ starters, Sprigatito, Quaxly, and Fuecoco.

An exact release date for the Paldea set has yet to be announced, but the other three kits are all already available through the Takara Tomy online store (Pikachu and Friends here, Sinnoh here, and PokéPeace here), identically priced at 2,420 yen (US$16.80). The timing for the Paldea kit’s release means that fans may or may not have it in their hands by Christmas, but they’ll definitely be delivered in time for the opening of Japan’s upcoming real-world Kanto Pokémon theme park area.

Source: Takara Tomy Arts, IT Media
Top image: Takara Tomy Arts
Insert images: Takara Tomy Arts (1, 2, 3, 4)
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