Anime merchandise is a dime a dozen (or several hundred dimes anyway), new stuff comes out on a daily basis. Figures, wall scrolls, posters, pillow covers, lets face it, most of it is pretty useless and rarely really carries the ingenuity of the artist. But there was once an exception to this rule a product that was both useful and carried the creativity of the artist! Masamune Shirou, of Ghost In The Shell fame, was commissioned to created a computer mouse back in 2002. The result was the MAPP1-SM from Elecom. This mouse you see above looks like it was brought out straight from GitS or Appleseed. At launch they sold for around $80, finding one now on resale would easily cost up to two or three times that amount.

Frankly I cant think of many more anime pieces of merchandising that are actually functional while still keeping with the aesthetic of the source material. Sure we’ve seen the Evangelion bike and headphones… and I guess Ona Cups, pillow cases and big breasted mousepads do serve some sort of purpose. But really, I challenge you right now to come up with 3 other pieces of merchandise which you might buy even if you had no idea it was anime related.

[Elecom]

Ridiculous merchandising was expected in the months leading up to the inevitable train wreck that is the Dragon Ball Evolution film. However, Lawson, the convenience store chain in Japan, has singlehandedly outdone them all. Even those products and tie-ins that are still to come.

Starting tomorrow, February 3, all Lawson stores will be selling a myriad of licensed products that range from the ridiculous to the… more ridiculous.

From bread that resembles a Dragon Ball to Vegeta Vegetable snacks to tissue boxes. The store’s got it all. There’s even Dragon Ball fried chicken. That’s right, the chain is even linking its Karaage Kun (Fried Kun) line of chicken foodstuff to Dragon Ball just by slapping Goku’s hair onto a chicken. I’m sorry but, short of someone releasing a Dragon Ball condom, I dont see them besting freaking Goku Fried Chicken. Game over.

[Lawson]

And the results are in! In our latest poll we asked you about your anime merchandise consumption. Figures, models, t-shirts, pillow cases (no need to hide it) and you bravely accepted the truth. 19% of you admit to buying more anime stuff than you probably should, a whooping 31% of you are still hanging on to that speck of self respect and not buying anything, even though your heart desires it.

In short, for every one of you who’d never buy a figure or scroll there’s more than 4 of you that dream of swimming in a pool of figures while exclaiming “mai waifus!”

Any brave souls  willing to expose their buying habits in the comments? Also, there’s a new poll in place, hurry on and make your voice be heard!

What better way to celebrate Obama’s inauguration than having him remove some limbs with heavy weapons and sharp objects! Impossible, you say? Not with this magnificent Obama action figure. Packed with 3 pairs of hands, a flag, a mic, stool and two ties, there’s not much this guy cant do.

Protecting the constitution? Pfft, piece of cake. Battling the dark side?

…easy too.

Thanks Pseudonym!

[Obama Action Figure]

If I were not stuck in the middle of a godless desert city, where it only rains twice a year, I’d buy this umbrella. Its elegant, it means business, its… its corporate. And its for sale for only about $15 USD on Think Geek! Hell I’d consider paying a guy following me around with a hose just so I could stand under my umbrella… looking ominous.

[Think Geek]

The flow of Evangelion branded products can’t seem to be stopped. This time around we’ve got some Evangelion winter clothing that is official, unlike that other one. For around $800 bucks (or $1600 for both) you could be the proud owner of an Eva-00 snowboard or a snowboarding outfit designed after Rei Ayanami’s plugsuit. It might be a steep prize but consider this, not only will you be teh rei, but you’ll also be a sad girl in the snow. Two memes for the prize of one, you cant beat that.

[Official Site / Via ANN]

What you see above is probably one of the best pieces of Evangelion themed-clothing that’s ever been created. With a color scheme and shapes that are completely reminiscent of the Eva 01, this jacket would be a stylish piece of Evangelion merchandise. That is, if it wasn’t utterly unrelated to the series.

Reader Rob sent us a link to this jacket he found while browsing the interwebs which is brilliantly similar to the Eva 01, but since it really isn’t, its just a hideously neon jacket. Someone send an email to Gainax, we’re missing out.

Thanks Rob!

[Drjays]

This is just the first in a line of Street Fighter “collections” from clothing line Triumvir, and the rest of the line will follow in late 2008. The cap and t-shirt come together as a package, and are based off of M. Bison’s Shadaloo crime organization.

I bet most of you are thinking the red ensemble looks a lot sharper (and more Bison-like). Turns out the producers though the same thing—it will only be available at Comic Con this year. Only 200 pieces will be available worldwide (!), so the competition to snag them will be fierce.

[highsnobiety via / Kotaku]

For those who didn’t catch wind of it during the hustle and bustle of E3, Capcom employees were wandering around sporting t-shirts featuring a simply stunning parody of what’s widely considered the worst piece of box art ever to grace a video game cover. As it turns out, Capcom enlisted the talent of Gerald de Jesus to pay homage to their not-so-noble roots.

Apparently the demand for this shirt was so great that they have decided to start selling them. Chris Kramer, PR head of Capcom, has written in his blog that they will be reprinting the shirts, and that they’ll “have some t-shirts of this beauty available for purchase soon.” You can count on me sporting this bold proclamation of one’s nerdy roots. Will you?

[Capcom-Unity via Joystiq]

What’s so special about this messenger bag? Well, if you recognize the logo, you’d realize that it belongs to the much-anticipated game Mirror’s Edge. Supposedly it’s modeled after the bag that protagonist Faith carries in the actual game (or was her bag modeled after the product? Hmm).

You can get it if you pre-order the game from GameStop. It has seven compartments and “fits your PS3, Xbox, 360, or laptop for gaming on the run.” This, along with the Pokémon151, exemplifies the kind of game-related merchandise I think we’d all like to see. It’s simple, elegant, stylish, and doesn’t scream “I’M A NERD” quite so boldly as say, a Zelda shirt from HotTopic.

[Joystiq]