The idea behind this gadget is that it’s never too early to teach kids the value of a dollar with a freaky fish banker. Every time your kid inserts a coin into the bank, a fish named Gill (haha) will reward your kid with an animation. Thing is, with Cartoon network available to your kid, I don’t think he’s gonna give a tuna what some gameboy-colored fish has to say.

Anyhow, the money they deposit is automatically counted and the total savings is displayed on screen. If that’s not enough, your kid will now be responsible for feeding old Gill and keeping his tank clean. Yeah right. It was nice knowing you Gill! This is gonna be either way too much fun or hardly any for $52. I call the latter.

Just when you thought it was safe here comes yet another wacky clock. A very boxy and not swell to look at clock. This one is a lot like the Coin Lamp, in that it is a money hungry device. This Money-Saving BanClock makes you insert a coin of any value or currency before it will shut up. I think that’s called extortion. This clock/bank will hold about $25 before it needs to be emptied.

You’ll need a supply of coins by the clock so you can shut it up without punching a hole in it. What’s with these savings devices though? It used to be that people were disciplined enough to save on their own without a device encouraging them.

Here’s the latest in extortionist lamps. This clever lighting appliance forces you to save money if you want light. It’s the Coin Lamp from designer Jethro Macey, who is apparently very thrifty. It’s turned on by a coin-operated switch, with the lamp set to a predetermined time by an internal mechanism. The final version of coin lamp will be available soon.

It’s like having the mafia in charge of your electricity. Imagine if you will that you are sitting by the lamp, maybe working on an important paper and suddenly the light goes out. You have your pile of change sitting by the lamp. It’s not the first time you’ve been shook down after all. But you’ve had enough. You’re not going to take it anymore. You’re sick of giving in to criminals. So, you light a candle. That will teach your rich mafioso lamp a thing or two. But sadly there is an internal mechanism that detects light, so the lamp knows what you are doing. Next thing you know you’re dodging bullets as your house becomes swiss cheese. After the bullets fly and tires squeal away, you crawl to your lamp and put a full ten bucks worth of change in it. You’ve learned your lesson, no more messing with the lamp.

Apparently all the good and handsome men are taken in Japan. I guess that’s why Japan’s women are finding romance with this virtual man called the “Handsome Man Bank”.

It comes in girl-friendly pink or white, with an LCD display that will show 5 handsome men. It costs about $50 and he’s a player alright. A real smooth guy with lines like “Can I kiss you?” or “May I rub your shoulders?” But at the end of the day he’s all talk, leaving some longing and needful Japanese women all hot and bothered. Should have come with another accessory for this phase I guess.

I guess it isn’t easy being a Japanese geek. Not that it’s easy being an American geek, but the Japanese have so much more cool stuff to tempt them out of their savings. That’s why Takara Tomy has made a new kind of piggy bank. One with an RPG game built into it. It’s called Bank Quest.

Not very original, but appropriate. You can buy weapons and armor for your character from the savings you place inside the bank. Where have I seen this before. Oh right, it was called an arcade, where you put your money in played. Except you get to keep the money with this bank. Improve the graphics and gameplay, you might just have a bunch of gamers saving their money for once.

If you’re worried about greedy relatives stealing your money, the Shocker ATM Bank should cure the problem. When you put money in it, it will yell “Eeeeee!” for some reason. I guess it’s happy for you and your financial situation. The bank will also know the difference between all coins between 1 and 500 Yen, and will display the total amount saved so you don’t have to count it yourself.

Comes with a security card and an individual pin number. It will cost you $30, but it will cost your family several nasty shocks before they learn to keep their mitts off. It also has alarm clock and calculator functions. Hands off my yen mofo!