The power of eBay – Touhou mousepad

by eternal on September 13, 2008

 

A short little post for everyone today, seeing as I have yet to complete Concealed the Conclusion and get a tripod so that I can try my hand at figure photography (though you probably won’t be seeing any of those for a while). Anyway, the purpose of this post is to highlight a little irrelevant piece of merchandise I grabbed off eBay a little while ago; something that, although not rare or valuable, is still pretty useful. What am I talking about, you ask? The title says it all – a mousepad featuring the cast of Touhou 7 – Perfect Cherry Blossom.

Now, as I said a moment ago, I got this from eBay…and we all know what anime merchandise + eBay equals. However, that raised another question that’s been bugging me for a while: just how important is legitimacy in anime merchandise? True, we all strive to buy only legit figures and artbooks, and certainly no one would want a bootlegged DVD, but what about the tiny little accessories that exist for the sake of the user rather than some form of glorified display?

 

Take, for instance, this little Haruhi phone strap I got off Anime Castle; I’m pretty sure it’s legit, but as you can see, it’s from the English release of the series, not the Japanese one. Would you consider this to be something that makes it inferior? True, merchandise from Japan is harder to come by and therefore more rare (and more respectable for the person who owns it), but for a thing like a phone strap, would you add the rarity factor into your criteria?

I guess it all comes down to personal preference in the end. For me, I always make every attempt to purchase legit figures from reputable sources, and I’ve started eliminating my old local Chinatown posters for those “clear” posters that Japan seems to have a lot of, but when it comes to things like a keychain or a mousepad, I guess I’m just not too picky. Seeing as I always use a laptop, I’ve never really needed a mouse until now (to be more specific, until I got into PangYa), and so when I searched online for a good-looking anime mousepad, I found this one and decided that I just had to buy it. Was it worth it? The item came from Hong Kong, has no copyright-esque logos on it, and seems to bear absolutely no relation to ZUN, but what it DOES do is brighten up my work/lurk-on-anime-blogs space.

I guess I just wanted to say that merchandise is merchandise – in my eyes, sometimes you have to put aside your collector’s pride for the sake of things that are just plain awesome. And I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in my school with a Touhou mousepad.

~ ETERNAL
つづく

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

M12 September 13, 2008 at 3:54 pm

I don’t mind whether it’s from the Japanese or English release. If it kicks ass, it kicks ass! Yeah, I count rarity into my criteria. I like possessing rare stuff. Of course, if the price is ridiculous, forget about it.

Nice boa – mousepad :D.

M12s last blog post..M13 disrespects (some) elders

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Fang-tan September 13, 2008 at 5:29 pm

omigawd, I want that mouse pad. I mean I have a laptop I’d have no use for it but damn. I want that.

… I also want that Hina Kagiyama erodoujin. But I don’t think my mom would like if I ordered that off of ebay with her paypal account.

Also, on the subject of Haruhi phonestraps. That’s pretty cute. I had a solar powered flashing Nagato one and I really loved it but it broke. So now I have this new one. It’s not Haruhi but Nanoha. There were flashing Feito ones but I love Hayate so… But just trying finding one of Haruhi in a store! Mikuru too… just Yuki. :/

Fang-tans last blog post..東方のキャラでストパンED(みかんせい版)

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ETERNAL September 13, 2008 at 9:17 pm

@ M12: Heh, I like searching for rare stuff at times as well, though I haven’t come to possess too many yet >_>

@ Fang-tan: I love those solar-powered keychains/phonestraps, they always seem to amaze people that don’t know how they work XD

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Kairu September 14, 2008 at 5:57 pm

Nice mousepad ^^
When it comes to having legit anime merchandise it is more the fact if it is something I like, rarity and weather it is domestic or not takes the back seat if it is something I like.

Kairus last blog post..E2046 George Banner Exchange Updated!!!!

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Saku September 14, 2008 at 6:02 pm

Nice mousepad. I like it :)

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jenn December 3, 2008 at 9:03 am

Ahh! Which seller did you get the mousepad from? Was wondering whether he/she was still alive and with stock, heh…

But yeah, I agree; for figures, definitely would go with reputable seller. But for other merch…sometimes the ‘real’ ones are just so bloody expensive, and the imitations are of tempting quality. -wry-

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