I want to start this review by stating that while it is appropriate for people to mention Hello Kitty in their reviews of Pochacco, this section is for the specific character of Pochacco and therefore he should be the majority of the review.

Sanrio has been making wonderful products for children and young adults (their prime target area) since 1960, although the popularity of their products truely came about in 1974 with the introduction of Hello Kitty. There are many characters to Sanrio’s line, but being the corporate symbol, Hello Kitty is also Sanrio’s lead marketing character.

I remember receiving Sanrio items for the majority of my life. Mostly sold in gift shops then, the items produced by Sanrio are reasonable in price, durable, and have wonderful characters with personalities all their own. While some characters are pulled for a length of time from production, Sanrio never permanently retires characters. There is always a nice mix of characters you or your child can choose from. Each child has their favourite character, or at least one they most associate with. The majority of the characters are animals; the only exceptions to this ‘rule’ are the Twin Stars and Patty & Jimmy.

The character of Pochacco, while not as famous as Hello Kitty, is a wonderful personality for children. In appearance he resembles a beagle puppy, but his exact breed is really never given. Pochacco loves to run, explore, play sports and pal around with his best friend-which happens to be a mouse. He is extremely outgoing and likes to get others to join in on his fun. Some of the other animals you may see him with are: kitten, monkey, and the baby chicks. Ever conscious of his health, Pochacco greatly enjoys eating his fruits and vegetables and encourages children to do the same. You will rarely find Pochacco idle. Typically he is shown playing with a ball, running, or playing with his friends.

Each character has their usual theme. This is the base for each other theme produced and typically includes: friends of the character, a ‘favourite’ colour (the one they are most associated with), and what their main personality traits are. Pochacco’s base theme includes: mouse (of course), his other friends mentioned above, the colour purple (sometimes dark blue), and sports or other outgoing physical activities. For the first few years nearly all of Pochacco's items have been centered around this base theme. During every production year Sanrio launches various styles with their characters themes; currently Pochacco has 7 styles other than his base theme in production. Items within these styles range from baby tees to 35mm cameras. As a character grows in popularity Sanrio expands their production range from school age children to include babies and adults (great for us adults who are kids at heart!). All of the Pochacco items are enjoyed by, and geared to, both boys and girls.

Here are the newer styles for Pochacco along with a list of some of the items you can find in stores or at the Sanrio home page.

Pochacco Snowboarding - Pochacco's flying high on his blue snowboard with lots of snowflakes and blue sky.

Items: book bag, pencils, pencil case, notebook, stationary, watches.

Pochacco Vacation - Pochacco playing guitar among brown woodland flowers on a grey or brown background.

Items: folding chair, bandana, 33mm camera, car sunshades, shoulder pack, waist pouch, baby tees, hats, and a radio.

Pochacco Flower - Pochacco is surrounded by small flowers on blue and purple backgrounds.

Items: school pack, pens, pencils.

Pochacco Cyber - Pochacco is on a white background with silver effects around him.

Items: wallet, cell phone case, shoulder pack, waist pouch, pencils.

Pochacco Galaxy - Our playful puppy is flying amongst the stars. This one has either a dark blue or black background with designs made of stars or small space men with him.

Items: pen set, messenger bag, wallet, lip gloss, ID case, playing cards, boxer shorts, t-shirt.

Pochacco Monkey - Pochacco is pictured on a blue background with some of his monkey friend’s faces pictured with him.

Items: loose leaf paper, backpack, messenger bag, binder, high-lighter set, calculator set, electronic organizer, nylon lunch bag, tin lunch case, pen and pencil set, fur-lined organizer, mechanical pencil, coloured pencil leads.

Pochacco Sky - Skydiving high in the sky surrounded by clouds, Pochacco is one tough pup.

Items: travel set, ID case, sunglasses, handbag, backpack, tote bag, address book, letter set, sunglasses strap, memo pad.

Miscellaneous Themes These are items that have been produced and can still be found at various retail (and on line)stores for sale.

Items: child’s luggage, notebooks, disk labels, friend books, erasers, safety scissors, staplers, desk-sets, purses, plush figures, infant and baby toys, and also Scholastic books.


I have one of the Pochacco Scholastic books; it is titled Pochacco & Friends: Silly Time Races. It is chalk full of great fun for kids to have. All of the activities in this book concern timing yourself and your friends doing sports and silly things, like tying your shoes. Scholastic books are typically sold through your child’s school for short periods only, then the title is no longer produced. But never fear, Scholastic seems to get some Sanrio books regularly, so you should be able to find one for your child (or you).

Not only are Sanrio’s products useful and cute, but they are perfect as gifts for children, as well as adults. In fact Sanrio’s coin phrase is: “Small Gift, Big Smile”. I for one completely agree. Every single Sanrio item I have ever received- that’s right every- I can still use, and do. I have a set of markers that was purchased for me when I was about 6 years old and they still work 22 years later. What!?!? You say. 22 years?? Yes. These items are durable and stand the test of years of loving usage.

If you find Pochacco interesting you may also want to check out some of his friends: Hello Kitty, Twin Stars, Batz Maru, Chococat, Keroppie, Spottie Dottie, Pekkle, My Melodie, Purin, Kuririn, 100 Cats and the newest character- Nemukko Nyago. Maybe you already have one of Sanrio’s older characters that was a bit hit for a while- remember Mon-chi-chi? Well this character was known as Monki-chi originally, but that seemed to be too much of a mouthful for many English speaking youngsters to say. Some of these characters you can find on the Hello Kitty and Friends Show which used to air on the Toon Disney cable/satellite channel, but is still running in syndication on various channels and is available in video stores.

To locate Pochacco, and his Sanrio friends, items visit the following stores: Sanrio, Sanrio Surprise, Sanrio Gift Gate, and your local Carlton Cards. Some Sanrio items (mostly Hello Kitty) are sold at Target stores nationwide. You may also find many Sanrio items at local specialty toy stores. To check and see if there are any stores near you check the Sanrio website: www.sanrio.com They have a section where you can enter your local information and they will list all stores selling Pochacco and other Sanrio items within approximately 25 miles. You can also try searching auction sites like eBay, Yahoo!, Excite to see if anyone is selling a particular item you are looking for.

I personally love Sanrio products. Pochacco was not around when I first started getting them, but I can share him now with my half-sister and my daughter. Pochacco and other Sanrio school items help a child to enjoy working on projects. It is amazing how a small item like a stapler or pencil with a child’s favourite (or a favourite to be) character on it will encourage them to do their work. Every fall my half-sister begs me to find her new Pochacco and other Sanrio items for her back-to-school stock-pile. Many times she shares these items with friends and new children at her school. What a way to share a smile!



Recommended: Yes