In search of a VIM (Very Important Monkey)
October 27, 2015 6:29 PM   Subscribe

Our car was broken into today; my husband's bag containing our unimaginably beloved stuffed monkey Theo was inside. Here he is at our wedding with our frog Nelson. We will be heartbroken forever if we can't replace him. He is a Japanese plush designed by Gomi Taro named Saru Rururu that has been discontinued. Other than Ebay and Amazong where else can I look to hunt him down?

He used to be on Amazon and has popped up on Ebay. I'll keep searching there.

Are there Japanese toy forums? Communities for rare plushes? Money is next to no object. As you can see from the multitude of photos , he's a pretty popular little guy. Surely someone out there (maybe in Japan?) has one they would sell to us.

Dear AskMe, how do we find that somebody before we die of broken hearts?
posted by mostlymartha to Shopping (10 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Oh, also Theo is the 9" version, not the 13" or 4.5".
posted by mostlymartha at 6:30 PM on October 27, 2015


Awww! :( I hope you can find one.

IIRC, eBay is unheard of in Japan; maybe try Yahoo Auctions. I see it listed on some toy websites, but as out of stock. I found a little one that claims to be in stock, but I guess it's too small. You might try contacting HobbyLink Japan.
posted by wintersweet at 6:39 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think they have him in stock in Rakuten. You can buy it through White Rabbit Express.
posted by clearlydemon at 6:41 PM on October 27, 2015


Ugh, forget it. I didn't see it was sold out :( I'm sorry.
posted by clearlydemon at 6:43 PM on October 27, 2015


They have a very similar one (he has pants!) here. It's a "flea market" app, so you'd probably need an intermediary like White Rabbit.
posted by clearlydemon at 6:48 PM on October 27, 2015


I would think that if you have enough photos you can get a specialist to hand make one for you.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:12 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


I tried Rakuten (the most popular online seller in Japan) but no luck. For used stuff, Yahoo Japan Auctions is the place to go, but I couldn't find anything there. Still, I think that's where you want to keep a look out for him.

If you need help communicating in Japanese, please shoot me a memail!
posted by xmts at 8:32 PM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]


Reddit has a subredit for your city; if you post there about the lost monkey, there is a small but non-zero chance that someone can find the actual monkey. Also, craigslist. I love metafilter, but reddit/craigslist can really get numbers on your side.
posted by Jacen at 6:14 AM on October 28, 2015


I also offer my help with Japanese. Plus I'm in Japan for another week, so if you do find it somewhere offline, maybe I can help.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 6:24 AM on October 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


I bought that very monkey at Black Ink in Boston some years back. Give them a ring, maybe they still carry them or have old stock left over. They also have a store in Cambridge - check with them too.

I remember also seeing that monkey in both sizes at a Japanese gift store on Porter Square in Cambridge - that's another option for you.
posted by Dragonness at 11:54 AM on October 28, 2015


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