Preface: The toys found in Canada come from a company called Irwin Toys, yet they look strikingly similar to Bandai toys found in other countries. Why? Because Irwin has a licensing agreement to distribute Bandai's Sailor Moon toys in Canada. Typical of Canadian toys, the packaging on these is always bilingual, with all text in English and in French. Like the toys found in the US, there are no distinctions such as Sailor Moon R, Super S or Sailor Stars.
**Update - Early in 1999, a good selection of Irwin's Sailor Moon toys began appearing in select toy stores, comic book stores and even some video stores throughout the US. (I found quite a few dolls in my local Suncoast Video store!) **
Series One, 1995-96: The original series' of 11.5" dolls and 6" dolls were identical to those released in the US in 1995, and the same characters were available. In 11.5" size: Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury & Venus. The 6" series added a Queen Beryl.
Series Two, Spring of 1997: The same dolls with new shinier costumes with gold trim. Here's the 11" Mercury, the 6" Mercury and the 6" Venus as examples.
Series Three, X-Mas '97 Season: This time, some major changes! The 11.5" dolls now include an extra set of street clothes with each doll, and for the 6" series, each doll comes with a spinning "transformation" base. The biggest news is the addition of new characters to North America. Tuxedo Mask and Chibi Moon were added to both the 11.5" and 6" series. Queen Beryl was slated to appear in 11.5" form for the first time worldwide. At the last minute, Irwin Toys replaced her with Sailor Pluto! Queen Beryl did finally show up on shelves, though, as an exclusive doll found only in a department store chain called Price Club.
Another suprise move came in late November, when Irwin released six all new 11" dolls to the world of Sailor Moon merchandise. Princess Serenity, Prince Darien, Rubeus, Prince Diamond, Emerald and the Wicked Lady! Most of these characters have never been released in doll form before, and four of them are villains, so this is really BIG news!
Since I was never the biggest fan of the North American dolls' look, I made no effort to attain the first two series of Canadian dolls. But I must admit that the third and fourth series' have made an impression in a big way.
From Wave Three: (October '97)
- Tuxedo Mask / Darien - With extra casual attire of jeans and a t-shirt.
- Chibi Moon / Rini - With an extra pink and purple outfit.
- Sailor Pluto - With pink overalls.
- Queen Beryl - (Price Club exclusive) - Comes with an audio cassette instead of extra clothes.
From Wave Four: (November '97)
- Princess Serenity - I'm glad they made a Princess doll, but she looks like a frog if you ask me.
- Prince Darien
- Wicked Lady - aka Black Lady, Chibiusa's evil adult incarnation.
- Rubeus -
- Emerald - The best of the new lot, hands down.
- Prince Diamond - The villain with the poofiest hair.
This series was later released in 6 inch versions. Click here to see Wicked Lady, Emerald & Prince Darien. Click here to see Princess Serena.
From Wave Five: (Late '98)
- Super Sailor Moon - 6"
- Sailor Pluto - 6"
- Sailors Uranus and Neptune - 6"
- Professor Tomoe - 6"
17 Inch Dolls - Five in the series.
At just 2" high and with no real poseability, I wouldn't exactly call these "dolls." They are cute figures, though. Originally, there were 12 figures, consisting of: Sailor Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Tuxedo Mask, Molly (yes, Usagi's best friend from the first two seasons!), Usagi/Serena in school outfit, Prince Endymion, Princess Serenity and a two-pack of Artemis and Luna. These same figures were also released in Europe, Hong Kong and Japan, under the Sailor Moon R label. Later additions included Chibiusa, Sailor Chibimoon, Super Sailor Moon, and Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn.
