A woman has filled her home office with cuddly Pokémon toys, saying it’s helped her cope with the challenges of her job.
Abbey Simpson, 29, has spent £4,000 amassing her impressive collection over the last 12 years, and says she’d rather spend her money on Pokémon than on a night out.
Abbey, from Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, said: ‘I do it because it makes me happy, not because it’s an investment. I’d rather spend my money on this than big nights out or going to restaurants a lot.
‘I’ve been using [the office] for work since 2020 and my collection gives me a nice environment to work in.
‘It’s something to look at and clear my mind if any of my work is challenging.’
Photos show the business intelligence developer’s home office covered wall-to-wall with colourful Pokémon-themed memorabilia like posters, shoes and even a fire extinguisher.
Abbey says each one of the toys tends to cost around £20-£30 if imported from Japan and around £10 in the UK, which means she estimates she’s spent an impressive £4,000 on the collection.
Her husband Alex Simpson, 30, isn’t ‘as big a Pokémon fan’ as she but he’s still given her a few new additions to her collection as gifts.
She’s built a following online of people who are impressed with what she’s been able to get her hands on, but unfortunately, there are still unkind comments from people who tell her she’s ‘wasting her money’.
Abbey says her collection is so big because she ‘likes the way they look’, they ‘make her happy’, and some hold special memories.
She said :’I’ve been using [the office] for work since 2020 and my collection gives me a nice environment to work in.
‘It’s something to look at and clear my mind if any of my work is challenging.
‘I grew up with Pokémon from the age of six or seven when I got a Pokémon game on the Game Boy.
‘My collection didn’t start until around 2010 – my first plushie was Mew. He’s the one I have most of in my collection.
‘All the plushies stay in my office. I couldn’t actually count them, but there are probably about 300 of them overall.
‘They’re mostly there because I like the way they look, and I enjoy them. I like arranging them in a way that looks really cool.
‘I always try to colour-coordinate them to bring a bit of colour to the room.
‘I lived in Japan for three years, and they do different plushies for different events and regions, so some of the plushies are like a memory for me.
‘Over the 12 years I’ve spent collecting these, I reckon I’ve probably spent £4,000 on them.
‘I usually get a new one at special events, like a treat on my birthday or something like that. Otherwise, I wait until a certain collection comes out – which is usually every six weeks or so.
‘My husband will sometimes buy me one. He’s not as big a Pokémon fan as me, but we’ll play the games together.’
Abbey’s biggest plushie stands taller than her at five-foot-five, while her favourite, an Arcanine that sits on the bed, is five-foot-four.
Abbey said: ‘I started sharing my Pokémon collection online in 2014. One day, a big account shared a picture, and it blew up.
‘A lot of people say my room looks like a store. They usually mean it’s organised – I take it as a compliment.
‘My collection leads to a lot of conversations online. It brings a lot of people in. I’ll have people asking where I got specific Pokémon from.
‘I also get people who are curious and want to start collecting but don’t know where to start.
‘I don’t really get too much hassle online. Just an odd comment about how it’s a waste of money, but it doesn’t bother me really.’
While she can sometimes face judgement from strangers, Abbey says her friends and family are supportive and relate to her desire to build her collection.
Abbey said: ‘Some of my family and friends are collectors of their own things, like handbags, video games etc, so even if they aren’t Pokémon fans they get the collection.
‘I don’t really get any negative comments about the money because they know I am responsible with my spending and most of them enjoy looking at the collection and ask questions about it.
‘I’ve loved plushies since I was young. The reason I collect Pokémon is because I also enjoy the games.
‘Most people enjoy staying there and always comment on having lots of stuff to look at and explore in there, and they enjoy the cute décor.’
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