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In an effort to post something today

I bring you PANDA-Z.NET, dedicated to all things mecha-panda! That's right, before you could only dream of owning your own mechanized panda. Now, due to the miracle of modern Japanese society, you too can own your very own mecha-panda!

Click here for an assortment of mecha-pandas. This is the one my brother will be bringing back with him and soon to grace my desk. And let it not be said that the Japanese aren't good marketers. Every piece there is sold seperately, with the head and mini-panda being one piece.

Sweet....

Update: The marketing is even more sinister than previously thought. During his recent foray to the mecha-panda store, my brother had an epiphany that allowed him to grasp the entirety of the mecha-panda marketing scheme. It seems that the mecha-panda boxes are, essentially, grab bags (or a box of chocolates). You never know what you're going to get. Thus, to be assured of assembling a complete mecha-panda, you must buy box after box to assure yourself of getting the necessary pieces. He doesn't think there is any rarity issues involved, so the mecha-panda guys aren't quite as advanced as the Wizards of the Coast guys. But give them time...

You know, I'm really disappointed in all of you. No comments about the coolest advance in the mecha genre. Sad.

Posted by jp on Thursday March 04, 2004 at 3:51 PM

Sorry, I'm still thinking about which sf authors I would actually want to lick.

Posted by John on Thursday March 04, 2004 at 10:57 PM

That whole Panda-Z thing is great. I don't quite understand quite what is going on, though... I need a translation of that site!

Posted by Karl on Tuesday March 09, 2004 at 7:53 PM

Well, a babelfish translation doesn't exactly shed any light on whatever backstory there is about the Pandas. It almost makes me want to learn Japanese. Almost.

Posted by jp on Tuesday March 09, 2004 at 8:26 PM

Seriously, I would almost pay someone to translate. I particulary want to know what the blue panda with the phone-head does. Did you ever get your Panda-Z? They have them on eBay, but soooo pricey...

Posted by Karl on Wednesday March 10, 2004 at 9:24 AM

My panda-z is apparently in storage with a friend of my brother's in Japan. He is off galavanting around Thailand with his wife before returning to Tokyo and his conference next week. Then, MR. Panda-Z will make his first trip to the states at the end of the month with the ultimate goal of taking up residence next to my monitor.

So the short answer is: no, not yet! ;)

I'll ask him if he can get his friend to translate for us. Do you have a link to the phone-head panda? In the meantime, I'll try to find it by link-hunting on their page.

Posted by jp on Wednesday March 10, 2004 at 9:58 AM

Here's Phone Head:

http://www.panda-z.net/world/chara04.html

Sadly, it doesn't appear that they make a toy for him yet.

Posted by karl on Wednesday March 10, 2004 at 2:02 PM

Awww, isnt that Phone Head adorable. They really need to use more Kanji on those sites; at least then, I can get my mom to translate the site for me...

Posted by Peter on Sunday March 14, 2004 at 7:52 AM

I finally caved and bought the Panda-z figure off ebay. Now if they would only come out with a Phone Head Panda toy... or better yet, make it an actual functional phone. I don't know if I feel like using the rotary dial, tho.

Posted by Karl on Sunday March 14, 2004 at 10:50 AM

I bought a few of the Panda-Z videos on eBay. The phone-head panda is named "Denwan" (a derivation of the Japanese word for telephone, "denwa"). On the video, he, uh, rings a lot.

Posted by Telstar on Saturday April 02, 2005 at 9:30 PM