The 20 Weirdest Products Every Pokémon Devotee Should Have

Pokémon is the second-best-selling franchise of all time. It is the only video game to ever be featured on the cover of TIME magazine. Additionally, official Pokémon items, such as old games, limited-edition consoles, and cards can be worth a small fortune. The Pokémon Company has printed over 16 billion trading cards, some rarer than others. If you happen to have a good-condition copy of the first-edition holographic Charizard Pokémon TCG card, consider selling it because that puppy is worth over $50,000. In 1999, Pokémon was the second most searched topic on the internet, second only to adult films. With the long existence of Pokémon, its most fervent fans own some unique items. Let's take a look at some of the oddest Pokémon merchandise you might find in your local Pokémon nerd's collection.

What makes an item "weird" is a highly subjective idea. Additionally, while the outsider might find an item weird, those on the "inside" of fandom may consider it par for the course. Thus, we tried to pick items that had an objective "strangeness" factor to them due to being grotesque, ugly, or unprecedented in their development.

Nanoblocks are a building block toy similar to LEGO. However, Nanoblocks just don't have the charm that LEGO does. Due to the license for Pokémon toy production being held by Mega, a LEGO competitor, Pokémon LEGO sets will likely never be an option. However, you can still buy Pokémon building block sets from Mega Blocks and Nanoblocks. Mega Blocks sets vary in how good they look. Some of them, like the Mechanical Pikachu set, look pretty cool. However, a lot of the Nanoblocks typically look relatively ugly. The general shapes of Nanoblocks just don't lend that well to recreating designs that can be relatively complicated. This issue can lead to the Pokémon sets looking blocky, poorly designed, and, in some cases, kind of grotesque. If you want a Pokémon block set, we recommend a Mega Block set over the Nanoblock ones.

This item made our list for being so incredibly specific that it's strange that it was designed and produced in the first place. Waffle makers aren't the most popular item on the food market. Unfortunately, making your own waffles has largely fallen out of favor because of how long it takes and how difficult the cleanup can be. Additionally, waffle makers are relatively large items. They require a lot of space to store and set up when you want to use them. They also require a big sink to wash them in. Space is something many people worldwide don't really have with micro-apartments becoming more and more common as the standard for the people most likely to enjoy a Pokémon waffle maker. So, a novelty waffle maker is just an odd idea for a company to produce since it doesn't seem like an overly viable business venture. However, if you like making waffles and have a lot of extra space to store a novelty waffle maker, this could be a cool item to have.

Graphic t-shirts are considered to be relatively common nowadays, even if they were weird when they first came out. However, putting the designs on your nethers is a bold statement of allegiance to your favorite franchises. Some people might consider having graphic underpants beyond basic geometric designs to be too childish for them. While you might say "No one's even going to see my underwear!" you never know, right? Cute people are roaming around your local GameStop every day and you could meet the love of your life tomorrow! However, we think people who don't like graphic underpants are no fun. Even if these items might get you a few weird stares from people you're intimate with, if they make you happy, no harm, no foul, right? You can buy Pokémon-themed underwear from tons of sellers, including small businesses that print unique or hand-drawn designs.

The weirdness of this item comes from the inherent grotesqueness of wearing animal-themed slippers. Depending on the pair, the grotesqueness can vary. If they look very standard, an animal print or even a 3D design and a pair of ears can be quite cute. However, if they look like ThinkGeek's Light-Up Pikachu Slippers, they look a lot more like you killed a Pikachu and carved out its back to shove your feet in. However, people who bought these slippers said they were deceptively comfortable. So, maybe the weird appearance of the slippers is worth the extreme comfort for your toes. Unfortunately, ThinkGeek has discontinued the Light-Up Pikachu Slippers and we weren't able to find any third-party sellers online. So, it might be hard to get your hands on these. However, if themed foot comfort is your goal, there are tons of excellent Pokémon options on the market featuring adorable favorites like Eevee and Pikachu.

Talking figures have always been weird. That's just our opinion, but we said it. There's something inherently weird about a plastic figure designed to spout verses. However, the Talking Ash Ketchum Figure has its own set of weird features. Most notably, his arms are so long that they start to look creepy on him. Just look at them! They're at least ¾ as long as the figure's whole body! However, despite the odd nature of the figure's arms, this item is actually quite valuable. If you have one that is still sealed in the box, you can sell that for hundreds of dollars. Even unboxed figures can go for a not-insignificant amount. As long as the figure isn't noticeably damaged or suffering from severe wear and tear, you can probably get a good few bucks for selling it on an online marketplace like eBay.

Coins and sets from the Pokémon Battle Coin Game are another vintage item that you can get a pretty good price for. Like most collectors' items, you'll get the best price if you still have the box and both the item and box are in good condition. However, single, loose Battle Coins do fetch a decent price on the market. They don't have the same value as some more prominent collectors' items, like trading cards, game cartridges, and limited edition systems, but for an item you can slip into a $2 bubble mailer, it could be worth selling these. Different coins will go for different prices, as you might expect. Rarer coins will get you more money and complete sets will get you a pretty good price. These items were weird because they were just an odd business decision on the part of the Pokémon Company. They weren't trendy either, even among hardcore Pokémon fans.

Bouncy balls are a kind of generic, bland toy that you can mark with just about any franchise and get at least some interest. They're not that hard to produce. So, even if a company sells them for just a few bucks, they'll probably make a profit. However, the Pokémon bouncy balls were bizarre and even a little disturbing to look at. A Pokémon-themed print on the outside of the rubber ball wasn't good enough for The Pokémon Company. Instead, they suspended small rubber figurines in clear rubber. It's just a little creepy to see your favorite Pokémon frozen in time, trapped in a little rubber bubble. To make matters worse, some of the figures looked deformed and weird, furthering the disturbing nature of them. They're not very valuable. So, if they upset you, don't worry about collecting them.

Plushies are great! I have a Pikachu plush of my own sitting on my bed, though I prefer to hug my Gengar plush at night. Unfortunately, the 20th Anniversary Pikachu Exclusive Plush just didn't hit the mark. The design didn't seem to capture the inherent adorableness of Pikachu that Pokémon fans love. Frankly, the plush looks a bit deformed and creepy. The odd pattern all over the Pikachu's body doesn't help its design either. The pattern is too busy and makes it look like the Pikachu is vibrating if you stare at it for too long. If I woke up in the middle of the night and the 20th Anniversary Pikachu Exclusive Plush was standing over me, I would freak out. Unfortunately, it isn't overly valuable. However, its value might increase over time. So, if you have the stomach for this little nightmare, you can hang onto it and see if its value appreciates.

Foam costumes typically look kind of cheap, but the Marill Foam Costume looks exceptionally cheap. The biggest problem with it is that Marill is round and the foam costume is kind of boxy. It doesn't make the costume unidentifiable, but it does distort the shape and make it look strange to the eye if you know your Pokémon. To the uninformed, it probably just looks a little odd, but to the Pokémon Master, it just looks deformed before it even gets on your body. Also, the costume doesn't have a headpiece. Marill's head becomes part of your torso, which on the surface, makes sense since Marill is perfectly round and doesn't have a neck. However, in practice, it causes Marill to look strange and deformed as its adorable, squishy body contorts to conform to the movements of the wearer's body.

If you like Beyblade (we do), you can play Beyblade while also playing Pokémon. Battle spinners are the genre of toy that Beyblades fall under. You rev them up, release them with a ripcord, and hope that your battle spinner knocks over the opposing one. Beyblades came in many forms, including metal ones that would literally destroy plastic ones if they hit them too hard. However, the Pokémon iteration was a little more mellow. It was a short-lived expansion of the greater Pokémon franchise that had little impact on the wider battle spinner genre. These have been discontinued and have become collectors' items. Still, even collectors don't value them as highly as other Pokémon merchandise. You could hang onto these and see if their value appreciates, but due to the size and shape, shipping this out wouldn't necessarily be worth it.

The idea of a finger skateboard is a little bit weird in and of itself. However, I've seen some people doing unique and interesting tricks with their mini-skateboards and I'm not the type to yuck on someone's yum. The Pokémon mini-skateboards are exactly what you think they are, boards with Pokémon designs on the bottom. In the grand scheme of things, a finger skateboard isn't the weirdest thing in the world and if you can do cool tricks with it, you're definitely awesome. However, it just struck us as an odd business venture as these toys were never the most popular. So, there wasn't a craze that the Pokémon Company could capitalize on by making them. However, nowadays, these can be extremely valuable if you still have the box and both the toy and box are in good condition. So, maybe they'll have a revival!

Rollerball toys are another toy that was never the most popular, even if they were kind of naturally fun. The point of rollerball toy games is that you roll your toy at someone else's toy and try to knock it over, kind of like marbles but more destructive. Pokémon Sliders were honestly cute. Well, some of them were. A good few of them looked more deformed and barely resembled the Pokémon they were meant to be. The poor design of them, plus the fact that you would then take them and bash them together brutally made them look less cute every time you played with them. Unfortunately, these aren't very valuable and if you actively played with them, they're even less valuable because they'll be damaged.

The problem with making reversible plushies is that you have to fit two shapes together and turn them into a single shape. It's kind of like an ambigram, where if the shapes are too distinct, they become unrecognizable. Reversible plushies have the bonus of being able to hide parts of the other shape inside the plushie when it's reversed. However, they fail to address a specific issue: what happens if the plushie gets stuck halfway through the reversing process? You end up with a strange, sometimes disturbing, amalgam of both shapes. Reversible plushies are also not as soft or huggable as standard plushies. They can't have the standard fluff needed to keep them soft and snuggly because it would fall out when you tried to reverse the plush.

The oddity of the Snorlax Slides is not that the product itself is odd. In fact, Snorlax is a character we should all aspire to be and the "Do It Tomorrow" slogan on the slides is so hilariously relatable that it makes these slides absolutely perfect in every way. However, the fact that they chose the form factor of slides is definitely strange. Slides are most often associated with middle-aged dads. This association causes two problems. One, if the most interested demographic for this item—middle-aged dads, in this case—are not interested in the design because they find it immature and childish, they will not buy it. Two, if the most associated demographic is middle-aged dads, young people who might buy the same item with a slightly different form factor might be turned off from it because they don't want to look like a middle-aged dad.

Speaking of items associated most strongly with middle-aged dads, we have the fanny pack. While fanny packs are becoming more popular in general, they're still most often associated with older folks and are considered relatively unstylish. While we focused on the more official Pikachu design, there are tons of Pokémon-related fanny pack designs. However, we're just not sold on this item. We're not judging you if you like it, but we would just rather have a bag with more space, maybe a crossbody to distribute the weight better and give you more space in a single bag. The Pokémon Company makes tons of different bags if you want something official, or you can look for a small business or individual silk screener who makes bags with different art styles and designs.

If you find an Unofficial Pokémon GO Tracker's Guide in someone's house, you know you've found someone interesting. Pokémon GO never achieved the worldwide popularity that the Pokémon Company intended. After all, the Pokémon nerds quickly realized that rather than going outside to play a version of Pokémon that they felt deviated too far from the original gameplay, they could stay inside and play the game they wanted. Instead, it's mostly popular among older people who enjoy the exercise they can get while playing games. While there are small but dedicated Pokémon GO communities in most cities, the Unofficial Tracker's Guide is a fixture that only the most fervent fans of the game will have in their homes.

Another item you won't see outside of the most intense fans, and typically only those who prefer Pikachu, is earbuds or over-the-ear headphones that feature the popular electric mouse. Wired earbuds are certainly going out of style. Many devices no longer include the standard 3.5 mm jack required to use them, forcing users who prefer them to use an adapter, wiring them in through the charging port. However, wireless Pikachu-themed earbuds and earbud accessories come in many shapes and sizes. You can even get over-the-ear earbuds that have an adorable set of Pikachu ears on the top. Be careful though. Those ears add more height than you might expect!

Slap bracelets were incredibly popular for a short period. Every kid in America was trying to get their hands on a bracelet that causes you pain. I didn't see the appeal, but many of my friends had them. However, seeing these cute Pokémon slap bracelets makes me want one of my own, even if there's absolutely no chance I would ever wear it. They don't hurt bad but I could wear a much nicer-looking bracelet and it wouldn't hurt at all.

Just like underwear is a little strange to have fandom prints on, pants are a little odd, too. It's doubly odd if the print covers the entire pair of pants, like the Pokémon Original Starters Lounge Pants. For many people, this kind of print can be way too busy and look ugly. However, since they're essentially pajama pants, it's not like you'll be wearing them before the judging eyes of the public that often unless you're a chronic pajamas-in-public wearer.

The weird thing about Jigglypuff merchandise is not that Jigglypuff is particularly odd or creepy. It's that Jigglypuff's popularity is a totally unprecedented event that historically makes very little sense. Jigglypuff and its evolution Wigglytuff are totally unremarkable Pokémon. They're cute, I'll give them that. However, they have completely unremarkable stats, and shallow move pools, and even the addition of a Fairy-type designation couldn't bring these lovable fluff balls into the competitive scene. Indeed, you're very unlikely to use Jigglypuff or Wigglytuff in a mainline Pokémon game unless you have a predisposed preference for the Pokémon. Instead, Jigglypuff is popular because of her inclusion as a permanent member of the Super Smash Brothers roster, where she flourishes and thrives. Her annoying kit and adorable face make her a frustrating character to fight. After all, who wants to get annihilated by a pink ball of fluff with a high-pitched voice?