It’s getting to be that time, y’all… That time where you get together with your pals to watch fireworks take over the sky in celebration of the biggest event of the summer. That’s right… ✨ANIME EXPO✨! July 4th is quickly approaching, and so is the biggest anime convention in the US! And as the biggest convention, not only will it hold world premieres and exclusive events, but there are those sweet, sweet convention exclusive items you can ONLY buy at Anime Expo.
But what kind of exclusives will we see there? And which booths will you be able to buy them from? Worry not, dear readers; this is your handy dandy guide to Anime Expo exclusives along with other essential info for attendees. I’ve done these guides for 2015, 2016, 2017, and now I’m back for 2019! Let’s see what goodies we can expect for this year’s Anime Expo!
NOTE: Keep in mind that at this time many companies exhibiting at Anime Expo have yet to reveal their sales menu, so this post will be updated many times as more info gets revealed. Some of the info appear as close to the event as possible, so keep checking back for the latest news!
Let’s start with what AX will have available at their own Official Merch Store! They’ve got a lot of stylish gear that attendees can buy. I’ve got my eye on the Banner Backpacks! You can check more info on what they’ll have at their store here. And don’t forget, the official merch store will be located at LACC South Hall Lobby & West Hall Lobby.
CyGames (booth #4506) is making a HUGE splash this year, and they’re finally showing their Western fans some love! This year, they’ve been touring their CyStore all over the US, and AX is one of their stops. Their offerings are MASSIVE; you can see what they’ll have for sale at their booth here. But with this being AX and all, there’s bound to be exclusives, right? The images above are the AX-exclusive items that CyGames will have available! No prices have been named for those, but you can look at their current sales menu and kinda deduce how much stuff will come out to be.
There are a few AX exclusives that they listed, but didn’t show pics for:
Body pillows and figurines… I wanna see, but we’ll have to be patient! It’s an exciting time to be a Granblue fan, so make sure you save up for these goods! Plus, if you’re into fighting games AND Granblue, you can play a demo of their upcoming fighting game Granblue Fantasy Versus!
Bandai Namco Arts (booth #2606) will be having the official Love Love! Sunshine!! Aqours concert goods for sale at their booth. If you’re a Love Live fan, you likely already have your ticket for the concert they’ll be holding as well, so you don’t want to be without these exclusive goods to wear on the day of the concert! Especially since none of these items will be for sale at the concert’s venue, the Novo. Get to the exhibit hall early and grab those goods before the concert! On top of that, they’ll also have other Love Live goods, which makes this booth heavenly (…or hell-ish for your wallet) for huge Love Live fans.
Besides Love Live goods, the Bandai Namco Arts booth will also have quite the selection of merch from other series, like One-Punch Man, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, IDOLiSH7, VIDESTA and several anime soundtrack CDs. I’m especially eyeing those Slime goods; those socks are basically calling my name! Speaking of Slime, there will also be a stamp rally themed around the series:
Pick up your Jura Tempest Federation Stamp Rally Passport from the BANDAI NAMCO Arts Booth (#2606). Visit the 4 locations (Bandai Namco Arts, Crunchyroll, Yen Press, and Kodansha Comics) in the Exhibit Hall and collect all the stamps to get an exclusive illustration card with signatures from the cast & crew!
Kotobukiya (booth #4911) make their return to AX, and they have a DARLING in the FRANXX exclusive item for sale! They’ll have a cute Zero Two figure that’s exclusive to AX; you won’t find this anywhere else! They haven’t revealed what else they’ll have for sale, but their sales menu are usually pretty hefty. You can check out what else Kotobukiya will be doing at AX here.
AX will be holding their annual fashion show, where various designers show off their their stylish clothing. But one fashion brand is doing something unique: h.NAOTO will be taking pre-orders for a completely custom and one of a kind piece for the first time ever outside of Japan!
I don’t think I’ve heard of a Japanese fashion brand doing this service at US conventions shows, so this is truly the start of something wonderful! I will definitely be by their booth to get some fabulous bold fashion pieces!
Yostar (booth #206) and Idea Factory International (booth #3906) are teaming up for a stamp rally to win some pretty sweet prizes! They’ll be also doing photo ops in their booths to win cool freebies.
Idea Factory International will have new merch debuting this year, like Goddess Pixel Hats and Nepgeardam T-shirts. If you remember their offerings last year, those will make their return this time around too, so they’re gonna have lots of goodies for attendees to buy! And they’ll also have a Neptunia Shooter tourney at their booth, where you can net some cool prizes.
Yostar also has some merch available at their booth like T-shirts, towels and wall scrolls. They might reveal more goods as we get closer to the start of the convention.
Crunchyroll (booth #2600) has a pretty stacked sales menu with something for everyone! But what are the exclusives? They’re marked in orange in the images above! There’s a lot of neat stuff, like that great Mob Psycho 100 hoodie, and that bag with Dimple’s dumb face on it (AMAZING!). That Jotaro Kujo Nendoroid is also on my list!
Tokyo Otaku Mode (booth #4401) will be displaying a lot of stuff at their booth, like a bunch of figures along with their upcoming new products, and several partnered projects they’ve been working on as well. They didn’t forget about their Premium members, though! Make sure to check in at their booth to get some freebies. And we all know that free stuff is better than no stuff, so don’t forget to check in! Oh yeah, and Premium members have a chance to win a cool figure or a cute plush prize.
Pony Canyon (booth #3700) is gonna have lots going on in terms of premieres and autograph sessions, but they haven’t revealed if they’ll have any exclusive merch yet. What they have revealed is that they’ll have a special Twitter campaign; if you snap a pic with their Kengan Ashura display, you’ll get a free sticker of the series! It’s interesting that Kengan Ashura is the big thing they’ll be doing at AX this year; it’s not a show I expected this level of promotion, but it’s certainly caught my attention!
Aniplex (booth #2000) is set to basically take quite a bit of my money with the extensive sales list that they have for AX! Do you like Fate/Grand Order? This is the booth to be, with special merch for their USA Tour stop! They’ll have items from other series, like The Promised Neverland, Demon Slayer, BLEND-S, and more. Besides their sales booth, they’re going to do a whole bunch of premieres and panels that you won’t want to miss! Check more details here, and you can check the full sales menu here.
Aniplex will also be doing a Magia Record lanyard giveaway to those who download the game and show it to the booth’s staff.
And in addition to everything they’re already doing, they’re also doing some demos for Fate/Grand Order Duel. If you try out the game, you can get one special holographic Status Cards at random. More details here.
Viz (booth #2206) is gonna be poppin’ this AX, especially with Bisco Hatori being there! There’s gonna be panels, autograph sessions and other fan events, but yes, what about the EXCLUSIVES?! You can trust Viz with having some of those. They finally released the full list, so ready your wallets!
There’s also going to be a Viz x Anime Expo collaboration going on, with some neat Naruto items for sale! It’s Anime Expo’s first ever collaboration with an anime title for exclusive merch. You can find these items and more at the AX Official Merch Store located in the LACC South Hall Lobby & West Hall Lobby.
Yen Press (booth #1011) will be having some giveaways and gifts with purchases depending on the day you visit their booth:
- Monster and the Beast poster: Thursday and Saturday
- Kaiju Girl Caramelise love card: Friday and Saturday
- Little Miss P buttons: a different design every day
- Secretly, I’ve Been Suffering About Being Sexless button: Saturday
- Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon poster: Friday and Saturday
- Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! button: Friday
- Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san fans: Every day
- Plunderer coaster: Every day
- Light novel sampler: Every day
NIS America (booth #3306) will be plenty busy at AX with plenty of panels, autograph sessions and events centered around Trails of Cold Steel III, since the game’s producer and Falcom’s president, Toshihiro Kondo, will be there! Along with that will be demos for attendees to play and a stamp rally to get some nifty prizes. And of course, there will be merch for people to buy! We only got a sampling of what they’ll have (I’m eyeing that Prinny backpack…), but they’ll be revealing more on July 3rd.
Oh, Atlus (booth #3106)… you TEASE! Leave it to them to wait until days before to show us a little bit of what they’ll have at the booth. Atlus, I WANT TO SEE IT ALL! You can expect to see the full list of merch tomorrow. They’re also doing a collaboration with Okamoto Kitchen, where you can order Persona 5 and Catherine-themed food!
Coolmic (booth #4425), an adult digital manga publisher, will be making their appearance at AX with some exclusive goods ranging from fans, file folders, can badges and body pillow covers. Some of the stuff is pretty lewd, so if you wanna check it out, here’s that handy link for y’all to see, but it might not be safe for work.
Toynk Toys (booth #817) will have some My Hero Academia exclusives at their booth. Their offerings range from pins, to replica notebooks and mystery boxes. I’ve got my eye on that Bakugo pin!
Bushiroad (booth #800) will not only be holding a panel, but they’ll have a cosplay contest with some sweet prizes on the line, and autograph sessions. They haven’t really revealed anything regarding exclusive merch, but they’ll have a stamp rally and, as usual, they’ll have their TCG area so that you can try out their games like Weiss Schwarz or Future Card Buddyfight! If you do try them out, you can get special promo cards only available for AX attendees!
They’ll also be giving away stickers if you fulfill certain conditions, like logging in to you BanG Dream app and play a Multi Live with your friends, or doing a venue-exclusive gacha. Those stickers look cute!
Ikémen Series by Cybird (booth #1206) is back at it again at AX for otome game fans! They have a bunch of fun stuff going on (yes, including that Kabedon event!), along with plenty of merch for attendees to buy. What I really dig about this booth is that there’s so many activities to do, that it’s easy to spend quite a bit of time there; Cybird really likes giving their fans some love!
NTT Solmare (booth #1400) is also gonna be at AX, quenching the thirst of otome game fans with a new game called “Obey Me!” Here’s what they had to say about their upcoming presentation of the game at AX:
At this booth, we’ll have a fun spot where you can interact in a personal way with the handsome residents of the “Obey Me!” world!
Use “Devil Chat” to talk with the fiendish characters of the game.
Interact with various people in “Obey Me!”
Want to know more about them personally? The conversation’s in your hands!We’d be overjoyed if you were to have a good time with the new characters we’ve prepared for AX.
Also, on the booth’s walls, we’ll be exhibiting character art, background art, rough drafts and comments from the director which are not usually released.
For those of you interested in how the game was made, come on out and visit our booth!You can get a paper bag if you fill out the survey!
They’ll also be debuting another game called “Moe! Ninja Girls”, which is a bit out of the norm for them, but it’s neat to have some variety. Here’s what Solmare had to say about this game being at AX:
You will have the chance to play our new RPG! You can play as new characters, such as Oka and Ran, or old-school favorites such as Akari and Enju! We’ve got something for everyone, so come check us out at AX and get a sneak peek at the Moe! Ninja Girls RPG!
As for merch, they haven’t revealed anything other than they will have some items available for purchase. Tell us your secrets, Solmare!!
Want even more otome game stuff? Cool, ’cause Voltage (booth #1906) will be at AX with a ton of otome game goods! I think this is probably their biggest lineup I’ve seen yet! Voltage will also be having some events at their booth, so swing on by for that otome game goodness. More details about their items and pricing can be found here.
It ain’t AX without Goodsmile Company (booth #3200) being there! They’re going to have a massive celebration for the getting to Nendoroid number 1000! There’s gonna be photo ops, and of course, that delicious exclusive merch! It goes without saying that if you’ve been holding off on getting a Nendoroid that’s listed in GSC’s sales menu, you should probably buy it while you’re at the convention, because it’s the lowest possible price you’ll pay for ’em. Just make sure to allot some suitcase space, or hell, just bring an empty suitcase in case you see a lot you like!
In order to best control the long, long line that will form, please make sure to keep the following in mind:
Purchases at the Good Smile Company booth will be on a first come, first serve basis while supplies last. Purchases will be by credit/debit cards only. Fans are allowed to line-up to purchase items once the show doors open.
On July 4th, once our line reaches full capacity, we will begin to distribute tickets to return back in line at a designated time. No tickets are needed to enter the line after 3:30pm (However if line reaches capacity it will be capped).
On July 5th and onward, line tickets will be distributed once doors open. You must have a ticket to enter the sales line. No tickets are needed to enter the line after 2:30pm (However if line reaches capacity it will be capped).
Line tickets will be distributed by designated Good Smile Company staff members when necessary. Staff members will be located near the end of the line.
*Tickets are limited in number
*One ticket per person and one transaction per ticketEach ticket will have a specific group name and time printed on it.
Please arrive at our booth anytime after the scheduled time on the ticket in order to line up for purchases.①10:00AM~ (Group A) / ②10:30AM~ (Group B) / ③11:00AM~ (Group C)
④11:30AM~ (Group D) / ⑤12:00PM~ (Group E) / ⑥12:20PM~ (Group F)
⑦12:40PM~ (Group G) / ⑧1:00PM~ (Group H) / ⑨1:20PM~ (Group I)
⑩1:40PM~ (Group J) / ⑪2:00PM~ (Group K) / ⑫2:20PM~ (Group L)
⑬2:40PM~ (Group M) / ⑭3:00PM~ (Group N)*All times are based on PST.
*Only one line ticket will be provided per person.
*There is a purchase limit of one of each exclusive item per person.
*Tickets will be checked and collected when entering the line; if you leave the line you will forfeit your spot.
*Lost tickets will not be reissued.
*Receiving a ticket does not guarantee that products will be available for purchase. There is a possibility that the product may sell out before you arrive.
*Tickets are only valid on the day they are issued.
*Stock will not be allocated for each day. Any item that sells out will be sold out for the rest of the event.
*All sales are final. We do not accept refunds or returns under any circumstances.
Besides the merch, Goodsmile Company will also be bringing… A VR game?? What? Yes, a VR game centered around Little Witch Academia, and in it you’ll be a experiencing “the magical adventure of broom flight,” according to them. It’s weird, but I’ll give it a try! But here are some details if you want in on trying the game too:
In order to participate in “Little Witch Academia -VR Broom Racing-”, you must first receive a VR entry ticket. Each ticket has a timed entry and tickets are limited. You will only be eligible to play at the time printed on your ticket.
To Receive a VR ticket:
– Tickets are free, but you must come to the Ticket Window at the VR booth located at GSC Booth #13 in the Entertainment Hall. Tickets are nontransferable and non-replaceable.
– Tickets will be distributed daily at VR booth for each respective day. Please check our booth for the ticket distribution schedule.
– Your ticket is only valid for a specific time-frame and you must line-up at the booth at the time printed on your ticket. You may have to wait a little while for your turn.
– Participants must be 13 years of age or older. No exceptions.Please follow the “Little Witch Academia -VR Broom Racing- “Official Twitter account for the latest updates regarding the ticket system and more during the event.
Little Witch Academia -VR Broom Racing-Official Twitter: @LWA_VR
As if all of his wasn’t enough already, GSC will also be having a silent auction for a one-of-a-kind original in-between frames from KILL la KILL! One set of frames will be auctioned each day. Here’s more handy info about how this will go down:
Bidding Time: July 4th – 6th, 12:00PM to 4:00PM; July 7th 10:00AM to 2:00PM.
How to Participate: Bids can be placed using your phone by accessing the QR code at the Good Smile Company booth. Alternatively, you can bid at the booth using our iPad near the auction item on display.
Bidding Requirements: A Google account is required to bid. Winners will be required to provide photo ID and credit card for payment.
· The highest bid will be displayed on the bidding screen in the silent auction website.
· There is no limit to the number of bids you can make during the bidding period.
· Each set contains multiple frames, but the number of frames vary in each set.
· You are fully responsible for your bid.
· The winning bidder will receive a phone call from staff once bidding has closed.
· The winning bidder must return to the booth within 60 minutes after receiving the phone call.
· Once contacted, the winning bidder must return to Good Smile Company’s booth and report to the Customer Service window to complete the transaction.
· If bidder can’t be contacted or arrive to the booth within the designated time, that bid will be forfeited and the next highest bidder will be contacted to complete the transaction.
Omocat (booth #1211) will be having a special collaboration with Anime Expo with some snazzy track jackets and a shirt featuring AX’s mascot characters drawn in Omocat’s style! These will be exclusively sold at the AX Official Merch Store located at LACC South Hall Lobby & West Hall Lobby, but you can expect Omocat to have plenty of other stylish gear for sale at their own booth.
Udon‘s (booth #2623/2723) making an appearance at AX, and they’ll be bringing with them the convention-exclusive version of the Street Fighter 2019 Pin-up Special and a variant color of the M. Bison character pin. They’ll also have a Morgana Lucky Draw going on where you can collect all 5 variants to make a special set. I’m sure they’ll have some of their other comics and artbooks available for purchase as well, so swing by their booth and check those out.
Hypland (booth #ANX-C5) will not only be having their Summer and Fall collection, but they’ll also be debuting their Bleach Collaboration collection too! There will also be some exclusives that Hypland will be revealing in the next few days, so stay tuned!
Funimation (booth #1800), will be having loads of their BD and DVD sets for sale at their booth, so if you missed a few releases, you can expect to find them there. Along with those, they’ll also be selling Kotobukiya’s Zero Two figure and several other special items they haven’t revealed yet. If you’re a FunimationNow member, you can swing by the FunimationNow lobby to pick up a lanyard, and check in daily for a chance to play the giant gashapon machine that’ll give members a chance to win some prizes. Prizes range from hats, t-shirts, plushies, mini figpins, FunimationNow merch, and more!
FAKKU (booth #1006) is back, and they’re bringing with them Michiking to AX as a guest of honor. They’ve teamed up with Michiking to create a special set called FAKKU x Michiking Box, which will be making its debut at the convention. It features 6 doujin comics from Michiking published in English and uncensored for the first time. FAKKU will also have a new collaboration with Hyocorou for some super limited jackets. And, as usual, they’ll have their special skateboard decks, T-shirts and books for sale. You can check out more details here, but do keep in mind that it’s NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
MangaGamer (booth #4229) will be around in the adults-only section of the exhibit hall, and they have plenty of lewd stuff for attendees! From those oppai mouse pads to saucy dakimakuras, if you want ’em, they’ve got it. More info about their offerings can be found here, but beware, because it’s not safe for work!
Toei Animation (booth #3806) will be joining in the AX festivities with a lot for attendees to do, even though they didn’t exactly say what that all was! I’d really love to know what exclusive merch they’ll have, but your guess is as good as mine; we’ll have to wait until we’re at the convention itself to know, unless they reveal a few days before the event.
Kadokawa (booth #1606) is making their way to AX while A TON of merch for attendees to buy! The list is HUGE, and there’s something for pretty much everyone. They’ll be bringing some items that will be debuting first at AX, so you’ll be among the first to see and purchase those! You can check out the full list of stuff they’ll have for sale here.
Kodansha‘s (booth #806) back at AX, and they’ll have plenty of activities at their booth along with some exclusive items for sale. Unfortunately, they didn’t show what the exclusives look like… I NEED to know what the Pop Team Epic items are, because I already know I’m going to buy them! Kodansha might have a few more convention plans up their sleeve, so you might wanna check back before the convention starts.
Spike Chunsoft (West Hall Lobby booth) will have some of their games for purchase, and you can even pre-order their upcoming titles directly from them, and you’ll get AX-exclusive pre-order bonuses! They’ll also have panels and autographs sessions going on; you can read more about those here. Spike Chunsoft still has some info to reveal, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
The Evangelion Shop (booth #3900) is back this year at AX, so you can expect a plethora of amazing Evangelion items to buy! No exclusives were shown off, but I know that a majority of you will likely spend money there, especially with the anime being on Netflix so bet on items being sold out early.
Arc Systems Works (booth #3711) is gonna be the place to be, since they’ll have the demo of the KILL la KILL game! They’ll also have booth with goods, some from their EVO offerings, and some new stuff. Those Guilty Gear chibi keychains are cute!
Bluefin (booth #2411) is back, and they’ve got several exclusives that Gundam fans may want to add to their collection! Along with those, Bluefin will also be partnering up with Gundam over at booth #2611, which will have a photo opportunity with their RX-78 statue. You can read more details about what other stuff they’ll be up to here.
There’s also this:
Denpa (booth #3215/3315) will have Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family Vol.2 and Super-Dimensional Love Gun at their booth with some exclusive goodies to go with the books. They’ll also have very limited numbers of doujinshi and other items, so drop by the booth early if you see anything you must have!
Kinokuniya (booth #3900) will have some offerings for fans big into Godzilla and manga! Their booth will be Godzilla-themed, filled with goods from the official Godzilla store in Japan. The booth will also have manga and art books by Junji Ito, Katsuhiro Otomo, Evangelion, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and much more! You can also pick up a free manga and art catalog, which will include coupons you can use at their stores.
I love Round1 USA, and it’s a crime that there’s not ONE location where I live. So you better believe I’m gonna drop by the Entertainment Hall for some arcade fun! If you want some neat photobooth keepsakes, make sure to find them! Also, make sure to play some good ass Tekken, will ya?
If you’re into lewd stuff, the Anime Jungle store in Little Tokyo will be having a Hentai Event on July 3rd at 8:30pm. Remember, it’s an 18+ event only! More details of the event can be found here.
Hungry? Okamoto Kitchen‘s around to take care of that with their delicious food! This year, they have special bento boxes that you can order online for pickup, eliminating some of the long line waiting times. You can read up more about the different bento boxes they’ll have + order them over here.
Want more food options that are near the venue? AX has you covered with their Anime Expo Eats! Food trucks will be near the convention center providing yummy food! The trucks will be located directly across from the Los Angeles Convention Center’s South Hall – 1318 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 and is open to the general public. You can check out the full list of food trucks here.
Keep handy the maps to the Exhibit Hall, the Artist Alley, Entertainment Hall and the AX Line Locations. There’s a ton to do at AX, and hopefully getting lost is not one of them! You can also download the AX mobile app for the latest info concerning schedule changes or room changes.
Phew, that was a lot of stuff! Now you have a better idea of what you can expect to find in the Exhibit Hall, so start making those shopping lists! I’ll keep adding more info as companies release further details of their convention plans. Did I miss something? Let me know and I’ll add it in!
What exclusive merch will you be getting at this year’s Anime Expo? Sound off in the comments below! And I’ll see y’all at Anime Expo! ✨
Figuratively Speaking 
Have fun!
I’ve been wishing for more shirts and merch with Eternal Sailor Moon, but that shirt kind of has a weird color scheme going on. Especially her skirt, maybe it wouldn’t have looked as off if the gold was the top layer and white on the bottom. Do like the stars and feathers surrounding her though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will, even though I’ll be working through it this time! I’ll try not to die, LOL 😂
Viz and Toei hasn’t said much about Sailor Moon merch, but I know they’ll have some good stuff. I can feel it in my bones!
LikeLiked by 1 person