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  Welcome To The Dragon's Den!I've been a fan of Pokèmon since their debut in Italy in the mid-to-late 1990s and since then, Dragonite has always been my absolute favourite monster! I'm pretty sure I can pinpoint my obsession with my first playthough of Pokèmon Blue in which I managed to get a Dratini early in the story by claiming one from the Celadon Game Corner; it's been a powerful ally in battle and a staple in my parties since then! Coincidentally, I was also filling up the Merlin's sticker album and Dragonite's Pokedex entry sticker was among the ones that I really couldn't come across! I ended up ordering it from the publisher itself, which put Dragonite on a special spotlight in my eyes. Dragonite wasn't exactly the first choice for fans in the first gen era (while there certainly were less options compared to today, Pikachu was still the most loved monster in terms of merchandise!) so it was hard to find toys dedicated to it, especially during a period of time in which Internet search was a rare occurrence. A classmate in elementary school gifted me a Dragonite-shaped pencil topper (probably part of a toy set that came along with some junk food) and I've been looking for other little figures ever since. Nowadays I work with conventions so it's easier to come by new additions to my collection; also, I'm glad to see there's a thriving community of Pokèmon collectors on the net! Can't wait to show off my hoard xD Nowadays, the Pokèmon Company can count on a huge catalog of plushies, a good number of them featuring Dragonite! They're wonderfully made, but also rather big and with my current house I would surely run out of room in no time if I started collecting those. So with a heavy heart, I have to pass on to those beautiful items. Instead, I focus on collecting pocket-size merch which I can easily display on my shelf! Click on the item names' to see their photo. PLUSHIES Monochrome Keychain Plush - I thought I would have found more information about its maker and production online, but I can't find anything similar to this! I got this keychain plush at a Milan Cartoomics convention somewhere around 2014 and 2015; it fits neatly in one hand and caught my attention as it seems designed to emulate the yellow monochrome palette of Dragonite Red/Blue/Yellow's game sprite.
FIGURES OfficialPencil Topper - The one that started it all! This is the first Dragonite figure I ever acquired, gifted to me by one of my friends in elementary school, waaaaay back before the year 2000 would roll out! I'm unsure from what stationery set this particular Dragonite comes from, but considering the sheer amount of toys that came along junk food during those years, I'm willing to bet it was part of Mr.Day's confectionery gadgets. Afterall, its magnets and erasers are rather famous among italian vintage collectors.You'll notice its "antennas" show age and repair since they were rather fragile and prone to detatching over time! The current ones have been made out of the same green stuff generally employed for Warhammer miniatures. They seem to hold up well, so far! Gachapon Charm "Chain Link" - Produced by Bandai in 2017 and distribuited in gachapon machines, this Dragonite is part of a set of charms that can be linked together to form a long chain of dangling Pokèmon! They're quite cute, but with the downside that Dragonite can't stand on his own due to the "ring" attached to its tail. This is the only Dragonite merch I ordered online instead of purchasing from a live event.
Poseable Assembly Kit - Produced by Bandai in 2013 and purchased a few years later at a Naples Comicon. This Dragonite was part of an assembly kit that also featured Dratini and Dragonair; while Dragonite is luckily the best resulting model in the set, the two pre-evolutions are actually a bit shite, so they ended up getting discarded. xD Once built, this Dragonite shows interesting manifacture and can be posed with its arms, legs, wings, tail and mouth. This is also the Japanese version, as the American one has been modified to look... angry. For more info and a long rant of me assembling this, you can read my Tumblr post!
Pokemon Center 2021 Keychain - Produced by Nintendo in 2021, apparently this tiny figure has been made available in gachapon machines stationed inside the Pokèmon Center shops. I was completely unaware of its rarity since I purchased it completely at random while visiting a Milan Comics & Games event that same year. It feels well made and has a very cute muzzle!
Kid Figure "Light Orange" - Produced by Bandai, these finger puppets (or "kid figures" as collectors like to call them) are VERY popular: there are several existing versions for almost every Pokèmon available and have been produced since the dawn of the franchise. I was rather impressed when I started seeing massive bins of these loose toys being displayed at conventions: in fact, this one was purchased from an import booth while at the EtnaComics in 2022, but it seems to be way older. Online sources say it could be from 1996... hm. At least it would explain its peculiar colour, way different from the official Dragonite hue.
Kid Figure "DX" - Produced by, once again, Bandai (I was mighty convinced this was made by Tomy for some reason). The DX series of "kids" is easily recognizable by their bigger size and multiple poseable joints, the most striking of which allows to twist their body and appears as a "cut" at the midriff. While this particular figure might be rather old (if you know the year of production, please tell me!) I only got it in late 2022. I particularly like its cross eyed gaze, it's so silly! x3
Kid Figure "Giggling" - Yet another kid figure by Bandai, this one has been produced in 2022 and comes with a new pose, in which Dragonite appears to be covering his mouth with paws while obviously giggling. It was to precious I just had to have it! Purchased as soon as I saw it at a Milan Cartoomics Con in that same year.
Really Really, Really Tiny Dragonite - I seriously have no idea where this toy comes from or if it has some official origins (I don't even know how to start researching about it online); while visiting various booths of Bologna's Nerd Show in 2024 I saw it in a box of mini figures pricing at just one euro and it had to be mine. It's so, so small! My friends are convinced this figure was originally encased in one of those bouncing balls from the 90's, but looking at the pictures, the toy seems to be rather different, bigger and more detailed. Who knows!
Custom3D Printed "Postman" Figure - One of my friends has a 3D printer: this is one of the first things he printed out! That really is all there is to say about this figure xD after recieving it as a gift, I decided to paint it with acrylics, so the world can tell me to THIN MY PAINTS!It is apparently based off a 3D model that is also usually employed to print out pencil holders x3 FLATSThird Party3D Wooden "Fossil Set" Card Repro - I'm not sure I'll ever be able to collect any of the Dragonite official cards, both because the older sets (which I'm most fond of since it's the ones I used to grow up with) have become mighty expensive and because I do prefer figures, afterall. Though, when I saw this very well done standee at a Novegro Comic Festival in early 2024, I considered it to be a bridge between the two categories and a good compromise! Now I have a card that can be displayed with the rest of the figures! xD
DIGITALAre you familiar with web adoptables? They used to be very popular with fansites way back before social media; artists would put cute graphics up for "adoption" so anyone could download and put their favourite graphics on their own page or forum signature. The only rule: make it so that the graphics link back to the original site! It was a cute and effective way to let your site be known among fans. Of course, as Pokèmon fansites thrived in the early 2000s so did Pokèmon themed web adoptables and many artists opted to draw Dragonite! Over the years I've acculumated a fair amount of Dragonite web adoptables, a lot of them salvaged from now definct sites and only available through Web Archive. All of them can be seen on my dedicated page on my mainsite. MORE COLLECTIONS!I'd love to affiliate with more Pokèmon collectors, so this is where I'll store the banners of all my future friends! I'll also feature their sites on my Affiliates page of the mainsite. |
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