As the Hobonichi Mother Project keeps developing, there’s been an influx of new releases and news to keep track of, ranging from new merchandise pieces to themed events, and even physical pop-up shops dedicated to the Mother series. As the title suggests though, here, we’ll be focusing on the more recent merchandise releases, and looking to find some new information about them. Again, special thanks goes to Lone for translating the website descriptions, and special thanks also goes to Kody NOKOLO for proofreading and editing the translated text!

(Remember to click on the images to see them in full view!)

Hobonichi Whiteboard Calendars (2021)

First off, an item that we missed during the writing of the last article: The Hobonichi Whiteboard Calendars!

From the Hobonichi website: “Hobonichi’s whiteboard calendars have been a staple since 2006. For the first time, there’s going to be a MOTHER themed one. Experience 2021 with the MOTHER series and it’s characters.

You can write a lot on it and erase it easily, as it’s a full whiteboard calendar. Even if you have sudden rescheduling to do, a temporary plan to keep in mind, or you just want to write a quick message to your family, then you can use the dry-erase pen to easily take note or rewrite it all. Your smartphone or computer might have a useful digital calendar, but you have to make a conscious effort to view it. The advantage with analogue calendars is that it quickly and effortlessly enters your field of vision, so that you can confirm your schedule in an instant – something you don’t have with digital calendars.“

“The “full sized” calendar is one you hang on a wall. It’ll work well with any interior because of its smart design. The design of this calendar features characters from all three MOTHER games appearing in different months throughout the year;

Ninten, Ana, Lloyd, and Teddy…
Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo…
Claus, Lucas, Duster, and Kumatora…
Salsa, Mr. Saturn, the Flying Man…
Pippi, the Pigmasks, the Ultimate Chimera…
The Pincho Pancho brothers, Thomas Jefferson…
…and many more!

Use this calendar to cherish your favorite characters. The expressions from the sprites in MOTHER 1 (Famicom), MOTHER 2 (Super Famicom), and MOTHER 3 (Gameboy Advance) have each been thought out and expressed with different sizes. And, of course, the numbers on the calendars all use the in-game font.”

“As for the tabletop calendar, it’s themed after just MOTHER 2. Both sides of the whiteboard paper are calendars. You can appreciate the in-game visuals on one side, then the other has plenty of blank space for you to write in. In other words, you can enjoy two designs in one.”

Looking at the screenshots used in the tabletop calendar, one might see differences in terms of character and environment sprites. Since the Hobonichi team is using Mother 2 instead of Earthbound as their reference point, it also comes without the localization changes that are present in Earthbound. The most well known example is Ness being naked in Magicant, but a lesser known one is the Iron Pencil and Iron Eraser statues were originally Iron Octopus and Iron Kokeshi Doll statues respectively. On the calendar, the Febuary design displays the original Iron Octopus. Others include the Runaway Five being called the Tonzura Brothers (meaning Runaway Brothers) and their suits being all black instead of color coded, as a more obvious homage to the Blues Brothers, the Sky Runner being called the Sky Walker as a Star Wars reference, and much, much more. If anyone is curious to the full extent of the localization process, head over to Clyde Mandelin’s site called Legends of Localization, and if possible, check out his book that goes into even more detail! But we shouldn’t get too ahead of ourselves, so let’s head back into the Hobonichi pieces.

“Scenes from MOTHER 2 have been chosen and incorporated into the design, giving it a sort-of picture book aesthetic. January features Onett, February has Twoson… the progression of the year matches the progression in the game. It’s a stylish calendar with cool and unique coloring styles very much in line with MOTHER 2. We chose this style with the hopes that you can enjoy the designs even more. It’s not just something you’d want to use as a calendar – it’s something to preserve forever. That’s how much impact the tabletop calendar has.”

Seeing as the tabletop calendar focuses exclusively on Mother 2, it’s a fair question to ask; will there be other tabletop calendars focused exclusively on the other two games in the series, Mother 1 and Mother 3? Regardless of that, much like the other pieces in the Hobonichi Mother Ptoject collection, these calendars are made to withstand the test of time, as they’re whiteboard and dry-erase based calendars and not regular paper based calendars. It’s really nice to see that standard of quality be a focus, both for collectors and archivists, as well as regular consumers.

Master Belch Plushie

Next up, an item that might seem familiar to avid MOTHER merchandise followers; The Master Belch Plushie!

From the Hobonichi website: “From the UFO catcher exclusive “MOTHER 2 – Master Belch’s Secret Base” series of plushies, the Master Belch Plushie returns!

It was made by BANDAI SPIRITS’ figure producer, Tsunehiko Sakata. He created other MOTHER related UFO catcher prizes, like the MOTHER series’ figure collection and the ‘Up-To-Your-Knees’ Mr. Saturn Plushies. For Sakata-san, seeing so many of the Mr. Saturn taken captive by Master Belch was one of the most impactful moments of MOTHER 2, and his hope was that people would play the UFO catcher with a desire to save the Mr. Saturns.”

The original Master Belch Plushies were sought after by collectors for many years, due to them only being available through the UFO Catcher crane games. While it’s unknown how widespread the UFO Catcher machine was in Japan, the plushie itself was a limited-time prize, making it a rare item for anyone in almost any region. Like the original Franklin Badge and it’s remade counterpart, it seems the Hobonichi Mother Project is aiming to make these items much more accessible, which is always a welcoming sign.

Much like the Franklin Badge, however, the Master Belch Plushie sold at Hobonichi isn’t a one to one reprint of the original plushie; “With this remake, Master Belch’s colors have become slightly more vivid. “Previously he had a darker shade of green, but then we wondered what sort of screen people saw Master Belch through. So, we decided that since we’re using different materials this time, we might as well make him look better,” Sakata-san says.” While the color change isn’t drastically different, it is enough to make him stand out among the original plushie.

By the way, here’s some fun trivia: “Master Belch’s mouth is really wide and very deep. Once he arrives to you, try putting your hand inside.” It might just fit in!

Mr. Saturn Plushies

Last but not least, two items that represent quite an iconic character of the Mother series: Made by the company Gray Parka Service, plushies based on the famous Mr. Saturn!

Unlike the other items we’ve covered so far, these are two quite distinct products with their own entries respectively! First off is the tiny Mr. Saturn variant, aptly named “Mr. Saturn In a House”.

From the Hobonichi website: “A set featuring the Saturn Valley dwelling Mr. Saturn and a Mr. Saturn house, and both fit snugly in your palm. You can leave it in your room, but we recommend you put it in a rucksack and take it with you. Together, they weigh about 40 grams, about the same as a bread roll.

Since it’s small, it’s very easy to take in and out of your bag. Hold it in the palm of one hand and use your smartphone with the other. It doesn’t hamper how effectively you can use your phone, making it very easy to take pictures with it, whether it be cooking, hanging out with friends, or going out and travelling. We hope you’ll enjoy taking pictures with it.”

Much like the website says, the plush set really does fit into the palms of your hands! While it’s unknown how small it is exactly, a good guess would be around 3 inches or 7 & 1/2 centimeters. Having it be such a small size is an interesting choice for a plush set, though definitely not a bad choice, as it makes it easy to handle in a lot of situations.

Next is the unexpectedly bigger, and just as adorable, Mr. Saturn Plushie which “Softens People Up!” There isn’t much to say on this variant that the website already doesn’t say, so let’s let them take it for this item.

From the Hobonichi Website: “A very huggable Mr. Saturn Plushie. It’s very soft to the touch and it has a springiness when you hug it. Soft, smooth, and bouncy.

Try hugging it when you’re sitting down and laying it on your stomach. The moment you hug it, you’ll instantly feel relaxed, and you won’t feel the need to do anything else. That’s why “it softens people up.”

Each plushie has slightly different expressions – none are truly the same. Treat each plushie as if it was your own. We hope you’ll treasure it for a very long time.“

And that’s all we have for now! Thank you so much for reading!