Hello Kitty Calls Out (To your wallets)
Okay, first, I’ll say this: Whoa. You will understand, as I explain what this is.
This is a Hello Kitty Maneki Neko. If you aren’t familiar with the term, maybe this image will help:
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Aha. 
Well, here’s the description of the Maneki Neko from Wiki:
The Maneki Neko (招き猫, literally “Beckoning Cat”; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money cat, Fortune Cat) is a common Japanese porcelain or ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. The sculpture depicts a cat beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed in stores, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses. A raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers.
I see this a lot here, especially in ChiTown, and honestly I didn’t know it was a Japanese thing till reading that article on Wiki >_< I’d always thought it to be Chinese hmm… Anyways moving on 
That huge Hello Kitty figure up there is part of the “Hello Kitty Selection” event at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo. It’s a Hello Kitty doll, the centerpiece of the event, and it has 62,000 Swarovski Crystals. Yes, 62,000. And it costs a whopping 8M Yen or over 66,000 USD. Ouch. I’m not sure how big she is, but judging from the kid in the picture, I’d say she’s pretty big.
The event features 800 unique Hello Kitty products. I’ll most probably be featuring some of the others here, stay tuned~ 
Technorati tags: hello kitty, maneki neko, fortune cat, lucky, beckoning, japan, swarovski, mitsukoshi, tokyo
July 30th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Woah! Hahaha:)) Pretty! And huge!
But expensive!!! Haha:D
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:06 am
[…] KT Sanctuary (http://blog.hellokitty.com/kt_sanctuary) Hello Kitty at her coolest. « Hello Kitty Calls Out (To your wallets) […]
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
@amethyst: Yeah I think it’s more useful as a store display than anything else haha
can’t imagine buying it for anything else~ Or well, if you want her to replace those lion gargoyles in front of your house… but then again leave her one night and she’d be gone. Hmm.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:27 am
I saw that on sanrio site! So shining!! XD
I have a maneki neko!
August 4th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
LOL~ First of all, I want to comment that she is a good replacement of those lion things. I mean, for one, she is so much cuter! For two, she is so much cuter. For I dont quite like the idea that I have to buy a new Hello Kitty Maneki Neko every day since each will be gone again after one night.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Wow~ So Cuuuuuteeee!!! I love both Kitty and Swarovski! X3 X3
August 6th, 2007 at 2:46 am
@Luty: Haha I don’t have a maneki neko, they should make a mini version of this
@Tingal: rofl indeed, maybe you can put an alarm system that wakes the whole neighborhood, or make it zap everyone whoever touches it LOL
@Lychee: Hello~ Yeah they really go together ^^ but unfortunately she’s so pricey T_T
August 7th, 2007 at 9:52 am
oh my, this is so expensive! does it have anti-burglar system haha.
and I like the yellow hello kitty behind the HK Maneki Neko ^^
August 12th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Yeah, it is expensive. HaHaHa kts and steffi, no, I dont think HK comes with anti-burglar system! I guess it is cheaper to get a few dogs to bodyguard HK. LOL~
August 13th, 2007 at 2:31 am
@darkntwisty: Hey I didn’t notice those yellow kitties haha! Interesting~ XD
@Tingal: Dogs guarding a Kitty moohaha~
August 28th, 2007 at 12:20 am
Wow!
I love reading this blog!
I just got a plush hello kitty maneki neko, do you know if they have many of those over in Japan? I can’t seem to find more of them here in the US.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Thanks very much Aliver! Yeah I bet they’ve got lots in Japan
But sorry I can’t help you since I’m not from the US.. T_T maybe you can buy online?
November 6th, 2007 at 8:54 am
[…] Kitty has other gold items, like the huge Maneki Neko and the Hello Kitty euros. You don’t have to be 50 to be […]