{"id":145,"date":"2006-10-24T22:18:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-25T06:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toybox\/2006\/10\/24\/otaku-merchandising-from-lucas-to-vegas\/"},"modified":"2009-03-28T14:12:17","modified_gmt":"2009-03-28T22:12:17","slug":"otaku-merchandising-from-lucas-to-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2006\/10\/24\/otaku-merchandising-from-lucas-to-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Otaku Merchandising: From Lucas to Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Otaku Merchandising: From Lucas to Vegas<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n

Fig. 1. May the Profits Be With You!<\/b><\/a> Famous still from the original Star Wars<\/i> (1977). Click to enlarge.\n<\/td>\n		George Lucas<\/a><\/b>. Whether you admire or avoid him, his name is inescapably tied to material consumption and consumerism<\/a><\/b>. Specifically, by unconventionally acquiring the licensing rights to his original and earth-shatteringly successful Star Wars<\/a><\/i><\/b> (1977) three decades ago (Fig. 1) — in a time when film studios held the narrow “could care less” belief that secondary spin-off publications or properties were never profitable — the soft-spoken and once-unknown filmmaker and his sudden skyrocketing fortune undeniably proved to them otherwise. Studios had no choice but to take notice. And as a result of his winning gamble, Lucas — whether accidentally or not — gave birth to a revolutionary new form of consumer industry, and is regarded by many as the pioneer of modern-day entertainment-driven merchandising<\/a><\/b>. Ah yes, as a little kid, I still remember sleeping in my sky-blue Star Wars<\/i><\/b> bedsheets!<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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Fig. 2. Viva Akihabara!<\/b><\/a> One view of Tokyo’s Akihabara shopping district (2006).<\/p>\n


Fig. 3. Got Jedi?<\/b><\/a> Star Wars<\/i> and WWE<\/i> action figures at Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n


Fig. 4. A Higher Power!<\/b><\/a> Power Rangers<\/i> action figures at Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n


Fig. 5. Figured It Out?<\/b><\/a> Naruto<\/i> and Tenjho Tenge<\/i> figures at Borders.<\/p>\n


Fig. 6. Bearing Fruit!<\/b><\/a> A Fullmetal Alchemist<\/i> wall scroll and Fruits Basket<\/i> plush doll at Borders.<\/p>\n


Fig. 7. Hitting the Books!<\/b><\/a> Fruits Basket<\/i> and InuYasha<\/i> bookmarks at Borders.<\/p>\n


Fig. 8. Coastal Wave!<\/b><\/a> A wide variety of wall scrolls, figures, plush dolls, and other goodies at Suncoast.<\/p>\n


Fig. 9. T-ing Off!<\/b><\/a> Snakes on a Plane<\/i>, Samurai Champloo<\/i>, Fullmetal Alchemist<\/i> and Trigun<\/i> T-shirts at Suncoast.<\/p>\n


Fig. 10. Got the Munchies?<\/b><\/a> Pocky<\/i>, Pucca<\/i>, and other snacks at Suncoast.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

2006-2007<\/b>. Three decades later, global merchandising shows no clear signs of stalling. On the contrary, while the free and ever-evolving internet exchange of digital files (MP3, AVI, etc.) may eat away at the conventional sales of DVD titles, CD soundtracks, and disc-based videogames, the industry continues to leap and bound in other branches. Bed sheets may be less common, but toys, models, action figures, dolls, posters, even T-shirts, keychains and cellphone accessories — based on successful and less-than-successful films, shows, tunes and games — have found their way into our everyday consciousness. One can find anything from LEGO Star Wars<\/i><\/a><\/b> products to WWE<\/a><\/b> (World Wrestling Entertainment) toys to Lost<\/a><\/i><\/b> (ABC TV) fan gear to Snakes on a Plane<\/a><\/i><\/b> T-shirts, and everything in between!<\/p>\n

Tokyo, Japan<\/a><\/b>. Consistently one of the top-two or top-three most-expensive cities in the world over the last two decades. The home of the largest most-recognized electronics-based megacorps — including Sony<\/b>, Toshiba<\/b>, and Panasonic<\/b> — on the globe. And the cutting-edge mecca of anything related to anime<\/a><\/b>, manga<\/a><\/b>, videogames<\/a><\/b> and otaku<\/a><\/b> culture as a whole. Focusing their consuming eyes and ears on Tokyo’s infamous Akihabara<\/a><\/b> shopping district (Fig. 2), the rest of the otaku world waits in anticipation and jumps in enthusiasm at the latest offerings. In terms of merchandising beyond the standard products of disc deliverables (DVDs and CDs) and paper publications (manga and novels), the multi-billion-dollar otaku-entertainment market<\/a><\/b> (as observed in the December 2004 paper<\/a><\/b> by the Nomura Research Institute<\/a><\/b>) further thrives on these aforementioned toys, models, action figures, dolls, posters, T-shirts, keychains, cellphone accessories, and anything else that’s marketable. For example, let’s take a look at three popular titles.<\/p>\n