Fandom culture is absolutely booming right now, with merchandise for idols, celebrities, VTubers, and anime characters flooding the market. Seriously, the only limit is your wallet!
Recently, Japanese actor Shin Tamura launched some special merchandise to celebrate his 30th birthday. Among the offerings is an "assembly standee" that's been causing a stir. Why? Because it's split into five random parts, just like "Exodia the Forbidden One" from Yu-Gi-Oh!. This quirky design has led to fans hilariously trading pieces online, and even Tamura himself has poked fun at the unexpected buzz.
Yep, this "assembly standee" is sold in five separate, randomly distributed parts. Fans need to collect all five individual pieces to complete it, exactly like gathering "Exodia the Forbidden One." The official promo even cheekily asks, "Is this a world-first?"
▼ Shin Tamura even personally demonstrated the assembly process.
Unsurprisingly, many fans ended up with only individual parts, forcing them to hit up other netizens for trades to complete their sets. It's created a truly unique phenomenon among stans on X (formerly Twitter).
When this whole thing blew up, Tamura Shin himself jumped in on the fun, posting about how he never expected it to become such a hot topic. He confessed his deep love for Yu-Gi-Oh!, revealing he still treasures his five "Exodia the Forbidden One" cards. He even knew Exodia's signature move, "Exodia Obliterate," confirming he was absolutely playing into the meme. LOL.
While it might not be the absolute first celebrity standee of its kind, it's definitely generated some serious buzz. Is this brilliant marketing, or just plain wild to have fans pulling for body parts? XD