If you’re a mega-fan of any IP, you’re probably intimately familiar with the drain that fandom can incur on your wallet. And with a 25-year-long franchise like One Piece, the temptation to buy things can get intense. As someone who got into One Piece during the pandemic, when I was bored and scared and looking to reward myself with trivial, material things – so trust me, I know. But, on the bright side, since I’ve been around the block of capitalist temptation, I know a thing or two about what’s out there that’s actually worth a look.
Of course, we’re in historic inflation, so many of our budgets have shrunk considerably. I know mine has. And yet… I admit to you, I still shelled out $75 for a Yamato figure. Which, if you’ve followed the trends of my One Piece coverage, is no surprise. I ate very frugally in the weeks that followed after my splurge. To attone.
There’s a lot of places on the internet which claim to have “OFFICIAL One Piece merch!!” but do not. There’s also always websites like Etsy and Redbubble, which are great for heartwarming fan-made art. Or recreations of Fisher Tiger’s immortal “Frog? No. HIPPO.” shirt. This is all “official” merch, though, for those of us who can’t get at the physical One Piece stores in Japan anytime soon. I’ve also not included things like video games or the just-announced-today trading card game.
One Piece: Pirate Recipes Cookbook
Anyone who has watched any anime is no stranger to longing for in-show food. One Piece is a continual source of this longing, simply because there is a gourmet chef among the show’s main characters. I have pined for my own Pirate Bento very, very deeply. But, thanks to One Piece: Pirate Recipes, I can make my own Pirate Bento! (Yes, it’s in there!) True, it’s not as good as having Sanji make me one. But the author of this cookbook is (no joke) listed as “Sanji” everywhere from Barnes and Noble to Amazon, so it’s about as close as I’ll get.
There are some vegetarian recipes in the book, but even a recipe for bean sprouts has anchovies in it. Then again, a Luffy-approved cookbook is bound to be meat-heavy. There are also a number of recipes marked for “Ladies Only.” Take that as you will. You can get this anywhere books are sold, but I highly recommend ordering it from your local bookshop. Or at least Bookshop.org.
One Piece x Original Stitch Custom Shirts
One of my earliest instances of Pandemic Longing was Original Stitch’s bespoke Pokémon Shirts. When the high-end tailoring company recently announced that the next beloved franchise they would partner with would be One Piece, I nearly fell out of my chair. Because, at a minimum of $100 a shirt, how dare they do this to my wallet? Currently, there are 30 One Piece designs to choose from – a far cry from the hundreds of Pokémon designs, but there appear to be plans to add to the collection.
The 30 current designs focus on the East Blue saga, which is great news for the Kuro and Arlong die-hards out there. Fortunately, the designers also cheated a bit and supplied us with some Chopper designs, too. You can mix and match these designs on your shirt as you please – on the pocket, collar, cuffs, etc. Alas, adding more designs does cost more. Also – Straw Hat skull buttons?! C’mon.
The shirts are also all custom-tailored, and there’s apparently a new smartphone app called Bodygram which claims to get your measures in 15 seconds? What a world we live in. If you don’t want to spend $100, that’s understandable. There’s $18 face masks and bandanas as well.
WT 100 Commemorative Figures
One of the most joyful events I watched during the pandemic was the unveiling of the results for the One Piece World Top 100 character poll. (For real – it’s like a One Piece Oscars, and it’s subtitled on YouTube.) At the risk of spoilers, the top three were, in descending order, Nami, Zoro, and – of course – Luffy. Oda said he would do new, original drawings for the top-ranking characters, but new figures were an expected surprise. I also appreciate he included Chopper in Luffy’s figurine. Because Chopper was robbed.
The pre-orders for this set of three are sold out, so you might have to do some sleuthing here if you want to nab them.
Whatever other figures Crunchyroll has in stock
I can tell you from experience that starting to get into figures is a slippery slope. First, you get a big, big Luffy, looking great in his threadbare kimono, because it’s a global pandemic and you deserve it. Then your partner gets you a Trafalgar Law figure, because you have chosen your partner well. To repay the kindness, you get your partner a Robin figure. Then another Robin figurine. Before you know it, you have a large collection of One Piece figures all around your household.
Anyway. Looking at Crunchyroll’s current lineup of One Piece figures has become something of an aspirational past-time for me. There’s usually at least one which I have to convince myself not to purchase. Of course, there are plenty of other outlets to find figures, too. Shipping-wise and actually-having-what-you-sell-in-stock-wise, I’ve just found Crunchyroll the easiest to deal with.
One Piece Color Walk Compendiums
You know those big spreads which sometimes appear at the beginning of One Piece manga chapters? Which you get the feeling exist in color, which which for the longest time only appeared in black and white? Well, who whole books compiling those images exist! As well as various other color images! The two currently-existent Color Walk Compendiums also include (English-translated) interviews the creator, Eiichiro Oda, does with other notable mangaka.
Presently, the two Color Walk Compendiums cover up to the Paramount War. A third Color Walk Compendium volume into the New World is finally being released in August 2022. In the meantime, as with the cookbook, you can grab the existing volumes from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org.
(Image credit: Toei Animation)
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