Yoshinoya is having a collaboration with Dragon Quest Walk featuring loads of fun content but most importantly of all a Slime beef bowl combo where you get a random Dragon Quest Walk x Yoshinoya collab figure.
Aren’t they just the cutest? They even made a little stop motion animated commercial to advertise too and show off the quality of the figures. I love all the little nods to each series they managed to squeeze into each design especially the Mimic disguised as a box of pickled ginger.
The Early Adventurer Doesn’t Always Get the Slime
What started out as a very fun and highly accessible collab once more went terribly wrong for us. As we casually strolled up to our local Yoshinoya bright and early Saturday, July 4th around 11am ready to enjoy some brunch beef bowls we were met by the sign that they were sold out.
We had already looked up the collaboration details ahead of time and knew that at least the random figures were only being given out to customers who dined in. Those who wanted to order takeout would receive a special Slime plastic bag and Dragon Quest Walk themed takeout bowls instead. In addition, stores would have a new stock of the figures available each morning as they had a set amount daily that would be distributed with collab meals from 10am. So we figured since it was only day three of the collaboration we could try our luck somewhere else on another day.
At least we got to see the other cute commercial for the collaboration playing on the electronic sign before we headed on our way to grab lunch elsewhere.
Once again we were horribly mistaken by our optimism. Despite their best efforts to avoid scalpers at many locations through various methods, the combination of popular beef bowl fast food chain Yoshinoya and the smartphone game Dragon Quest Walk was still no match for the demand from customers. Yoshinoya was already posting on July 6th about shortages and selling out at many locations already, mind you this would be day five of the collab, and by July 8th they officially announced the end of Part 1 completely.
This is honestly a very real experience for most collabs at popular chain restaurants when living in Tokyo. While certainly nothing like the McDonalds Pokémon Happy Set fiasco from last year this is not a new trend. Even before scalpers and other bad actors appeared, campaigns like this are notoriously under stocked and under prepared. My best experiences have always been with places that allow preorders or reservations especially now that I’m a mom and have to plan accordingly when I bring the little one along.
However this time around all hope isn’t lost for us! There’s still Part 2 of the collab set for July 16th so we’ll see if we can try again for our Yoshinoya Slime beef bowl! In the meantime maybe I’ll download the game to enjoy the digital collab while it’s around too since I don’t have to worry about stuff selling out on my walking adventure.
Were you lucky enough to try the Yoshinoya Slime beef bowl before they sold out? How was your experience? Are you looking forward to another chance during Part 2? Tell us about it in the comments!
Useful Links
Dragon Quest Walk Official Website: https://www.dragonquest.jp/walk/
Dragon Quest Official News: https://www.dragonquest.jp/news/detail/4250/
PR Times Article: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000381.000128734.html
