#mysailormoontreasures

[mangakachan]

With the Sailor Moon Eternal movies now out in Japan, I’m also coming upon my personal 25 year anniversary of being in the fandom. With that many years comes a lot of memories, and I thought it’d be fun to showcase some of the most meaningful Sailor Moon items I have to reflect on all these years of being a moonie. I’ve picked 3 items from my Sailor Moon collection that have the most personal and sentimental meaning for me, and have included a little description and backstory for them.

If you’d also like to share your top 3 personal Sailor Moon items and your connection to them, please use the hashtag, #mysailormoontreasures

All categories of items are welcome, whether they be official, bootleg, fan-made, etc., and the more localized the item, the better. What’s important is their meaning to you and your journey as a Sailor Moon fan.

And with that said, here’s a little bit about my top 3! 

#1) Daran’s Taiwanese edition of the Sailor Moon vol. 15 manga

As far as I could remember, this was my very first piece of Sailor Moon printed merchandise, if not THE first merch I ever owned, and was originally published in 1996. I remember I had to beg my parents to let me buy it, and it’s been with me on countless trips and been read a million times (the yellowed pages and worn spine are a testament to that). This book was also what made me a die-hard Dream arc fan as the mix of romance and art just spoke to me as a pre-teen, and I’ve loved it ever since.

#2) Anime Comic World’s Hong Kong edition of the Sailor Moon SuperS animanga

This is one of the books from a series of animanga volumes published by Nakayoshi. The ones I have were localized by a Hong Kong publisher so the texts are in Chinese. This set is special to me because that was how my best friend and I met. During junior high she brought one of these to school and I happened to see it. Already a giant Dream arc/SuperS nerd, I immediately asked her if I could see them, and then asked if I could buy them off of her (though I’m pretty sure that was in two different conversations). Suffice to say, she was taken aback by my forthrightness, but we struck up a friendship that’s now almost as long lasting as my time in the Sailor Moon fandom. ☺️

#3) Sailor Moon Materials Collection artbook

While the other two sets of books hold a lot of sentimental value, this artbook is probably, as a collectable, the most expensive item in my collection (I’m also not showing any inside pictures since the whole book has been scanned and is available for viewing online). I bought mine some time in the very early 2000′s, and even though the price tag on the back says “Kinokuniya”, I clearly remember buying it from a local mom-n-pop anime store and not at the Japanese bookstore chain. But besides its monetary value, it’s invaluable as a source of reference for my doujinshi drawing endeavors. Need to know what color prototype Sailor Moon’s cap was? Check the Materials Collection. Who’s the eldest amongst the Amazon Quartet? Check the Materials Collection.

[kaleidodreams]

My Sailor Moon Treasures

@mangakachan​ asked in this post for fans to share their top three favorite pieces of Sailor Moon merchandise. To the surprise of probably nobody who knows me well, all mine are Helios-related!

This Helios/Chibi-Usa cel from Episode 165 - “When the Crystal Shines: The Beautiful Power of Dreams” is the crown jewel of my collection. I can’t believe I own a piece of the actual animation! I’ve never been so nervous bidding on an item on eBay before. I wanted it sooooo bad, so it was a dream come true when I saw that I had won the auction. One day I would love to get it professionally framed so that I can actually display it, but for now I settle for enjoying the settai that came with it that I do have framed near my desk.

I love the Sailor Moon Pullip Dolls! If I had the money (and the room), I would love to buy every single one of them, but I own just two -- this Helios one and the Pluto one, which I would actually call a co-favorite. The dolls are just simply gorgeous!

Last, but certainly not least, is this Helios keychain from the 90s. To the best of my knowledge, this was the only piece of human!Helios merchandise that was released back then. Pegasus merchandise was much more popular for some reason. (And i do also own the Small Lady/Pegasus keychain from the same line.) As a rule, I normally do not buy from international sellers, but when I saw this keychain on eBay from a seller from the UK for a decent price a few years ago, I simply had to have it. When I thought I had lost it during my move a year-and-a-half ago, I cried for probably an hour. I WAS DEVASTATED! Luckily, I then remembered that I had stored it inside a Sailor Moon tumbler during packing and found it. Happy ending!