Interest

Company Apologizes for Uma Musume Plush Dolls Having 4 Ears

Gift, a Japanese producer of plush toys and other merchandise for anime, manga, and video games, issued a new apology on Wednesday after the discovery of defective Uma Musume Pretty Derby plush dolls sold during Comic Market 107.

What was defective? Gift representative director Haruyuki Kaneko explained that the dolls of the Vivlos character sold first at the December 30-31 event (and at the AmiAmi Akihabara Radio Kaikan Store in Tokyo) have “parts that do not exist in the original character design (ear-like parts).”

In other words, the dolls have two horse-like ears (as they should) and two human-like ears (as they shouldn't).

Kaneko added, “We are offering an exchange for a non-defective product or a refund to customers who purchased the affected product.” Purchasers of the dolls can contact the Gift Customer Support Section ([email protected]) until March 31 for the exchange or refund. The non-defective doll replacements are set to ship in early May, or customers can receive the full refund for the 6,500 yen (about US$42) purchase.

As you might expect, since Gift initially confirmed the "defective" four-eared plushies on December 31, at least 18 have sold at Japanese secondhand websites for prices ranging from 9,000 yen (about US$57) to 65,000 yen (about US$413). The average is hovering around 35,000 yen (about US$225).

Gift also sold plushes of three other characters early at Comic Market 107 for 6,500 yen each, but did not report any defects in those three.

Sources: Gift's website, Oricon News, Den Famico Gamer via Yaraon