Shopping at the new Nintendo pop-up store at Jewel Changi Singapore is a fun experience but be prepared to queue to enter the store if you can't get an entry ticket.
Okay, I wasn't intending to write a review post about the new Nintendo pop-up store at Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport because it's just a store where you can go in and shop, nothing too complicated about it, right? But I decided to do so after we were caught off guard when we reached the store on its opening day, saw a long queue to enter and was told by staff that entry tickets were required. Hmm...definitely not what we were expecting. I can expect that in Japan but I'm not too use to this in Singapore.
Anyway, we managed to enter the store and had a great time shopping and browsing despite having qualms about doing so when we first saw the queue. If you're planning to visit the Nintendo pop-up store, here are 5 visiting tips including on how to get entry tickets and whether it's worth buying the Nintendo merch there.
1) Where is the Nintendo pop-up store?
The store is located at Level 4, unit 220-221 at Jewel Changi Airport, diagonally opposite the Pokemon store. The store opened on 17 November 2023 and will be there till 1 January 2024. It is open daily from 10am-10pm.
2) How to gain entry?
i) Get a free entry ticket
Because of expected large number of visitors and the store's not huge, timed entry tickets are given out by staff once the store opens at 10am (Totally reminisce of our trip to Japan and having to book and queue for popular attractions!😅). I expect these tickets to go very fast because when we were there around 12pm, staff were giving out entry tickets for 5pm entry, which means the tickets for earlier entry were already snapped up within two hours. So if you don't want to queue in the walk-in queue (more on that below), you can go early at 10am to get a ticket, head off for some shopping and lunch, then return at your ticket timing and you'll be allowed into the store without having to queue.
ii) Queue in the walk-in queue
If you can't get a ticket or you can't wait till end of the day for the entry tickets for later timings, then queue in the walk-in queue. Initially we weren't keen to queue when we saw the long line of about 30-40 people and a staff said it might take about an hour before we could get in. They let people in when capacity allows, so you need people to exit the store before you can go in and do note that ticket holders get priority to enter. But anyway, since we had specially came down to see the store, we decided to queue, even if it's an hour.
Surprisingly, we only queued for about 30-40 minutes before we got in. I think we made the right choice to join the walk-in queue. When you can get in depends on how quickly people exit the store but we see people exiting every now and then, the payment queue was short and I believe some people who collected tickets might not show as well, so I found the waiting time reasonable. But do note that this was on a weekday. I would think the queues would get longer on weekends. So if you can, try visiting on a weekday rather than on weekends.
3) What's available at the store?
The store is actually quite small and especially after you've been to Nintendo stores in Japan, you'll find it very small in fact. But then again, it's a pop-up store, it's not supposed to be big. Here you can find merchandise of popular video games like Super Mario, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Zelda and Pikmin.
4) Are the merch worth buying?
Having been to the Nintendo store in Japan, I thought the prices of some of the merch at the pop-up store are easily 30-40% more expensive than those in Japan, and some items like pens can cost as much as S$17 and note books, S$27! Yup, not cheap.
Posting some of the merch with their prices here.
There are lotsa nice stationery. I especially like the Animal Crossing and...
Zelda notebooks and...
and files.
Of course there are lotsa cute plushies too. There are mostly priced at S$20-plus.
Super love Toad!
And Shy Guy haha!
The Animal Crossing ones are more expensive but cute too.
But Zelda's Link plushies cost more!
There's Pikmin merch too but I'm not too familiar with this game.
Lotsa crockery too.
I thought some of the merch are rather expensive but the prices didn't seem to deter shoppers - we saw many shoppers with baskets full of merch. We also bought some items (yes, a $27 Splatoon notebook!🤦♀️). I guess when you're in the store, the atmosphere just puts you in the mood to buy and not everybody has a chance to go to the Nintendo stores in Japan - so just buy lah!
If this is a testing ground for Nintendo before the company decides whether they should set up a permanent store in Singapore, I think they should come to the conclusion that it's worthwhile setting up a permanent store in Singapore😁
I feel that if you are visiting the Nintendo stores in Japan this school holiday or have already visited the Japan Nintendo stores recently, it's okay to give this pop-up a miss.
5) What else is there?
i) Get free stickers
You have can redeem stickers in the store by logging into your Nintendo account(s) and scanning the QR code. Sticker designs are given out randomly.
ii) Visit Pipe Around the World at Jewel
Do also check out the Super Mario set-ups and displays at Jewel's Rain Vortex while you're there. They are really pretty and great for photo ops!
Disclaimer: We paid for our purchases, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.
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