The Force Awakens in Japan; Star Wars toys at Toys R Us in Tokyo

Well, the Force fever has caught up with me.  After viewing countless Facebook posts of Force Awakens commercials, I decided to check out if the people here are as Star Wars crazy as us Americans are.   I'm almost certain that the English and Aussies are, in fact, most of the Imperials speak with a British/Australian accent anyway.  As for Far Easterners... Darth Vader is wearing what looks to be a samurai helmet and the Trade Federation baddies do speak with a Chinglish accent.  In any event, the movie is more than three months away so it wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese are reserving their Star Wars love for later.

 If I recall correctly, for the Phantom Menace, the toys were released only a few weeks before the movie came out.  Flashback to April 1999: Dad, Uncle Jim and I run into a bunch of unopened Phantom Menace figure shipping boxes at Super Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida.  The Kenner boxes were marked "Do not put on floor until two weeks after the X date" (two weeks after the then-present date).  Well, of course we opened them and carried out as many Jar Jar Binks and Darth Mauls we could carry in our arms.  Even the checkout scanners were reading "Do Not Sell" when we tried to pay for the figures. The long line of customers behind us and apathy-toward-her-job attitude of the cashier allowed us to get out of the store with the figures.

This time around it is different; we can see what type of vehicle Rey is flying and the various locales of the movie from the playsets for sale, three months before its release.  This is what I saw today at the Toys R Us's in the Tokyo area.  As demonstrated by Toys R Us, the Japanese are having the Force Awakened after all. 

Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren displays.

Many of the goods had Hasbro packaging, so I assume they are the same in the States, such as the deluxe figures above.

These sets kick the asses of the sets we had as kids.  We had to use the megaphone piece as a laser gun.

 There were many new Lego sets.

Perfect. Jango's head comes off.

More Lego sets.

New stormtroopers are in the house!

Some really large figures by Hasbro.

Mostly characters from the original trilogy.

Bandai models.  Pretty cool.  Perhaps you can't find these guys in the States.

I'd try getting the Boba Fett helmet, but they are blind-bag packaged.

I think these mini-replica helmets are Japan-only.  I learned a lot about the Force Awakened locales from the Hasbro Micro Machine playsets under the mini-helmets.

I'll get Boba in the near future.

These die-cast figures and vehicles are Japan-only, produced by Tomy.

These guys were around 50 bucks.

Pretty cool line of Star War vehicle drones.

A hodge podge of collectibles.

More cool stuff.

I'll probably get a few die-cast Force Awakened vehicles for my desk.  3 and 3/4 inch figures, the staple of my Star Wars collection as a kid, teen and young adult, were mysteriously absent from the assortment of goods I saw today.  Perhaps they will be released later here?   Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised that the Force is strong with the Japanese.  I can only surmise from what I saw at Toys R Us today that we will get lots of Star Wars promotional items such as Pepsi bottle caps, stickers with candy and gatcha gatcha toys in the future.  I can't wait.  Thanks for the read, and may the Force be with you.

Trader Sam's;Polynesian Resort; Walt Disney World; Orlando, Florida

Well back to Japan after a nice almost two-week vacation in the U.S.  We did the Chicago thing with the family and then were off to Orlando with the sister and her family to play in the Parks.  And, as promised, here is a review of Trader Sam's Grog Grotto.

Welcome Tiki Fanatics 

First off, I'd like to thank my wonderful brother-in-law for the opportunity to go to Trader Sam's.  His meticulous planning allowed us to visit here even with our very busy schedule (which he planned as well).  In addition to his perfectly planned agenda, we were allowed to stay in their Bay Lake Tower Villa (DVC Contemporary Resort), so many more thanks.  We had perhaps the trip of our lives with my sister and her family.

Back to Trader Sam's, Trader Sam's authoritatively answers the question of who could create the best themed Tiki bar of all time.  Disney, of course!  There could not be a better place for a Tiki bar than the Polynesian Resort, a Polynesian-themed Tiki bar in a Polynesian-themed resort!!!  In addition to Trader Sam's, we were able to enjoy a dinner at Ohana, a Hawaiian-themed Brazilian-BBQ-like restaurant and a breakfast at Kona Cafe, a Hawaiian breakfast joint, both at the Polynesian resort.

The actual Trader Sam's bar is not the largest place, and from what I hear and how it appeared to be, it is very popular with Disney cast members and Orlando locals.  Accordingly, you may have to wait awhile to get into the bar. There is plenty of seating outside though near the pool.  Kids are allowed in the bar before 8pm (I think it is 8), but it is hard to get a table for more than 4.  Making it even more difficult to bring kids in the bar is the fact that when we finally were allowed in (party of 7 on the wait list), there were 7 seats available in the bar but they were not together.  That said, the bar is enjoyed best with a hot date or a cool brother-in-law as in my case.  We decided to let the wives and kids sit outside in the ample outdoor seating while we enjoyed a drink and the amazing scenery.

Let's start with the theming.  Man oh man is this place cool.   Everything from the Tikis...

Hello Mr. Tiki

To the views of the volcanoes outside...

Nice ocean view

To the Octopus waiting on the roof...

Somebody get the takoyaki maker ready

To the angry Tiki gods...

This might be a little too intense for the kiddies

Makes this a Disney masterpiece.

There are storms at times...

Get your ponchos ready

As well as volcano eruptions!

Volcano!!!

 There are some great drinks on the menu as can be seen below.

What shall we get next?

In the bar, I ordered the Hawaiian beer sampler, the Kona Beer Flight.  Let me explain why I made that choice in lieu of a Tiki drink. The brother-in-law and I decided to expedite our time in the bar since our families were waiting outside on the patio, so we ordered quick and easy to make drinks.  He ordered the Rum Flight, straight shots of rum, yummy!  Both of our samplers came out as three shots (5-once cups of beer for me) on surf boards.   I was familiar with all of my three brews since I regularly drink them in Japan as Hawaiian beer is popular here.

Triplets

Add 20 bucks for the souvenir shot glasses

While outside, I ordered the Nautilus and was not disappointed.  If you order the Nautilus in the bar, there is a whole production of shouts of "Nautilus!" and lighting effects when the servers bring it to your table.  I ordered it at our outside table, so instead it was brought out in two plastic cups and the souvenir mug was to be picked up later upon presentation of my receipt.  Disney does not want broken glassware like the mug in close proximity to the pool.  One warning is the mugs that come with the drinks are quite pricey.  My drink (which to my surprise, was for two) was 52 dollars.  You can ask for drinks without the mugs and they are considerably cheaper.   Here are the drink in cups and my mug, the biggest, second most expensive and perhaps the most impressive one of my collection.

Double the pleasure

Ahoy brave sailors

1st edition!

We also ordered some things to munch on with our drinks, the Chicken Lettuce Cups, Kalua Pork Tacos, Hawaiian Poke and Corn-battered Portuguese Sausages.  They all tasted very good, impressive but standard Tiki-bar fare.  Ironically, what impressed me the most of our food selections was the Pulled Pork Nachos from the nearby quick-service restaurant, Captain Cook's.  However, that didn't matter since we came to Trader Sam's for the drinks and the theming.

Some Tiki Delicacies

Pulled Pork Nachos

In addition to the great theming in the bar, the patio's theming wasn't too shabby with abundant Tikis and entertainment in the form of live Hawaiian music.  The performer sounded really good especially after a few drinks.

Tiki

More Tiki

Tiki butt!!!

Our performer is way in the back.

If we didn't have 3 kids with us and Fast Passes for Space Mountain, I could have spent all night at Trader Sam's.  Really.  Nothing like strong drinks, being with buddies (great family in my case) and enjoying a vacation at an awesome Tiki bar.  I give Trader Sam's five Tikis out of five Tikis for its well-mixed drinks, good food and awesome theming.

If you are wondering where you can meet the actual Trader Sam, please proceed to the Jungle Cruise and your tour guide will introduce him to you.

Trader Sam has some deals you'll lose your head over.

 

Inside Out Stamp Rally!; Tokyo Metro

Stamp rally time!  What's a stamp rally?  Well, I never heard of one before coming to Japan.  A stamp rally is an event where you go to different designated places to have a card stamped.  Once you get all of the required stamps, you get a prize.  The Tokyo Metro subway system just had a stamp rally for the movie Inside Out.  We traveled to five different stations to stamp our cards.  Once we got all five stamps, we sent them in the mail to the address listed on the card.  Completed cards equal entries into a contest where we can win various Inside Out prizes like free movie tickets.  To be honest, the odds of winning are terrible for this particular rally.  I highly doubt we'll win anything.  However, I'll keep you updated if my guess is incorrect.

Like most movies in Japan, the release date for Inside Out trails the worldwide release.  We'll get the movie on July 17, 2015, more than a month after the U.S.  Can't wait.  Unfortunately, the stamp rally ends on June 30, 2015.  So if you want a chance to win, you better get started quickly.  Each Tokyo Metro station has the cards for you to start the rally.  If you don't participate, great.  Better chances for us even as slim as they are.

Anyhoo, here are some pictures of the stamp rally. 

We found Sadness at Kudanshita on the Tozai line.

Pre-stamped Sadness.

Got the stamp!

We found Fear at Minami Aoyama on the Hanzomon line.

Got Fear!

Anger was found at Shinjuku San-Chome station.  I can't remember which line it was but I think it was the Marunouchi line. I was pretty grumpy because I was hungry when we found Anger, so he was pretty appropriate for me. 

Got Anger!

We found Joy at Nihonbashi station.  I'm not sure which line it was.

We got Disgust at Shin Ochanomizu station on the Chiyoda line.

Here's Disgust!

Well, that's it for now.  Thanks for the read and have a good rest of the weekend!

Star Wars Visions Exhibition/Gallery; Roppongi Hills; Disney Choco Eggs; Tokyo

We finally made it to the Star Wars Exhibition/Gallery that I talked about here.  I got really lucky on this one.  By chance, people who work at Roppongi Hills got free admission to the Star Wars Exhibition/Gallery on the top of the building, the 52nd Floor.  This special was only for a period of 4 consecutive days and ended today.  We could bring guests too, so I brought my family with me.  Usual admission to the gallery is 1800 yen (15 dollars) for adults and slightly less for kids.  We saved about 60 bucks with this special.  I went on Friday night too with a coworker on my team, being the Star Wars geek that I am.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the gallery.  They strongly enforced this rule and would approach anyone they suspected of taking a picture.  I was able to snap a few shots in the area before entering the actual gallery.  Here are some shots from the area where we were allowed to take pictures. 

Lord Vader himself.

Close up of Darth Vader.

More Vader.

Lots of stormtroopers.

The kids asked me what the Death Star was when they saw this above their heads.

Those pictures were from Friday night.  Here are the ones from today.  We went up top to the Sky Deck.  Make sure to take a picture fighting the life-sized Darth Vader (you can hold a light saber) if you go up to the Sky Deck.  We got one, but wifey would kill me if I posted it here.  Got this nice shot of Tokyo from the top of my building.

Here's what Mothra destroyed in Godzilla vs. the Thing, the Tokyo Tower.

Important reminder before entering the gallery.  Strangely, it was in slightly incorrect English.  You would think LFL would have approval rights over signs.

As stated earlier, we couldn't take pictures.  If we could, I'd post a million here.  In sum, if you are a Star Wars fan, you must visit the Star Wars Visions Exhibition.  It's until the end of June.  Inside the gallery there was a museum of Star Wars props and costumes including light sabers, blasters, Ewoks, droids and Jawas.  They had actual costumes from all six movies.  The gallery also had new Star Wars artwork specially created for the exhibition, even a nude Aayla Secura painting which I ashamedly thought was hot.  They also had models from various battles in the films, a mini showdown between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan and Qui Gon Jin and a 1/4 scale Jabba the Hutt.  There were T.V. screens throughout the gallery showcasing great scenes from the movies.  Finally there was a large souvenir shop which we had to wait 20 minutes to get in.  After visiting the exhibition, I can't wait to see Episode 7 in December.  Even my little one wants to watch all of the movies now.

They added a Baymax stormtrooper helmet to the stormtrooper showcase on the first floor.  Here it is:

In other news, we got a few Disney Choco Eggs last night.  They are identical to Kinder Eggs.  Even the chocolate is the same.  This series is the best of all time though.  The only sucky figure in this series is Ursula.  So that's only like a 1 in 12 chance of being disappointed.  Here are some pictures of the eggs below.

You can find these at all convenience and grocery stores in Tokyo it seems.  They are about 200 yen or 2 bucks each.

Here's the egg.

The same waxy chocolate I remember from our Kinder Egg expeditions to Canada as a kid.

Tsum Tsum Mickey!!! Yeah!!!

Four winners out of four eggs: Tsum Tsum Minnie, Elsa, Hiro and Tsum Tsum Mickey.

Well that's it guys.  Have a good Sunday.  Make it out to the Star Wars Visions Exhibition and buy some Disney Choco Eggs if you can!