Although the Shenmue experiment was one of the more celebrated and critically acclaimed retail failures in the game industry the past few years, it's been met with precious little fanboy paraphernalia. I've been looking for a coiffable Goro, a Jimmy with hot-dog truck set, or even some sailors, but I've found just about as much goodies as Ryo finds dates. That was before I found this Shen Hua statue and its accompanying notepad.

Shen Hua stands about six inches tall and is made of what seems to be a light, cheap plastic. The paint job is nothing to write home about either, and it's especially sloppy around the hands, but it suffices. The base is adorned with three gold kanji, and the underside of the base has the same kana and kanji as on the box front, along with the copyright notice "(C) SEGA ENTERPRISES,LTD.,1998."

The notepad cover sports an image of Shen Hua doing something typically mysterious (I never did play long enough to see what her deal was) and the back features the Dragon/Phoenix mirror logo. I'm told that both items were given away as prizes by what is now X-Play on what is now TechTV way back in 1999, so they're not exactly easy to find, although they may be more plentiful in Japan. Like everything else, except food and living space.

· · · Anthony Onyrscuk