還記得前陣子我拍的12 米的巨型哆啦A夢充氣玩偶嗎？它是哆啦A夢巡迴特展的一部份，在兩天的快閃活動之後，就移到另一個展區去展覽了，某天中午，我剛好到附近去辦事，就順路去瞧一下，一走進園區，就看到顯眼的巨型哆啦A夢玩偶，一堆人拿起相機對它拍照，真不虧是超人氣明星，不過這次在他的前面，分別有大雄、靜香、小夫、胖虎及藤子·不二雄等人高公仔雕像陪伴他。
聽新聞說，前陣子有不少哆啦A夢的粉絲來台北搶購哆啦A夢娃娃，特別是哆啦A夢紫薯及鼻涕造型娃娃，原價750元台幣的娃娃，在網路上已經漲到900到1500元台幣了，我看了一下，紫薯哆啦A夢會散發紫薯香，只要一壓按鼻涕哆啦A夢，他的鼻子泡泡會變大，還真的是蠻有賣點的，不少人來特展，是先排隊搶娃娃，搶到再去看特展的，果然還是要排隊才有辦法進去紀念品區的，不過，排隊的人沒有很多，因為搶手的哆啦A夢紫薯及鼻涕造型娃娃已經賣光，要等待補貨，
不過，現在還是有其它的商品，像是這副哆啦A夢的麻將組要價九千五百台幣，我上網查了一下，已經有人在網路上轉賣了，售價大約是一萬元多台幣，大概溢價一千元台幣左右，麻將是中國的國粹，我不太會玩，不過，身旁有不少朋友都喜歡無事時，摸個幾圈，交流一下，會有人用那麼可愛的哆啦A夢麻將組玩嗎？我還看到茄芷袋，最近這幾年，茄芷袋真的很常拿去作為伴手禮，而獲得哆啦A夢加持過的茄芷袋，硬是比普通的茄芷袋貴上不少，我覺得有貴上兩到三倍。
我想人們會這麼喜愛哆啦A夢的相關商品，是因為我們童年時，都有進入過哆啦A夢的世界，看著哆啦A夢用各式各樣神奇的道具，如任意門、竹蜻蜓、時光機等，拯救常被欺負的大雄，而擁有哆啦A夢的商品，就像是重新感受童年時，那份單純而美好的快樂吧。
Remember the 12-meter-tall inflatable Doraemon I filmed the other day? It was actually part of the Doraemon touring exhibition. After a quick two-day pop-up event, it moved to another exhibition area. One afternoon, I happened to be nearby for some errands, so I dropped by to take a look. As soon as I walked into the park, the giant Doraemon immediately caught my eye, with crowds of people snapping photos of him. No surprise, he’s such a superstar. But this time, right in front of him, there were life-size statues of Nobita, Shizuka, Suneo, Gian, and even Fujiko F. Fujio standing alongside.
I heard on the news that recently a lot of Doraemon fans rushed to Taipei to buy limited-edition plushies, especially the purple sweet potato Doraemon and the runny-nose Doraemon. Those were originally priced at NT$750, but online resellers are already listing them for NT$900 to NT$1,500. I checked them out: the purple sweet potato Doraemon actually gives off a sweet potato scent, and if you squeeze the runny-nose Doraemon, the bubble on his nose inflates. Pretty creative, right? A lot of people came to the exhibition just to line up for the plushies first, and only after scoring one would they head in to see the displays. It turns out you still had to queue to get into the merchandise area. Luckily, the line wasn’t too long, probably because the purple sweet potato and runny-nose versions were already sold out, and people had to wait for restocks.
Still, there were plenty of other items left. For example, a Doraemon mahjong set priced at NT$9,000. I looked it up online, and sure enough, some people were already reselling it for around NT$10,000, roughly a NT$1,000 markup. Mahjong is a traditional Chinese pastime, though I don’t really know how to play. But I do have friends who love playing a few rounds just to relax and hang out. I wonder if anyone would actually use such a cute Doraemon mahjong set in a real game. I also spotted Doraemon-themed chia-chi bags. Over the past few years, those woven bags have become popular as souvenirs, and with Doraemon branding, they cost two or three times more than a regular one.
I guess people love Doraemon merchandise so much because we all grew up visiting his world in our childhood. We saw him pulling out magical gadgets, like the Anywhere Door, Bamboo Copter, and Time Machine, to help poor Nobita whenever he was in trouble. Owning Doraemon goods today feels like reliving that childhood happiness, bringing back that simple, innocent joy we once had.