Spluch: Piggy bank with a life

[KenR]

Piggybanks have really evolved I see. This one, for example, is called "The Bank of Life." The one I used to have was called a "jar"

This is a programmable LCD piggy bank called “The Bank of Life” produced by toy maker, Takara Tomy. It is able to hold up to 200 pieces of 500 yen coins. A little Japanese man living in the screen starts off by living in a shoebox home and gradually upgrades to a luxury apartment reflecting on the amount of money in it. The company has just started selling this product in Japan on the 28 Dec 2006 at the price of US $40 each.

http://spluch.blogsp...-bank-with-life.html

from http://www.ohgizmo.com/

[mouser]

i love this idea..

[f0dder]

Haha, that's pretty cute!

[mouser]

Another similar thing ($40):
http://shopping.disc...m/product-57057.html

Kids can manage money the way adults do – with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).
Accepts real bills and coins
Dispenses cash like a real ATM
Enter secret PIN number for access
Make deposits and withdrawals
Keeps running total of savings
Electronic bill feeder
Coin recognition
This at-home ATM is an excellent way to learn about saving money. Create your own secret code for access and keep your allowance safe from little brothers and sisters!

From http://www.realtechnews.com/

[Deozaan]

It's like a Tamagotchi that instead of having to clean up its poo-poo you just feed it coins and it prospers!

Somewhat funny tangent: Ten years ago when Tamagotchis were first popular, I found one in the summer and didn't know what it was. It didn't have any instructions and only had two buttons on it, IIRC. I played around with it and managed to feed it and things like that. One day the little creature had two things that looked like Hershey's Kisses next to him. I had no idea what they were but decided it meant he was happy or wanted food or something.

Later that year when school started a girl in one of my classes told me it was POOP and I was supposed to clean it up! Yeah, that sweet waving odor of chocolate was actually steaming stench. It made sense after that.