Grilled sandwiches have been enjoyed around the world for nearly a century. For example, in the US, Thomas Edison invented a line of sandwich grills in the 1920s, and Americans have been enjoying grilled cheese, grilled ham and cheese and tuna melts ever since. From the 1970s, panini grills became popular and grilled panini sandwiches with their characteristic grill lines entered into fashion. There's hardly a country in the world where you can't enjoy a grilled sandwich.

In Japan, the most standard form of sandwich is made with slices of Japanese square white bread, known as shokupan, often with the edges cut off. This is the type commonly found in convenience stores, cut diagonally into triangles in order to make the contents visible. However, Japanese consumers have gradually gained an appetite for grilled sandwiches in recent years.

Probably in response to the growing popularity of grilled sandwiches in Japan, cooking appliance brand récolte, which prides itself on stylish appliances that blend into their environment, launched its "Quilt Press Sand Maker" line of sandwich grills, thus named because of the quilt-like grill marks it creates. (Incidentally, "sand" is not a typo, but rather an attempt to render into English the abbreviated term for sandwich in Japanese, which is sando.) Available in several pastel colors, they were an instant hit and have sold over 300,000 units since they entered the market in fall 2015.

Now, two years later, récolte has decided to release a new version of their popular sandwich grill.

Called "Limited Star Quilt Press Sand Maker," these grills are, as the name suggests, part of a limited series, and they do feature stars quite prominently. To begin with, the signature quilt grill mark of the original series has been replaced with a cute asymmetrical grill pattern of outlined and filled star shapes in various sizes. Moreover, to reflect the star theme, the grill is decorated in a star-bright yellow color with a star patterned accent adorning the top surface.

According to the press release, the characteristics of the new grill are:

• In very little time, you can grill sandwiches thoroughly all the way to the edges.
• With its pop appearance and compact design, it will brighten up your breakfasts.
• In addition to the recipe book with 30 recipes included in the standard color versions, you'll also get 2 additional recipes designed for this limited edition model.

Limited Star Quilt Press Sand Maker goes on sale in early November and will cost 4,000 JPY. Since the original series is already available on Amazon.com outside of Japan, there are good chances that this limited edition will also find its way to online shops and be available to customers abroad.