PSA: MIJ Madness; Anime Collectible, Or Musical Instrument?

[crunchee]

No affiliation.  Other than the Lace Alumitone pickups and the cosmetic details, it seems to me to be a fairly run-of-the-mill Tele.  Used price is stupidly high IMO, but not as high as some people have sold these guitars for in the past (you can do a web search for that):

https://www.davesguitar.com/collections/all-products-latest/products/evangelion-asuka-tele-21

A couple of years ago, Sweatwater was carrying them for US$2299.99 (and they've apparently/supposedly climbed in value since, according to the Reverb sales chart history), plus Trogly's did a video review (see below, I had a good laugh at the reference to Burger King):

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TeleEvnAsk--fender-2020-evangelion-asuka-telecaster-electric-guitar-asuka-red

I dunno if the DGS example has the 'Serial Nunber' decal on the back of the headstock or not, someone made a reference in the written 'comments' section of the video that this wasn't the only time Fender Japan had the mispelled decals on some guitars and not just this particular series; whether or not this was done purposely, your guess is as good as mine.

I did a bit of research online, and so far I can't find any reference to a guitar like this featuring in the Evangelion  Anime series, or mentioned in the Fandom Wiki for the show, so this model guitar seems more to me like a homage rather than featuring directly in the series...but still, it's apparently official merchandise with a COA, anyway.  Direct tie-ins with characters using specific guitars (mainly basses from what I can find) happen in Anime occasionally, and these guitars aren't always used for their original intended purposes in the shows (i.e., using it for opening a 'magic portal' and/or using it as a weapon Keef Richards-style): 

https://flcl.fandom.com/wiki/Bat

...and of course, this also encourages the Cosplayers to make their own homemade, usually non-musical/non-playable representations/mockups, as well as trying to buy an instrument somewhat close to the 'real thing'.  You can find examples online, so I won't go there; but apparently there's a huge market for this kind of thing, not just in Japan, but even in the US. 

[Jakeboy]

MIJ madness indeed.