This page is dedicated to listing random facts about the Center that simply do not fit anywhere else on this website. Enjoy!
- Back in August 2006 in New York City, there was a Pokémon event in Bryant Park called Journey Across America, which celebrated Pokémon’s 10th Anniversary. The statues used among the event were the original Pokémon Center NY statues that had been removed over a year before this event!
- Japan’s Pokémon Center Online website offered PCNY merch for their fans in Japan. It is more than likely all of the NY merch originated out of Japan, not America. (Screenshot via wayback machine; 2001).
- Pokémon Center NY merch was very limited in Japan. with only 3,000 keychains and 100 clocks for sale there, in total.
- The Pikachu Guitar was only for the first 40 customers who came into the Japanese Pokémon Center in November 2001.
- The Pokémon Center Online Store allowed certain PCNY items to be bought and shipped to Canada
- At some point, PCNY had a custom pinball machine for guests to play with. It was one-of-a-kind, created by personalpinball.com. It has likely been rebranded or destroyed in the years following.
- PCNY was designed with a child’s short stature in mind. Features of the store, such as the Ultra Pokédex and the “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” Station, were designed to accommodate their child-aged visitors.
- The max capacity of the store was 200 people.
- The store offered gift wrapping for online orders for an additional $3.75.
- Famous actress, Edie Falco, and her kids were at the Grand Opening of PCNY.
- Even after PCNY closed and became Nintendo World, the new store sold PCNY merchandise until they completely ran out of whatever stock was left.
- The New York Pokémon Center was to be the first of several Pokemon Centers built outside of Japan. The next Pokémon Center store was supposed to be built in London, but those plans fell through for unknown reasoning.
- It is still unclear why, exactly, the store closed. Although many possible explanations for PCNY’s closure exist, the question is still up for debate, even twenty years later.
- One of the relics left of the Pokémon Center NY is the Pikachu Statue; there were 250 of these made and were given to World of Nintendo dealers. They pop up on eBay from time to time. It should also be mentioned that, as of Nintendo NY’s Grand Opening in February of 2016, this statue was removed and replaced with another statue, this time with Pikachu sitting on a Pokéball.
- Another relic of the original PCNY store are the brass door handles below (both join together to form a Pokéball). Photo credit to Julie’s Instagram Story (@tolovelfromvine), where she continues to visit the modern Nintendo NY store and post video-updates on a regular basis. These door handles have withstood all of the location’s various remodelings and are still present at Nintendo NY today, even through the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Julie, they are one of the only original features from the PCNY store to still exist at the modern-day location, without having been altered in any way.
- The only other item from the original PCNY store to still be at Nintendo NY is the famous “Gulf War GameBoy.”
- The Pokémon Center gave away promotional TOMY plush at Yankee baseball games in 2003. Each plush came with a $5 off coupon for any purchase at the Center. Notice the Yankee logo in the corner. These plushies frequently appear on eBay, nowadays.
”Sewing-needle tips found in Pokemon toys Pokemon Center NY has recalled about 7,400 Pokemon plush dolls, beanbags and key chains, according to the CPSC. Tips of sewing needles have been found in the stuffing, and pose a puncture hazard. No incidents or injuries have been reported. The recall involves 13 plush Pokemon characters: the medium-sized Jirachi, Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise; key-chain versions of Treecko, Mudkip and Torchic; the Plusle/Minun set; beanbag versions of Mudkip, Torchic and Treecko; and large-size Kyogre and Groudon. All these toys have a sewn-in label reading “TOMY.” There also is a production code on the toy’s label that begins with a letter and is followed by two numbers. The following production codes are included in the recall: A04, B04, C04, D04, E03, E04, F03, F04, G03, G04, H03, I03, J03, K03, and L03. Any production code containing an “S” is not part of this recall. The toys were sold at Pokemon Center NY in New York City and on the firm’s Web site, pokemon center.com, nationwide from January through August for between $2 and $11. A limited number were given away as a promotional item.”
[“Local.” Free Lance-Star, The (Fredericksburg, VA), 12 Aug. 2004, Local. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1046D4AA83E899DC?p=NewsBank. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.]
- This is a visual on how to hang up the Pokémon Center Magical Clock.
