Say hello to my Dragon Quest 'Smile Slime' mug :)

A few months ago, I noticed that AmiAmi was accepting pre-orders for a number of Dragon Quest "Smile Slime" mugs.

Although initially my eyes were drawn to this liquid metal slime mug, in the end I decided to plunk my money down on the more traditional design that can be seen throughout this post.

Now that the vessel in question has successfully made its way across the ocean and into my welcoming paws, I thought I'd snap and share a few photos of it.

As I'm sure you can imagine, the Smurf-blue box showcased above served as my "Smile Slime" mug's home as it crossed the pond last month. 

What you may not be able to imagine is that the box is pretty darn small. I'd say it's just inches--three to four, tops--in any particular direction. 

Here's a glimpse of the mug itself. It's pretty small, too--which I guess could go without saying.

Mind you, it's not so tiny it could be confused with a child's sippy cup, but it's definitely smaller than your typical mug.

Which kind of sucks, as my original plan was to take this mug to work and make all of my co-workers jealous whenever I waltz down to the kitchen to grab a cup of joe.

(Don't trust the selfie above, by the way. I was holding my Dragon Quest-themed mug at least a foot in front of my face when it was snapped. Also, don't mind that expression on my face. I was trying to give the camera the old "single raised eyebrow" look and failed spectacularly.)

Oh, well. I still love my new mug, even if it isn't as large as expected. (Now where have I heard that before?)

If you'd like to get one of your very own, just click on the following link. Don't worry, the folks at AmiAmi don't pay me--or give me any other kickbacks--for promoting their site or products. (Not that there's anything wrong with that sort of thing. I just thought you should know I don't benefit in any way from passing along links like these.)

Buy: Dragon Quest 'Smile Slime' mug

Strangest game-related products you're likely to encounter for some time to come: Square Enix's 25th anniversary SaGa dishes

The powers that be at Square Enix have chosen a wonderfully weird way in which to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its SaGa games: porcelain dishes.

Specifically, the Tokyo-based purveyor of Japanese RPGs is recognizing the milestone by selling a slew of porcelain platters, plates and cups that feature artwork related to the quirky series.

My favorite of the bunch: the following cup-and-saucer set that'll only set you back about $200.

The seven-inch platter seen below is pretty sweet too, though--plus, it's comparatively "cheap" at $150.

And then there's this rather colorful five-inch plate, which will run you just $86.50 if you buy it via shopncsx.com. (It's only $60 or so when purchased through the Square Enix estore, although I can't say I know how a foreigner is supposed to accomplish that task.)

To ogle the rest of Square Enix's SaGa anniversary dishes (including a couple that ring in at just under $10,000 apiece), head over to store.jp.square-enix.com/special/saga.

I'd be a lot more interested in these if they were Dragon Quest-branded coffee mugs rather than 'melamine cups'

To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure what a "melamine cup" is. Are we just talking about a plastic cup that a person might use to drink milk or water?

Regardless, I can't help but wish the Dragon Quest-themed vessels (above and below--oh, and there's a blue one, too!) that will soon be sold by the folks at shopncsx.com were porcelain mugs rather than melamine cups.

Of course, I need a game-related mug like I need a social disease (some would say "another social disease"), so maybe I should forget about this particular wish while I'm ahead.

Are any of you chomping at the bit to own one of these cups (which can be bought for just $8.90 each), or are you perfectly fine with whatever other cups you already own?

Who wouldn't want to wake up to one of these slimy suckers?

I don't know about you, but I start every day by downing a couple of steaming mugfuls of coffee. Unfortunately, the mugs in question are about as boring as you can get--completely unadorned and white.

That may help explain why I'm more interested in acquiring the following Dragon Quest-themed mug than I probably should be.

Of course, I'm a Dragon Quest fan from way back, so that may be partially to blame for my curiosity, too.

Regardless, I'm intrigued--and I'm seriously considering buying one (for $22.90) once they become available at ncsx.com.

The question is: should I buy the one above, branded with the long-running RPG series' smiling mascot, or should I go with the one that features a similarly grinning metal slime?