In this section, you’ll find Unico related omake (extras) or premium items given to customers or fans over the years. Sometimes, companies give them to advertise a character or series, reward fans for attending an event, or thank customers for making purchases from a store. Since Unico was a part of Sanrio for several years, many items below will be from their stores, events, and theater showings. Other items may be from pop-up stores or cafes.
70s Sanrio Premium Unico Ring with Key
This ring depicts Sanrio-styled Unico artwork on the front of the ring. The ring itself opens to reveal a small key that fits inside, which is a cute addition to the unique item. The band says “Lyrica” on one side and “Unico” on the other to help advertise Unico being published in Lyrica Magazine during the late 70s.
There may have been other colors, but I haven’t seen too many of these pop up online.
1979 Strawberry News Animation Notebook
When Sanrio’s Strawberry News celebrated their 100th issue (May 1979), there were plenty of commemorative gifts featuring the latest Sanrio characters. Since the Unico: Black Cloud and White Feather was shown that year, it’s no surprise the little unicorn was a part of the special items. The notebook above features the Strawberry King, Hello Kitty, Ringing Bell (チリンの鈴), The Mouse and His Child (親子ねずみの不思議な旅), Little Jumbo (小さなジャンボ ), and Rose Flower and Joe (バラの花とジョー).
The notebook is 5×7 with wire binding. Inside, there are images on the top left and bottom right featuring Unico being spooked by the little slug. When you flip the pages, Unico comes to life in a fun flipbook style animation. This was reused in another notebook.
80s Sanrio Premium Unico on Wheels
Honestly, don’t know what exactly to call this item, but it features Unico on top of a base with two wheels to roll him along. I can only assume they gave out this item to promote the first film back in the early 80s, and I don’t see it often. At first, I thought the wheels were movie reels, but I believe there are other Sanrio characters on a similar base made during this time. While this one is green, there may have been other colors available.
Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic Movie Stills
Movie stills were used to promote the Unico films during their release in theaters. They came in 8×10 and smaller sizes and were most likely given out to fans, theaters, and other places to help as a marketing campaign. As you can see from the photos above, they feature several key scenes from the movie. The smaller stills also include the Sanrio logo, title of the film, etc.
Above is an example of the large movie stills which are 8×10. Unlike the smaller ones, they fill the entire photograph and leave off the information. The detail on these stills are quite impressive and definitely a neat item to have. If you’d like to learn more about movie stills, I suggest going to Brittanic Auction’s Blog Post. They share a lot of history and valuable information.
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