Hatsune Miku Plushies

Gift is a Japanese company which manufactures and releases anime-related plush dolls and accessories. The plush dolls cost 3,500 yen (excluding tax) and stand at approximately 25 cm tall.

Company Overview

Gift was founded by anime producer Genji Kaneko (金子玄之) in December 2007. The company is involved with figurine and accessories planning, manufacturing, sales, as well as the design, manufacture, and sales of audio/video equipment.

Gift and Hatsune Miku

In August 2009, Gift released their first Hatsune Miku and Hachune Miku plush dolls in collaboration with Good Smile Company. The plush doll is a large version of Good Smile Company's Nendoroid series of dolls. Instantly selling out, the company was quick to sell the second batch of dolls in November of the same year. Since then, the original Hatsune Miku design has seen 10 sets of re-releases, having concluded in February 2015. Hachune Miku, on the other hand, has had seven release batches since she started.
The doll was an instant success owing, in part, to its poseable legs and pigtails, however, the company notes that constantly posing the moveable parts (over 75 times) will likely result in damage to the frame and that buyers must take care when posing their dolls.

Following the success of the Hatsune and Hachune Miku dolls, November of 2009 saw the release of Kagamine Rin and Len, as well as KAITO. All three of these characters have only seen four sets of re-releases. In January 2010, MEIKO was released with no plans of re-release.
February of 2010 saw Megurine Luka finally being released with a series of the smaller derivative character Tako Luka. The Tako Luka mini plush dolls were special in that they were stackable on top of each other, and could also be affixed to other plush dolls that the company produced.

While the company has released innumerable series of plush dolls, including the Fate anime series, IDOLM@STER, and Touhou series, their success has been with Vocaloid. Over 20 different types of Hatsune Miku plush dolls have been released since 2009 as well as over 10 derivative characters totaling almost 50 different styles of Vocaloid plush toys.

One of the rarer types of Hatsune Miku plush toys is her Snow Miku variation. Starting sales in February 2012 at Wonder Festival 2012 (Winter), Snow Miku Fluffy Coat version was an instant hit and sold out of all stock within hours of opening the booth. In the years thereafter, Snow Miku variations have only been sold at Snow Miku events in Sapporo. In recent years, the dolls have been sold only at Family Mart convenience stores with no plans of selling them anywhere else. Due to its rarity, resellers would often post the dolls on auction websites for over 10,000 yen per doll. Gift, and Good Smile Company, condemned the practice and began filing lawsuits to the sellers.

Accessories

In addition to the plushie doll, Gift also sells accessories to be used alongside it. Special hats and coats in various seasonal designs, like Christmas and Halloween, are among the top sellers. There are also animal-themed outfits such as cats, bears, cows, and reindeer which have proven to be popular because of the cute animal designs. Finally, to ensure that dolls do not get wet during the rainy season, the company also makes special raincoats that fit over the plush doll. These extra outfits are usually on sale for 1,500 yen (excluding tax) and provide an inexpensive way to modify your original plush while enhancing its cuteness.
Besides the plush dolls, Gift also sells T-shirts, keychains, and tradeable cards that feature popular anime and Vocaloid characters illustrated in the likeness of the plush dolls.

Fan Reaction

During Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai events, in addition to the Dollfie shrine that fans create, there will also be shrines dedicated to the Gift-created plush dolls. Due to their relatively low cost, and small stature, many more fans will bring their plush dolls instead of Dollfie dolls leading to shrines propped up in multiple locations of the venue with as many as 100 plush dolls being posed. The shrines work on an honor system where fans will trust others not to mistakenly take their plushie and very few of the dolls will have the names of their owners marked in pen.
In the most recent Magical Mirai events, Gift has also sold special Hatsune Miku plushies for the event, which features Miku in that year's costume. Though produced in the thousands, these dolls are usually one of the first things that are consistently sold out, often within one and a half hours of sales opening.

Links

Gift - Official website
Gift ONLINE SHOP
GIFT PLUSH FESTIVAL ONLINE SALES - My Figure Collection