Would you look at those gorgeous Chrono Trigger figures up there! Considering the game came out in 1995 I’d say these were more than overdue. These were at exhibition at New York’s Toy Fair 2010 and may at some point go on sale on the Square Enix shop. Ignoring the fact that Lucca looks more like Lucas and that for some reason Magus became fun-sized, these figures are exquisite and guaranteed to sell out considering how little merchandise of the game there is. Enjoy the photos while you can before those get sold out too.

[Kotaku]

File these under the ‘cool, but I’d never wear them’ category of anime merch. Strapya is taking preorders for these cool pairs of Dragonball headphones. At under $35 each you shouldn’t be expecting the best sound but you could totally plug them into an amplifier and turn the volume to, wait for it, over 9000. Come on I had to do it.

[ Strapya / Via Tokyomango]

Continuing the Christmas L4D2 cookies we had a couple of days ago we now have another staple of Christmas cheer. No, not Zombie eggnog, Christmas cards! Think Geek is selling two sets of L4D Christmas cards, one for each game and boy they are fantastic. Bill telling Christmas stories, Boomer’s Christmas dinner, its delightful and heartwarming. The sets are going for $15.99 which is a nice price to get all your loved ones creeped out by your undead-featuring cards.

[Think Geek]

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]