Bomberman Bakuhatu Plush

The Japanese word "Bakuhatu" means "Explode" and that's what Bomberman's bombs do. To capitalize on the decades old Bomberman craze, Banpresto has started preorders for a plush bomb which sports a lit fuse on top and a sound chip inside. When the chip is triggered, various sounds roar forth from the innards of the plush which are meant to recreate explosive video game aurals. For example, the product solicitation mentions that each plush makes two sounds: "BOOMB!" and "POM!" which are lovingly sampled from the Bomberman games. We'll perform the obligatory sound recordings once the Bomberman Bakuhatu Plushes are in stock. Two color variants are on offer and preorders are welcome today.

Nintendo T-Shirt Collection

Other than the Dolce & Gabbana Mario T-shirt, official Nintendo-themed clothing isn't widely available. Knock-offs are a dime a dozen however. We've seen misshapen caricatures of Mario and his brethren on t-shirts sold in China and on assorted sites across the web where the concepts of copyright and intellectual property are anathema.
Banpresto bolsters the cause of properly licensed Nintendo clothing by announcing three tees with retro Nintendo themes as follows:

(A) Marios stand facing each other in a 6 x 4 array on a navy blue shirt
(B) A stencil of the original Family Computer atop a red crewneck shirt
(C) Stars, mushrooms, and flowers join a lone Mario on a black shirt

Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late June 2007.

Yua Aida Trading Cards

The top JAV idol at production studio S1 is Yua Aida, a 22 year-old whose hobbies include tennis and oil painting. When Yua Aida poses for candid shots, she frequently throws out the victory sign or waves for the camera. When posing for professional photo shoots however, she's all business and the hand jive is banished. As in, banished by the photographer. To celebrate Yua Aida's skill at dressing up and appearing photogenic, a set of glossy trading cards have been announced which feature Yua Aida in different settings and in various stages of dress and undress.

The preorder solicitation mentions that 114 different cards are in the set and the cards are packaged 7 per pack. Each factory case includes 12 packs for a total of 84 cards in each case. The types of cards in the set are:

» Regular Cards [72 types] » Clear Cards [18 types]
» Clothing Card [17 types] » Autograph Signature Card [3 types]
» 1/1 Checkicard [1 type] » 1/1 Film Card [1 type]
» Kiss Imprint Card [1 type] » Secret Card [1 type]

Pricing per pack is US$4.50 and preorders ship in Feb 2007.