We all know that subtlety isn't always important with toys and add-ons, a point that The Pokémon Company is more than keen to make with the Z-Ring toys for Pokémon Sun and Moon. They're a neat idea, as the bracelet and connected crystal interact with Z-Moves in the game, lighting up at the right moment.
They've looked rather chunky on pre-order pages, and now there are some images of the packaging (thanks, Siliconera). You can see the bracelet with included crystals and Pikachu toy, and extra 3-packs of more crystals - nope, definitely not subtle.




If you're not sure that it'll be impressive in action, this promo shot from a pre-order page - that we missed before - may change your mind. This young chap can barely handle the awesomeness of it.

It seems like a smart move from The Pokémon Company, tapping into an idea that Level-5 turned into gold with Yo-kai Watch in Japan, particularly. If you want to pre-order one of these Z-Rings, you can still do so, too.
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So, what do you think, a crude over-sized plastic toy or a fun and charming accessory? A bit of both? Sound off in the comments.
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Comments 34
I may have been impressed as a 5 yr old. 3DS is still too expensive for the average mum and dad to buy their kid for christmas, and this stuff just adds to the cost. Just my opinion, now watch the sales prove me wrong lol
Is there any in-game benefit to owning one of these? Because otherwise the only point I see to having one is if you're easily impressed by lights (children).
@Phil_Kavadias The Pokemon Company.
Not Nintendo. There is a difference.
@Phil_Kavadias This isn't Nintendo's doing though. The Pokemon Company is responsible for the marketing, and this toy is made by a completely different company.
"Please not that these are affiliate Amazon links."
It happen to me too much for me to try to think of something silly to say about it.
@allav866
It happen*s*.
Those look like you could pick up all the ladies in school if you where 5
@edhe You're not familiar with the concept of "humour," are you?
@bolt05 3DS is too expensive for kids, which is why 2DS is $79.
I like it. A little expensive, but it's still cheaper than Pokémon Go Plus. Obviously not a fashion accessory for adults, it's a kids toy, and that's what kids toy packaging looks like.
And on a bright side that nobody has mentioned, they didn't sell the extra crystals in blind packs. Which I'm kind of surprised at actually. When Pokémon Rumble U released those NFC toys were in blind packs for $5 each. These look like the kind of things that would be in coin machines in Japan.
Neither of my kids has asked for one, they are too old, but I think anyone under 10 play games Pokémon would want one, boy or girl.
@allav866
So it was intentional? Ok. Well played, I guess.
I'd have preferred it if Nintendo had made it themselves and made it double as an alternate design of Pokemon GO Plus... making it much smaller as a result.
@bolt05 2DS is $80. New 3DS is $150. Cost is not an issue.
Man, this thing is cheaper than the Pokémon GO Plus and even more useful. Pokémon GO players are missing out!
So, what does it actually do?
My 11 yr old grandson lives about 3,000 miles away. I bought him his 3ds years ago. I buy him his games. I've preordered Pokemon Sun and one of these. If he gets a reasonable amount of fun from it it's worth it to me. Save a bit with the 20% off with Amazon Prime and they ship directly to him.
It takes work to be the 'cool' grandma. But I love gaming and want to make the joy available to him.
As for the garishnesh of the packaging, it's for kids. It's gonna be grab-them-by-the-eyes-and-blind-them-with-desire over the top. Nothing new about that.
The description on Amazon says that all this does is to produce sound and light effects when Z-moves are used in the game. The target market will probably love it and maybe a few will be bought by fans. Not for me and mine though.
I usually like Pokemon things as well things that light up with pretty colours. Yet I'm not interested in getting this accessory at all.
Does this mean we have official symbols for each type? The ones on Diantha's floor are really blurry.
@Sanicranfast They are still linked. Nintendo holds 2/3 share of Pokemon.
Clearly, I'm not the audience for this kind of plastic trash.
@bolt05 While I'd agree the 3DS price is still quite high (thanks NN3DS) the 2DS is quite affordable, and perfect for the audience this accessory is targeting, they should even bundle it with SUN/Moon and a 2DS for Christmas.
As King Arthur said about the Holy Hand Grenade:
"How does it work?"
@Phil_Kavadias It was just a correction, don't worry about it.
BUY IT! Hey the subliminal message generator works!
They could've at least added in another figurine with each crystal pack.
So... it's Amiibos again, basically?
This is stupid, kiddy, plastic crap. WHY DO I STILL WANT IT SO BADLY?!
Eh, it's a toy for kids. As such looks perfectly acceptable. I'm sure a lot of younger Pokémon fans will be all over it.
@SmaMan More like anti-amiibos... amiibo are used to get more out of games, while this uses the games to get more out of the toy.
@bolt05 The problem is that this will probably sell to the 20's and 30's that grew up with Pokemon.
@RoomB31 The issue is, at least in the U.S. (thanks craptastic NoA-you guys always mange to find a way to fail), the 2DS is NEVER advertised.
If I was a kid, I think I'd ask for it. I see a lot of imagination play opportunity. As an adult, no thanks.
@Malakai I am a 30's that grew up with pokemon but no way im buying this lol
@LegendOfPokemon Maybe in the US thats the case, Im speaking for where I live, a 2ds is $148 alone. A 2ds bundle is $169 and 3ds xl is $249. This gear is half the cost of what the NX will be and more than half the cost of a PS4... They need to drop the second screen and make the damn handhelds cheaper again to compete with smart phones.
Honestly, I like it as a collector's item. I get why it was made. I'm gonna be honest and say that I would get it. But the damn crystals that go along with it are way overpriced. I saw people selling them for about $40.00 to about $60.00 on Ebay and Amazon. For that reason alone, I'm over it.
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