CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

[Formerly: silly/ridiculous/dumb/useless Merch]

The thread is about what it says. This is a place for all of us to facepalm and lol at the absurd things that the Japanese expect anime fans to buy.

*EDIT Yes, Americans put the logos/faces/etc. of various IPs on products to sell them. But, I'm convinced what we do in this area cannot be matched by what Japan does. Anime merch usually has a higher price hike, and some of the products are just plain odd. So, let's laugh at them b/c it is good to laugh at silly things.

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I will start us off. Found this little gem over at evamonkey. The following item is surely essential to any Eva fan's collection. I give you: The Evangelion Bucket.


























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Really, Japan? REALLY?!? We should buy a steel bucket b/c it has the NERV logo blazoned across it? Surely not even otaku...surely...

I can't believe this actually exists.

I heard about that on evageeks. It is riduculous but keep in mind this is Gainax we're talking about. They're a cash cow.

There's also the Eva unit bike

This is candy...just like in 'Grave of the Fireflies'!



...um, yeah.

Yamamaya (post: 1410374) wrote:I heard about that on evageeks. It is riduculous but keep in mind this is Gainax we're talking about. They're a cash cow.

There's also the Eva unit bike

That... is... crazy wicked awesome!! Oh man, if I could ride bikes I'd be all over that!

Sheol777 (post: 1410377) wrote:This is candy...just like in 'Grave of the Fireflies'!



...um, yeah.

What? lol. This is terrible. If there's one thing WWII fallout movies make me think of, it's candy.

That Grave of the Fireflies stuff is just... wrong

Figures and statues. You can't eat them or play with them. They're so useless!

What's that? Oh, this is a "Anime merchandise I personally dislike" thread, and not an actual "dumb and useless anime merchandise" thread? Carry on, then.

Nate (post: 1410409) wrote:Figures and statues. You can't eat them or play with them. They're so useless!

What's that? Oh, this is a "Anime merchandise I personally dislike" thread, and not an actual "dumb and useless anime merchandise" thread? Carry on, then.

Are you mad just b/c you bought the Eva bucket?

The slashes in the thread title denote "or." Useless or silly or ridiculous. Sure, GoF candy can be used, but the idea is quite ridiculous.

I don't see how a bucket is useless, seeing as how you can use it to like, store stuff. Like a regular bucket. Unless you're saying regular buckets are useless.

Plus, I see people take like, stickers, or sometimes even paintbrushes, and put the stickers on say, backpacks or binders or notebooks or...buckets! And some people paint designs on buckets, because they like to paint! So a person could conceivably paint the NERV logo on a bucket of their own free will.

And what if a person is not a good painter? What if they have no artistic talent? Should they be denied what they desire simply because they were not gifted in this particular area? I say no.

I fail to see what makes a bucket more "dumb" or "useless" than a statue. In fact, if you get right down to it, I think you can classify ANY anime merchandise as dumb or useless. In fact, name a useful piece of anime merchandise. Merchandise is by its very nature useless, unless it's like a notebook with a picture of the anime/characters on it. BUT OH WAIT a bucket is just like that and you said it's dumb and useless.

I could get a lot of use out of a bucket. A NERV bucket though? Sure, why not. The price is probably very high as far as buckets go, but that's just impractical, not useless.

How aout a Hello Kitty muffin mold? While not useless, I do feel that it's pretty low. I do not want to eat bread shaped like a cat.

http://www.jbox.com/IMAGE/jHHEz http://www.jbox.com/IMAGE/me7tY

And then there's the Evangelion trash can. Again, not useless, but... WHY?!

http://www.jbox.com/IMAGE/QAgcT http://www.jbox.com/IMAGE/8l77d

"I cannot refute your argument logically so I will instead post an image and pretend to have refuted it despite the fact that it is completely factually accurate."

Cool story bro.

Nette wrote:I could get a lot of use out of a bucket. A NERV bucket though? Sure, why not. The price is probably very high as far as buckets go, but that's just impractical, not useless.

Thanks for backing me up, Nette.

Yeah I can admit that if this bucket cost like a hundred dollars or something solely for the virtue of having an anime logo on it, that would be a little ridiculous because of the price, not because of the item. But then, this is hardly something unique to anime merchandise. I mean come on, this is America, land of the 150 dollar blue jeans. And I don't think anyone would say blue jeans are silly or dumb, just the price on it.

But an Evangelion bucket for like 20 bucks? Sure, why not? It's a luxury, but so is ANYTHING anime-related.

Nate (post: 1410409) wrote:Figures and statues. You can't eat them or play with them. They're so useless!

I dunno. Ever seen the Revoltech Eva figures? They're pretty badass.

Statues though, I dun even know what they're good for besides looking creepy.

Oh it's just a fun thread.

Think of it as items Japan makes to make money off of a properties popularity. That might look a bit...odd.

Like, oh I dunno....Clannad Curry

Sheol777 (post: 1410435) wrote:Oh it's just a fun thread.

Think of it as items Japan makes to make money off of a properties popularity. That might look a bit...odd.

Like, oh I dunno....Clannad Curry

Americans do the same things though.

How often have you seen macaroni made in the shapes of Spongebob, Spider-man, etc? I've seen it a lot. I've seen character logos put on freaking lettuce to make kids want to eat it.

It's called marketing.

How about those panties that came with Najica Blitz Tactics? That's the silliest idea I ever heard.

Yamamaya (post: 1410441) wrote:Americans do the same things though.

How often have you seen macaroni made in the shapes of Spongebob, Spider-man, etc? I've seen it a lot. I've seen character logos put on freaking lettuce to make kids want to eat it.

It's called marketing.

For me, the problem comes in when you realize she's holding a basket of laundry. I wouldn't buy curry that had someone holding a basket of laundry on it due to the unfortunate implications that it has about the flavor/usage of the curry.

Not everything has to be an argument in logic and to be taken literally.

I got this little cheapy "Soul Candy" plastic Bleach pez machine thing at Borders. Totally useless, but oh so fun....and for $0.98 I wasn't going to complain.

Yamamaya (post: 1410441) wrote:Americans do the same things though.

How often have you seen macaroni made in the shapes of Spongebob, Spider-man, etc? I've seen it a lot. I've seen character logos put on freaking lettuce to make kids want to eat it.

It's called marketing.

You're right of course.

But here in America our underground interest in a foreign media is amusing to us when we see it in this fashion.



Like Hello Kitty Tarot...

Yamamaya (post: 1410441) wrote:Americans do the same things though.

How often have you seen macaroni made in the shapes of Spongebob, Spider-man, etc? I've seen it a lot. I've seen character logos put on freaking lettuce to make kids want to eat it.

It's called marketing.

You win. That's what I've been thinking the entire thread so far. =P Especially the "marketing" part. XD

Although I like weird anime merch. Its fun. *eyes hers*

There was absolutely no chance of me not posting this.

Not shown: a glass of orange juice.

Fish and Chips (post: 1410453) wrote:

There was absolutely no chance of me not posting this.

Not shown: a glass of orange juice.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our new winner.

Nate (post: 1410432) wrote:"I cannot refute your argument logically so I will instead post an image and pretend to have refuted it despite the fact that it is completely factually accurate."

Cool story bro.

Actually I think he is posting a picture to try and ease the unnecessary tension that your pedantic and argumentative comments are creating. You know, just like you recommended in that one sticked thread not long ago.

Alternatively, he could just be forehead-slapping about the fact that you didn't understand his post which said:

TheSubtleDoctor wrote:The slashes in the thread title denote "or." Useless or silly or ridiculous. Sure, GoF candy can be used, but the idea is quite ridiculous.

Before you rush onwards to congratulate yourself on your victory, please contemplate what the above quote means. Especially note the word "silly", which is a highly subjective adjective and can easily apply to buckets, bikes, WWII fallout candy, or even, as you said, figurines.

I wish had something to contribute to this thread, but for now I will just say that this:

Fish and Chips (post: 1410453) wrote:

belongs on my table. Even though I have no idea what it is.

Fish and Chips (post: 1410453) wrote:Not shown: a glass of orange juice.

ahahaasdjjfldfkjhd.

So far in this thread, we think that buckets, bikes, candy, curry, and plates are silly/ridiculous/dumb/useless.

The Hello Kitty Tarot does get points for being just ridiculous though.
And the plate is freaky, but not useless. XD

Suggestion: Change thread name to "marketing with anime is silly/ridiculous/dumb/useless"

I have yet to come across a piece of anime merch that is useless. Obviously, not all of anime merchandise is useful to me, but I'm sure it's useful to someone.
Except temporary anime tattoos. They are cool, but very silly and useless.

Atria35 (post: 1410446) wrote:For me, the problem comes in when you realize she's holding a basket of laundry. I wouldn't buy curry that had someone holding a basket of laundry on it due to the unfortunate implications that it has about the flavor/usage of the curry.

It's rather sexist if you think about it.

Think about it, it's curry with a pic of a girl doing laundry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHUQAnzpF0

(Also I like Clannad)

Ah Fish I see you posted THAT pic.

Fish and Chips (post: 1410453) wrote:

There was absolutely no chance of me not posting this.

Not shown: a glass of orange juice.

EVA HAS THE BEST STUFF EVER.

I am in full support of TheSubtleDoctor's facepalm. If this thread were for sale, it would be the most silly/ridiculous/dumb/useless piece of anime merchandise ever. XD

Fish and Chips (post: 1410453) wrote:

...

Okay, second most.

XDD

goldenspines (post: 1410463) wrote:Suggestion: Change thread name to "marketing with anime is silly/ridiculous/dumb/useless"

I have tried to do so but am not sure how. I want to remove the word useless. Everyone was getting hung up on that word...I thought it was pretty obvious hyperbole (especially when you read my opening post). So now, hopefully, we can get back to having fun by pointing out absurd (RELATIVELY SPEAKING) anime merchandise.

Radical Dreamer (post: 1410470) wrote:I am in full support of TheSubtleDoctor's facepalm.

Yay, a fan!