Shenmue Premiere Blue Tri-fold Pamphlet (1998) | Shenmue Merchandise

In our on-going series on Shenmue merchandise, today we will be looking at the large blue-covered tri-fold pamphlet that was part of the merchandise handed to attendees of the 1998/1999 Shenmue premiere.

The cover of the pamphlet has the game's title in the Japanese katakana alphabet, with kanji (Chinese characters) beneath it, overlaid on a dragon motif with a pinkish tinge on a blue background.

The front cover of the Blue Tri-fold Pamphlet (Shenmue II version)

In fact, there exist two versions of this blue pamphlet, as we touched on briefly in our earlier post about the Shenmue Art Book: the one we will look at today contains artwork for Shenmue II while the other introduces Shenmue I (this version has the words "Chapter One: Yokosuka" on the cover).

Being tri-fold, the pamphlet opens out to six sides, and inside can be found a mixture of images from the game as well as introductory descriptions about its features.

The inside pages of the pamphlet.

Become a Patron!

[Part 1/2] "15 Secrets of Shenmue" 1999 interview with Yu Suzuki | Translation

Today's post is a translation of an interview Yu Suzuki held with the media on 18th January 1999, soon after the successful Shenmue premiere events. Shenmue was still somewhat shrouded in mystery, so the "15 Secrets" this article refers to - while not representing special in-game secrets or the like - are an interesting reflection of what the expectations were for the game as well as Yu Suzuki's mindset almost a year before its actual release.

This topic was selected by Phantom River Stone patrons in the monthly poll for April.

Source article: February 12th, 1999 edition of Dreamcast Magazine.

The interview was held on 18th January 1999 at the final press conference of the nationwide　Shenmue premiere events that were held in Japan's 5 largest cities (Yokohama, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya) as well as Sendai.

SECRET ① Looking back on the nationwide premiere...

"We haven't all met like this since the premiere in Yokohama, have we!"

These are the words with which Yu Suzuki greets us as he appears in front of us prior to the start of the interview.

Become a Patron!

Shenmue Premiere Bag (1998) | Shenmue Merchandise

Today we take a look at the remarkable Shenmue premiere bag that was handed out to attendees at the premiere event in 1998/1999.

The Shenmue Premiere event was held in Japan and the end of December 1998 in Yokohama, with additional events through the New Year in cities through-out Japan. The expectation and excitement was huge, as it would be the first time the general public would get a decent look at Yu Suzuki's new game, one that had been the source of much speculation in the preceding months.

SEGA did not hold back on budget for these events: each lasted two hours, and were free of charge to attendees; and all attendees received an incredible amount of Shenmue merchandise:

• A boxed figurine of Shenhua 
• A CD single with an illustration of Shenhua on the cover, containing the Shenmue main theme and Shenhua's theme
• A notebook with an illustration of Shenhua on the cover
• A black Shenmue T-shirt with a mirror design on the back
• A sheet of Shenmue-themed tattoo stickers
• A blue fold-out leaflet containing art from the games
• A Christmas card with an illustration of Shenhua and falling snow
• A phone strap (Yukawa-san or Shenhua)
• A promotional leaflet illustrating various additional Shenmue-related merchandise for sale such as posters, mugs, pens and calendars.
• A questionnaire form about the event. Those who submitted this feedback form to Sega received a Dreamcast magnet!

We will be covering each of these items in more detail in future posts, but this time we'll examine the Shenmue premiere bag that the items came in.

The bag oozes quality and attention to detail. It is black in color with illustrations of mirrors in green in the background wrapping around on all sides (including the narrow sides). There is a large mirror motif in yellow/orange in the center, overlaid with the Shenmue logo. One side has the logo in the Japanese katakana alphabet and the Phoenix mirror design, and the other has the kanji version of the logo over the Dragon mirror.

It is the size of large shopping bag and is made of sturdy card material with a waterproof protective coating, and has strong black plastic handles.

Written discreetly in white at the bottom of one of the sides are the words "© SEGA ENTERPRISES, 1998".

You can almost feel the excitement and anticipation that attendees at the premiere events must have felt from the moment they stepped through the doors into the event hall and were presented with this bag, full of Shenmue goodies, before moving down the aisle to find their way to their seats.

While some of the items that were given away at the premiere event are seen more frequently, the bag itself is not often seen for sale nowdays.

Shenmue Collectors!

Our friends at Retro Import Gamer (who provided the photos for this article) have managed to obtain one of these original Shenmue premiere event bags, offering the chance to own a fantastic piece of early Shenmue history for your collection.

It is up on their Ebay store now, and ships from the UK.

Link to the Shenmue Premiere bag on Ebay.

Become a Patron!

The "Shenmue Zanmai" Campaign | 1999 Shenmue Promo Leaflet

SEGA promoted Shenmue heavily in Japan for its release back in 1999, and in this post we look at an item that was part of that promotional effort.

It's an A4-sized shop leaflet that advertises preorders for the then-imminent release of Shenmue Chapter One, as well as information about a promotional campaign.

It features an image of Shenhua on the front side, accompanied by the slogan "1999 - the RPG will be transformed...". At the bottom is the Shenmue logo (the kanji version) beneath which is the scheduled release date.

On the reverse side is an image of Ryo Hazuki, the usual expression of determination on his face. At the top of the page is a sentence that reads: "In a certain bar in Yokosuka sits a single old JukeBox..." At the right, a box that gives information about how to get the Shenmue JukeBox CD through a promotional campaign (see further down in the post for details); and in large hard-to-miss letters are the words "Preorders Now Being Taken at this Store".

At the bottom of the reverse side of the leaflet is a pre-order form that people would fill and hand to the shop.

Become a Patron!

Shenmue Art Book Discount | Retro Import Gamer

If you have been considering adding the Shenmue Art Book to your collection, here is a chance to pick it up at a discount!

The 1998 Shenmue Art Book is a rarely-seen piece of original merchandise that contains a wealth of glossy photos, design diagrams and text (some of which we have shared here on the blog).

Our friends at Retro Import Gamer are currently listing the Shenmue Art Book with a Buy It Now price of just £184.99 - this represents a very reasonable level for this item, which also includes free postage within the UK.

And especially for Phantom River Stone blog readers, we have arranged with Retro Import Gamer a £10 discount on this item.

To qualify for the discount, simply contact them via Ebay with the answer to the following Shenmue trivia question:

• Complete the password: "Father's Heaven" -> ?

Click here for the Shenmue Art Book listing on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322815658499

Become a Patron!