#pureplastic

Something interesting about the Japanese series “Sliver Fang” or “Ginga Nagareboshi Gin” is that in it somehow got really popular in Finland and the North in general, but for Finland it got many Finnish translation releases,

and to this day it’s very well loved and known there to my knowledge, So it wouldn’t be so farfetched for merchandise to be made and sold there,

Such as:

PurePlastic’s/Urumi’s plush line, these plush were made to release in Finland, they could also be shipped to other Scandinavian countries and South Korea, making them a little hard to find, though some characters are easier to find them others, there still pretty well loved even popular around the Ginga fandom and again since they had a county exclusive release there a bit hard to find along with being very wanted making them pretty pricey, but there high quality makes the item the worth the price for many.

Tags (two different known swing tags, green is the first release of a line of classic characters that appear in the 80s anime, and the blue tag is the line of more modern characters that appear in the 2000s anime and even in comics.)

Plush of both lines

Classic (2020)

(Puppy Gin, older Gin, older Riki, John, Akame, and kurojaki)

Modern (unknown)

(Weed, Yukimura, Tesshin, Jerome, George, Hougen, Kyoshiro, Mel)

There have also been one more plush and even merchandise made by them, some of this merchandise (not plush) would come free with purchased item/items or only with specific items or circumstances not just with any item, such as:

Akakabuto plush (2023)

Keychains (2020-2023, All classic and modern characters along with The First Wars spin-off, some single character keychains (not chibi, nor “The First Wars” spin-off, nor art and character fighting move keychains) coming as free items for preordering the plushies)

Shirts (“Bear dogs” 2023, classic and modern, “Legends” 2023, classic characters,) Bags (shoulder bag 2021, classic and modern characters, shopping bag 2021, modern characters, The First Wars spin-off bag 2021, was free with certain orders for a limited time, modern characters,) badges (Gin and weed 2021, Riki and Yukimura 2021, John and Andy 2021, Ken and Kagetora 2021, Orion and Sirius 2021, Rigel and Bella 2021, two “Strive For Justice” Ukraine fundraising badges 2022, classic and modern characters) stickers (Weed 2020, was a free gift in some Urumi orders, Bella 2020, was given as a free preorder bonus with “Sunset” or “Wardogs” cups/mugs, classic and modern characters) magnets (weed family and allies 2020, Gin 2020, John 2020, GB 2020, Orion 2020, classic and modern characters) Fidget Spinner (Gin 2023, was given as a free preorder bonus with Akakabuto plush, classic character) Mask (2020, translation from Finnish is "Remember to social distance!" or "stay apart," characters are Orion, Sirius, Rigel other characters I can’t Identify, modern characters) Umbrella (date unknown, The First Wars spin-off characters on it, modern characters) Buckets (2020, Given out for the opening of a new Urumi shop, The First Wars spin-off characters on them, modern characters) Cups (“Legends” mug 2020, classic characters, “Gin, Shiro and Riki” mug 2020, classic characters, Sunset mug 2020, modern characters, Wardogs mug 2020, classic and modern characters, “Monsoon And Brothers” mug 2020, modern characters,) Postcards (“Year of the Boar“ The First Wars spin-off card 2020, another The First Wars card 2019 this time of the main series instead of spin-off,) and Posters (some of these images have appeared in other merchandise, like “Northern Lights” 2016 (modern and classic characters) art which appeared on a keychain (2020) with the same name as the art piece but without the top words on Keychain, “The Legend” poster 2016 (classic characters) it’s art appearing in Keychain (2020) with the same name, Sunset poster 2017 (modern characters) which it’s art has appeared on a mug (2020) of again the same name, not all art got this treatment only appearing as posters it seems, like, “Thoughts” poster 2016, watercolor poster 2017, “Next Generation” poster 2016 (modern and classic characters) (though similar it’s a different item and it’s not to be mistaken for Northern Lights 2016 art,) “Mother And Son” poster 2017 (modern and classic characters), “Kyoshiro Challenge” poster 2016, “Summer Day” poster (date unknown,) “Run” poster 2017, “Rest” poster 2017, “Monster In Paradise” poster 2016.)

Honestly it’s clear to see how much Finland loves this series, Urumi definitely has a large category for any Ginga fan, though the plushies are still the most well loved, it’s still interesting to take a look at other items as well.

Thanks to the GingaMerch website for all this information, without you this merchandise wouldn’t be archived and out there for collectors to see, again thanks to them for all this important information, if your a Ginga fan or just interested for whatever reason, go check them out, there amazing!

(LINK IS SAFE)

Original interview in Finnish from 2016: http://satanicangingablogi.blogspot.com/2016/06/haastattelussa-pureplastic.html --- Where did PurePlastic begin? When and where was it set up and by whom? How many people in the company are spinning? - PurePlastic has been on my mind for almost eight years. From the very beginning, when Ginga merch were still quite affordable, I dreamed of having bigger and more spectacular products on offer.

The actual name and founding took place a couple of years ago in the aftermath of Tracon. I talked about the product idea with my co-workers and we developed the name PurePlastic. Before that, of course, the activity had been going on for several years. PurePlastic was not officially registered on paper until half a year ago.

The team is quite small in the end and it changes. In practice, I (the main devil), the negotiator on the Japanese side, the design of the products (1-4 people) and then the well-known fans from whom I asked for opinions when the products finally started to take some physical form.

What was the process for obtaining permits from Japan to manufacture new ginga products? - It was a lot of work = D Contact began in August 2012 and permits were obtained here recently. The project therefore took more than three years to negotiate. In addition to this, it took me about a year and a half to find the correct rights holders.

How is PurePlastic different from other ginga merch manufacturers? - PurePlastic is the first non-Japanese company to manufacture products. During the negotiations, I also got the impression that many previous companies (TopSangyo, Akatsuki Industrial) were tightly tied to the publisher. A considerable part of the products were also manufactured by the publishing house itself.

Could the products be called ethical? Their ethics have been ensured as far as possible.

China was chosen as the country where plushies are made because China now has fairly good laws to protect workers ’rights and environmental issues. By comparison, Bangladesh and India would be much cheaper, but in both of them things are completely out of the question. Of course, China also has its problems, but it is moving in a better direction.

I have not visited the factories myself, but I have received pictures of the factory's working premises and the factory has been inspected on behalf of a Finnish representative and no defects have been found there. In addition, the factory's work is carried out only at the factory and not by subcontractors. (In practice, subcontracting means that workers take work home to sew.) WWF has commissioned some plush toys from the same company, which also speaks to the quality of the company.

However, there are no official certifications or other with plushies, because in China, certificates can usually be purchased or requested separately and does not affect the actual operation of the factory in any way. Only by getting acquainted with the operation of the factory can you really know the side of things.

Plushies have CE certification, which makes them suitable as toys. This certificate is a guarantee of the quality of the product, meaning no small parts are released from the plush, the fabric used in it has not been treated with harmful substances and all the plushies, for example, are screened separately to ensure that no needles remain during the manufacturing process. The poster factory, on the other hand, is 100 meters from my apartment and I have been able to see their details in detail.

The prices of TopSangyon WEED plushies are amazing today. How can PurePlastic keep prices significantly more affordable? - TopSangyo’s prices were originally humane, but then production stopped and prices went up. The problem with many other products is that they have to be ordered to Finland through middleman services, which can easily triple the price of the product. Many of the products sold in Japan are also made into really small batches, making them a rarity almost as soon as they appear. On the other hand, in the back of the Iinu mobile phone case, for example, there is also the brand of the manufacturer, which raises the price.

PurePlastic manufactures large batches, which also keeps prices low. The products have also not (yet) received a collection status, as they can be purchased as new. The big batches, on the other hand, are relative: although Weed plushes are made in a four-digit batch, Hougen and Mer for example on the other hand, we talk about few hundreds of pieces, and the batches are HUGE from my point of view.

Plushies seem to be an absolute attraction for the company, at least for now. Will we see something else as great and exciting in the future, or perhaps something that has not been seen from other manufacturers so far? (If you can't answer this directly, "no comment" or "yes / no" is enough.) - I hope to see new products. I have all sorts of plans, dreams and epic ideas for new products, in addition to which I would especially like to expand the plushie range to include old GNG characters. The whole thing is based on one question: are the products selling well enough? The first review of the sale will be made a couple of weeks after the release of the plushies, the second after the end of the con season in Tracon and the third after Christmas. After these reviews, we then start thinking about the future. (The waiting time is also due to the fact that in the meantime many have already had time to get the products and get them to admire for themselves, so you can get feedback on the products as well).

PurePlastic was a big surprise for fans. How did it feel to keep this matter a secret for so long? - Terrible. = D

During these four years, I have had the following conversations with at least 20 different people:

"Do you know what you should do? Try to get the rights to make Ginga products! So many people want this stuff and only a few can afford to buy it for 200 euros soft. You should ask for the rights!" And then I smiled really hard and said the idea was really great. I would have liked to have told you about this as soon as possible, but think of it as a disappointment if I had reported it at Christmas 2012 (when Takahashi announced that the manufacture of merchandise would be okay to him). And then nothing would have happened for many, many years.