Sunday, December 13, 2009

Just Can't Get Enough




When I become interested in something, I tend to go into OCD-collector's mode and want everything associated to it that I can get my hands on. This has been a long standing personality trait: when I was in elementary school I had to have every single beanie baby EVER (I grew past that, thankfully), in high school I collected all things CLAMP (I only dabble now, not as obsessed), and in university my interests shifted towards Johnny's Entertainment (it's been like 5 years now and I am still into it... ha.)

The picture above is my Tokidoki collection about 6 months ago. I've loved Tokidoki for a long LONG time, but when the brand first came out I was still in high school and had no money. I kick myself now, as a lot of the bags I've acquired since then were much cheaper and easier to find when they were first released, of course! I find the Tokidoki community is similar to the makeup one in a lot of ways... people help each other find their dream items and it is SUPER competitive to get limited editions items... which is pretty much every single Tokidoki bag ever, since the designs and bag styles change every season!

So what does my collection look like now...?




Well it doesn't all fit on my bed, for one. Once I was back from Japan I re-started my hunting/auction-stalking skills to buy the bags I wanted as cheap as possible, and it has served me a little TOO well. Similar to my Johnny's Entertainment 'collection' my Tokidoki collection exploded, but in the case of Tokidoki, I think I am almost 'done' looking for the older-style bags.

These aren't in any particular order, just the bags as I found them and photographed them~!

Inferno: Bambinone, Stellina, Portatelefono


The Inferno stellina was my very first Tokidoki bag that I found on LJ... it was initially over 150$ USD but because it wasn't selling got marked down to 90$ USD... and I bought it! I had no idea this was the beginning of a very slippery slope :) The Portatelefono in the bottom right-hand corner is my most recent bag, and I'm using it for my DS right now, which fits perfectly! I want this bag style in other prints though, Inferno is very cute but not one of my favourites.


Foresta: Buon Viaggio, Ciao Ciao, Dolce, Bella



Foresta is my second favourite print, and from the number of pieces I have you probably wouldn't guess it is SUPER hard to find. These bags are my awesome auction-stalking skills put to work! I paid much less than market value for each of them, and I love all of them! The BV is probably my favourite, and I ended up finding 20000Y when I was cleaning it. It'll be part of my spending money when I go back to Japan :)

Original Print: Mamma Mia, Stellina OP Black: Bambinone


The Black OP bag is one of the only bags I didn't pay any shipping on, mostly because I bought it from a girl in Calgary (Kijiji is AWESOME). The Stellina was another lucky auction find, and I am SO HAPPY I got the Mamma Mia. I found it on the Hawaii Craigslist, e-mailed the seller, and then mentally freaked out when 4 other people on the Tokidoki forums reported contacting the same seller. Fortunately for me the seller was extremely fair and honoured our agreed price even though the other potential buyers had offered him more money. :)

Adios Star: Trenino, Campeggio, Buon Viaggio


Adios Star is near and dear to my heart as I took the Campeggio with me and it was pretty much the only bag I used all of my Japan trip last spring. So it is in 90% of my photos! I'm excited to have a Trenino to use as a mini-suitcase the next trip, and I have the BV because it was SUPER cheap, and my beloved little Japan-diaper-baby is on the very front.

Tan Playground: Buon Viaggio, Ciao Ciao


At first I wasn't sure if I really liked the print, but as this is one of the most rare Tokidoki prints I soon gave in, and I'm glad I did. I actually really like the 'big girls' on the prints, and I love these bags as their size does not tend to cut their heads off. The BV was part of the OP Mamma Mia ordeal and I feel very lucky to have it!

Familigia: Ciao, Ciao Ciao


I love these bags! They are a bit more subdued than most of the other prints so I can use them in more 'professional' situations. A dear friend of mine actually tracked down the Ciao Ciao for me in Ottawa when she went there on vacation!

Tutti: Campeggio, Bianco: Stellina, Transporto: Zucca, Citta: Bambinone


I confess, I mostly own these bags because at one point I wanted at least one bag in every design Tokidoki had ever released (I realised shortly after that I didn't actually LIKE every single design Tokidoki released) and because these bags were so cheap! I am afraid of using the all white bag as I am a stain magnet, but other than that I'm happy I have all of these and use them frequently :)

Citta Rosa: Buon Viaggio, Zucca


Citta Rosa is my FAVOURITE print, so you think I'd have more bags in it! But I think a lot of people really like it, because the bags are so expensive and hard to find for a good price. I got the BV in Vancouver recently and it is my favourite bag (right now). I love all the pink!

L'Amore: Gioco, Ciao Ciao


I love this print a lot, as it shows all of the characters except for the big girls! I only use it when it's nice though as the light background tends to scuff really easily.

Geometric Girl: Amica, Marina


This is one of the prints released after the Tokidoki x LeSportSac collaboration ended. I think the general consensus is that the TKDKxLSS prints are a lot nicer, but I like the purple/pink tones in this print a lot.

Portofuna: Marina, Discoteca: Sorriso, Eco Mondo: Graziosa, Celebrazione: Carezza


More post-LSS prints! With the exception of the Eco Mondo bag, I got all of these at Winners for about 50% the original retail price which is fantastic! I don't think I'd have a lot of the 'new' prints if I didn't find them at Winners for really good prices.

Mimiteca: Cosmetic bag, Paradiso: Buon Viaggio, Spiaggia: Bambinone


Miscellaneous assortment of bags, I just bought the Mimiteca bag mostly because it was only 18$ (retail 50$), I think the Paradiso print is very cute, and the Spiaggia bag took me FOREVER to find. Thankfully this blog entry forced me to reorganize my bags so now I know where they all are.

Pirata: Campeggio Vacanze: Campeggio


Finally at the end :) Campeggio is one of my favourite bag styles, as I'm sure you can see. I used the Pirata one a lot this summer, and the Vacanze bag is in heavy rotation as it's Christmas season.

On a semi-related note, I actually bought a NON-Tokidoki purse for myself the other day, and my best friend was shocked! I love all purses, just that Tokidoki owns most of my heart (and wallet) right now :)

9 comments:

  1. Hi Justine,
    Wow, that's a really awesome collection you have there! It's great that you were able to find them through a number of sources. I bought all my bags at retail (and highly inflated Japanese retail prices at that), except for my Vacanze Avventura which I bought off Ebay right after it was released.

    It is definitely an addiction and it's hard not want every print that comes out ;-p I've already asked the store in Singapore to call me when the spring collection bags arrive! I can't wait to get the postcard print bags :-)

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  2. whoa! thanks for doing this post! I love looking at peoples collectiions hehe I love the Adios Star! haha "OCD-collector's mode" oooh JE collection...i request a post on that too...if you want to of course =P I was looking at your past posts you went to japan? and to kat-tun concert? lucky!! im planning to go to asia in the summer definitely go to japan i wanna see Arashi but no one i know is really into j-pop unless its tohoshinki who i love too

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  3. @Haru

    Sometimes I think the less-than-retail thing works against me because I HATE paying retail prices for the newer bags... I am determined to wait until they are at Winners. But I'm a bit afraid I'll miss a print that way! Even now, the prints that I 'don't want' I'll probably end up with if I find them for the right price... ;)

    I am really looking forward to the postcard print! It's quite different from the prints that currently exist I think.

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  4. @Eva

    Haha no problem, Yumeko has been bugging me to do one for AGES, and like I said, it forced me to reorganize. I actually went to 4 KAT-TUN concerts with my best friend because we are CRAZY and it is one of the most amazing things I have ever done!! I definitely recommend going, if you check online forums and communities there are always other foreign fans who are happy to meet up!

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  5. You have a jaw dropper of a tokidoki collection. WOW WOW WOW!!

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  6. Hehe I know EXACTLY what you mean about TD. I didn't collect for a year, and before that I'd get a lot of items. I prefer the LSS collab bags over the newer prints so I'm usually spending above retail for them. But I <3 them

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  7. omg, your collection tokidoki collection is amazing!!!

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  8. i looove ur collection

    and pshhh u HAVE TO BLOG MORE!!!!

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  9. Nice Collection! Could you tell me where you got the mimetica for 18 dollars?

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