Why Splatoon Merch is so Hard to Find

[@PotatoPlaysThePotatoQueen]

Back during the Star vs Mushroom Splatfest I bought a team Star Splatfest shirt, It’s my only piece of Splatoon merch unless you count amiibo figurines. It sits proudly in my closet and I haven’t had a chance to wear it in public yet

[@wowtac547]

@@crunchysalmons lots of people have clothing as decritive things in there house. It keeps its value since no one wore it and dosent have color fades. It’s like the people who buy shoes and never wear em. They just pretty to have around ☺️

[@Abioticbeing]

I’ve dug into the back shelves of Barnes and Noble to find splatoon merch, believe me it’s there and it’s been there for years

[@BrownCharlie1]

I don't always see Splatoon merch in stores, but when I do, it's always when I don't have any money.

[@devinbrice991]

For a game so heavily influenced by Western 90s and 2000s, it's disappointing that there isnt much Murch. The word hikara literally means relating to Western culture, and thats what they named the art book they'll never translate!

[@diseasedrat8813]

Lol "Murch"

i thoguht it was haikara, as in high color like high color city

[@AbsoIuteSoIverCyn]

4:14 it's even worse when you also acknowledge the fact that Nintendo hasn't been marketing the splatoon series well in ads either. Especially in terms of splatoon 3. Prochara made a good video about it. Chances are, we probably won't ever get enough merch sold outside of Japan.

[@properunaa3924]

In Finland alot of the splatoon 2 amiiboes are restocking during this summer

[@tattisiti]

Thay are??? I didn't know that, do you know which stores are restocking them?

[@properunaa3924]

@@tattisiti esim konsolinet

[@tattisiti]

@@properunaa3924 thanks

[@Sodamoth]

I swear I’m eventually going to learn Japanese and move to Japan almost solely for Splatoon.

[@saturniidspectre]

I just got a Switch with Splatoon 2 for Christmas last year and my obsession has already skyrocketed to the point where I'm going to inject myself with cephalopod DNA.

[@fiifocviivccucviv5282]

Same except learning Japanese is H A R D :(

[@saturnwanderer]

the only splatoon merch i’ve seen in stores is when i bought the original 3-pack amiibo at game stop (orange and blue inkling and the green squid) last summer. the rest of it i have is from redbubble lol

[@ibuprofen64]

Salmon Run Mall flashbacks 😔

[@mysticalmadeline4793]

Saw a guy with a straight up chaos final fest shirt at kings island a few years ago

[@scbeans]

It sucks that theres little to no splatoon merch in the rest of the world :/ Theres only 1 store that i know of in my country that sells splatoon merch and all it is is the splatoon manga n comedy book I just wish the splatoon merch was accessible worldwide and not just in japan (yes im aware that you can buy stuff online but only certain things. Alot of merch in japan wont ship worldwide)

[@_murdocisking_]

And if it does ship outside of Japan the shipping + tax more than doubles the price of the original item

[@splattim4809]

Hello, I am splat Tim

[@rizirone]

Hello, I am rizi Rone

[@shou_gana1]

Hello, I am anbell Studio

[@mysterionz]

Only splatoon merch I’ve found in store was an oversized t shirt of the inkling girl used to promote splatoon 1. Rest of the splatoon merch I’ve gotten on Amazon

[@luciancervantez6534]

the only Splatoon merch that I have seen was a large squid pillow in the gaming section of a target

[@JustAnotherHaiku]

If you count amiibos, I've only physically seen Splatoon merch at GameStop and Barnes and Noble. The latter is where I got my Callie and Marie plushes from! But even then, it was only Splatoon 1 stuff. Barnes and Noble did sell the manga, but otherwise, that's pretty much it.

[@chikinwings9872]

WAIT u got the plushes WHERE??

[@JustAnotherHaiku]

@@chikinwings9872 Barnes and Noble, a bookstore in America. They might not have them anymore, since I bought them a few years ago, but it's worth checking.

[@xDokeyx]

Recently I bought the Off the Hook plushies. Pearl and Marina were about $16 each, but the total ended up being $60 due to the plushies being Japanese imports, so the shipping was pretty expensive. Hopefully if Nintendo ever makes Deep Cut or Splatoon 3 ink/octoling plushies they'll be available to America

[@lucasnanami]

I wish Splatoon got more merch outside of japan mainly because the US's splatoon merch just kinda sucks. Japan has a lot of really really good splatoon merch (not just shirts, they also have zip hoodies n whatnot) that looks fresh and doesn't immediately scream "I PLAY SPLATOON" to an outsider.

[@zugiii1086]

I once had a Splatoon cappy, but I lost it after forgetting it in a train...

[@kristopherhayes486]

The splatoon 2 amiibos are even harder to come by. I had to get mine online.

[@YouMayKnowMeAsNate]

I didn’t look in stores, but I tried buying a decal for my switch with some birthday money and it was a huge amount of time and effort to even find one available to be bought

[@Aostrele]

This is the same for Pikmin, one of my favourite games.

[@meghanallen9978]

Dude my kid is obsessed with this game, I can't find him a single splatoon anything.

[@amethecreampie]

i was really happy to find some splatoon 3 shirts in a clothing store, though maybe i found it easier since i live in asia

[@noaika5342]

here where i live, Splatoon merch are not common but also not that hard to find. The only place we can get a splatoon merch regularly is from a japanese pre love store. Most of it are keychains and button badges tho. And the rest being an official print shirt or if we lucky, a plushie. I got a ton of keychains, a few button badges, a couple of shirts and a plushie of purple inkling in squid form. That is after going there for god knows how many times since youd never know when its coming 😭

[@taxfraud3229]

The only merch I saw are the pink and green squid pillow and pink and purple squid plush. I also saw both of the art books for Splatoon and Splatoon 2

[@keynanmartinez]

Don't worry Splatoon will blow up in merchandise on day.

[@araserwhenthe]

I'm in the UK and I have about 9 peice of Splatoon merch, one of them being a Splattershot

[@neru8104]

Maybe its their plan in action. Creating a false rarity in societies that they know will go feral over a crumb of merch. They sell SUPER fast and make a lot of money quick and then go dark for another 2 years or something. Same happened with the splatfest shirts for splatoon 2, people went absolutely insane getting those. Even if we don't go feral, scalpers definitely will, and selling is selling at the end of the day, no matter who it goes to

[@MoobOgler]

If Nintendo wants to experiment with selling other regions merch the release of splatoon 3 is the best time to do it when hype is at its highest and fans are already out and about buying their copies of the game and with that merch right in front of them they’re more likely to pick it up too and splatoon has such a good aesthetic to profit off of appealing to more than just splatoon players with it’s use of practically every bright color, cute characters, and in game clothing that when replicated irl actually looks good they could really make a lot of money after this because even after the main peak of hype people with cute Splatoon handbags and such basically becoming walking billboards are going to keep extra customers trickling in

[@mariapsi7844]

as an Argentinian, I havent seen ANY merch in my country, I found a keychain in Chile and I bought the Splatoon 2 Pro Controler in Paraguay

[@vanillune]

Ive only ever found splatoon merch in the nintendo nyc store

i automatically buy any splatoon merch i see in a store just because it’s so rare

[@wowtac547]

I hope they at least have an online shop like how Splatoon 3 got merchandise from release. I’d totally buy the 7-eleven merch! Or any other colab!

[@ZachBravura]

The ONLY piece of Splatoon merch that I have is a little squid plush that I found at Walmart, they are indeed rare 😂

[@fwoofydoesart]

I've only seen 3 pieces of sploon merch and some physical copies

[@zurcasi]

i’ve been wondering this myself lately, but it seems like splatoon merch is slowly starting to pop up in NA. mostly with the mynintendo rewards. i got the pokemon splatfest keychains, a shopping bag, and graffiti stickers from there. hoping they release the Editmode apparel here because they look really dope and i wanna add them to my wardrobe

[@iris1568]

Oh but come on.. Almost 2 million sells in the USA and almost 2 million sells in Europe should already be good enough for those regions to get merch too, am I right? Okay yeah Japan has a bit over 3 million but it still is just not much of a big difference between USA and Europe sales

[@tomsbeingtheleo]

Exactly!

[@WarmTunbin1]

I spent over $300 AUD on the squid sisters amiibo unopened, plus another $150 for the plushies

[@Takora87]

Ok but when deep cut amiibos came out they sold out IMMEDIATELY in all the targets near me? Sure there’s not AS many splatoon fans in America but there is still a TRUCKLOAD here?

[@Takora87]

But also buyee exists and I might check it out because I NEED SPLATOON MERCH (especially big man onesie!)

[@rizirone]

Lucky. I haven’t found any

[@kiyoshiizumi02]

The only merch I have is a carrying case for my switch, a replica of the black v neck tee (it has a green and pink ink splatter on it, cleverly) and a figma of the inkling girl.

[@blorp444]

I have one splatoon badge from a Japanese gacha machine from like 2016 that I found in a shop in Yorkshire…. That is it

[@slurpjonesysimp5390]

I need my pearl and marina merch *I need it...*

[@crispy7311]

I disagree with you on the risk factor of bringing merch to the west- all they have to do is take the merch Japan already gets, and ship it west. marketing and distribution will cost a bit, but most of the work is already done.

[@ibuprofen64]

The risk isn't getting it here, it's that they don't think it will sell

[@crispy7311]

@@ibuprofen64 There's no risk in even putting some Splatoon merch listings on the Nintendo store website. That way it's still available to people who want it, and there isn't any worry about stock at stores that wouldn't sell them as well.

[@ibuprofen64]

@@crispy7311 That is true, but we're also talking about Nintendo here, unfortunately. :/

[@angelofanxiety]

I have literally NEVER seen spoon merch. Then again, like three or so people play it in the uk so I’m not really surprised.

[@Kashon]

I found some splatoon merch at barnes and noble but that's the only place I've actually found merch in store. You could also find splatoon merch at the Nintendo store in New York but that's if you feel like going to New York just for splatoon merch. Amazon is a decent place to find merch online though.

[@rafeyos3396]

The lack of available official mercy also leads some to buy fan made merchandise, and we all know how Nintendo likes that… so if they just release official merch in other regions that number might drop and then they win-win

[@yxgctybgvgfvfvfbh4663]

LITERALLY it’s so annoying. it can also be hard to find good quality fan made merch so it’s like :/

[@pnkicecreem459]

I saw 2 big splatoon pillows and 1 small yellow squid in a target and that was the last time I saw splatoon merch in the wild

[@shrimp_bones4768]

The only way ive gotten merchandise is by using second hand sites and even then its wayyyyy too overpriced

[@riverxsq]

The only merch type item I have is a carry case for my switch that came with a squid keychain that you can put game cards inside

[@rocknrevolt938]

I have like three pieces of merch. Two are from online, one was secondhand. I have a pink inkling plushie from amazon, blue boy figma, and an amiibo from CEX. That's a second-hand electronics shop. I otherwise see nothing.

[@mizosis]

Ive bought all of my merch from Japan except for my Frye amiibo, which I was lucky enough to find at my local target. However, all of it has been really expensive and i've saved up a lot of money in order to get them. I'm glad I have anything, but I really wish there was more merch in the west, especially in the US. Also, unfortunately, Splatoon 3 made getting merch more difficult, apparently. Because all recent merch drops have been exclusive to Japan. Nintendo really hates us, man.

[@loganmiller7827]

I've seen the green squid pillow thing around plenty but I don't think I've ever seen anything else

[@teresaespinoza7752]

Here's a theory idea! So, for Splatoon 3 at the end of the hero mode trailer, we get a shot of what looks like a rocket in the background behind the inkling. Of course, this means that something in the story will involve space. Now here's the theory. *Ahem* So in Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion, If you don't have enough C.Q. points to enter any level, Pearl says that she'll lend you some of her dad's money. And in The news report, for the Manta Maria stage, Pearl says that her parents, including her dad, gave her a replica of the ship for her birthday. Which must've cost a lot of money, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight? Furthermore, in the news report for the Wahoo World stage, Pearl says that her dad gave her a pair of big sole boots so that she'd be tall enough to ride the rides there. Based on all of this, we know that Pearl's dad is rich. It wouldn't be much of a stretch, considering that Pearl won the Final Fest, to assume that her dad may be involved in this space stuff. Btw I love your videos and great job on this one!

[@sarahsamuel]

I only have a few amiibos and a carrying case

[@shieldsurf]

splatoon is one of my favorite games nowadays but i probably would've never gotten into it if one of my favorite tshirts in high school wasn't a splatoon tshirt lmao

[@yxgctybgvgfvfvfbh4663]

honestly if nintendo is so worried abt not being able to sell enough merch here, i think they should start off selling very small amounts. like make it very limited, see how well it sells, then gradually start selling more and more according to how well it’s selling yk? idk i’m not a business person so maybe it’s don’t work that way

[@iris1568]

My first Splatoon merch that is not an amiibo, is an actual carpet shaped as the blue inkling squid icon from Splatoon 1. That's the only merch I've found yet here in Europe (and some plushies and puzzles exist too)

[@VGF80]

Game doesn't sell as well outside Japan > Merch production declines > Appeal or interest in the game recedes > game doesn't sell well [Repeat] It's a self-destructive cycle that leads to Splatoon 2 not getting as much attention as it should. Will Splatoon 3 break this cycle? I doubt it.

[@squidkid036]

I recently order the Senaie Callie and Marie plush and saw how expensive the Japanese import ones like Judd and off the hook were then I had a thought while watching this wouldn’t it be cool if Nintendo made smaller version of there New York store and put them in malls around the world and have all sorts of more nichie merch in those stores

[@Calmislanddragon]

I actually just went to a local video game store last Saturday where there was a wall of Splatoon plushies. Unfortunately, I live almost an hour away from the place.

[@RabidLeroy]

The hassle of having to actually get plane tickets and tourist visas to pick up a merchandise spread is universal the more you look up shipping costs and availability.

[@Bluestpikmin]

i ate 12 burgers i think

[@pkcryo]

I really just want smash merch

[@Chillinisjust]

It's just bs how the us gets treated to Japan with them getting game exclusive gear, books and merch. It's bs since it's a CLOTHING brand that could easily sell alot in Nintendo word by NY or in any mall around the country

[@tacosunbirth]

I have a figure of the splatoon 1 boy inkling but that was a lucky find, there needs to be some more merch overseas

[@Allen_101]

Need Splatoon Teck Deck

[@JN30_84]

I mean there's a possible chance that when Splatoon 3 launches they will make more murch and stuff and probably sell them to the world outside Japan too but we don't know but maybe

[@frontporch7753]

What exactly are sanitized o to longs?

[@ripme123l7]

I live by a Japanese store that sells a splatoon statue of an inkling boy that isnt an amiibo (yes, it’s a thing) and I’ve also seen that they have a translated art book with two more that are not translated. But that’s the only place I’ve seen splatoon merch outside of amiibos.

[@raymond9667]

i must be the only one in this comment section that has seen a decent amount of merch in my life. toys r us used to have tons when it was still around and ive seen a few different t shirt designs as well. guess i just got lucky lol

[@saulveganavas903]

Now I am going to be very honest with you, pal. Difference from Splatoon 1 and 2, Splatoon 3 hasn't shown up at the Nintendo Directs actual good reasons yet about why we should buy it; eventually I hope another Splatoon Direct comes out showing a lot of good stuff which is gonna make us fans happier than ever, but Nintendo has already screwed this since time for non-fans to get interested, in a game from a saga that already has one game at the same console, has almost passed before the game releases, and I actually doubt half of non-fans people who watch Nintendo Directs is going to watch a Splatoon Direct. The worst part is that, because Nintendo decided to put a lot of recycled stuff in the trailers, now I'm sure pretty much people has now an idea of a game that's almost the same than it's predecessor; I could bet Splatoon 3 is going to be at E3, and that is going to be the last chance of Nintendo to attract consumers, and if Nintendo doesn't do something real good to attract consumers all over the world, it will return to focus on Japanese merch and Splatoon 3 will be statistically almost the same as Splatoon 2, and the cycle will repeat. I at least hope the game to be nice, since I live at Latin America, a region where Splatoon plushies, amiibos or controllers aren't even sold.

[@DecadoPrime]

Oof Japan always gets the good stuff

[@PixelSV103]

We need a #BuySplatoon3 like there was for Metroid Dread, but sadly, we'll never see that kind of support here in the west; especially when every other person here who actually knows what Splatoon is calls it "the weird Nickolodian goo kids game for 5 year olds" on the Nintendo Switch, which, according to all those people, "doesn't count as a real gaming console" because it isn't as powerful as other consoles and you can't play most of those generic fps games on it that people like. (OK rant done lol)

[@lol-ih1tl]

The west will only appreciate Splatoon more once the franchise dies or stays dormant for a very long time or when kids who grew up with the franchise are like 20-30 years old

[@ibuprofen64]

1:56 Ratio

[@Grego2070]

Yeah

[@blop6817]

Well nintendo sucks :/