Hello Kitty Melon A Bargain At Just $50

We’ve gotten used to seeing her face on near everything, so the Hello Kitty melon that joins toasters, personal massagers, bathrobes, wallpaper, phone cases, and t-shirts isn’t entirely a surprise.

The Hello Kitty melon comes from (of course) Japan, and the (not sure if Sanrio sanctioned) fruit is emblazoned with the cartoon cat’s ubiquitous mug.

A Hello Kitty melon obviously doesn’t spring from the ground (or vine, or wherever melons come from) fully branded — the character’s likeness is carved into the still green young melon before it develops the dry, weird, net-like coating honeydew melons have on the outside.

If you’re enough of a Sanrio fan to need a Hello Kitty melon, there are a few things you should know about the special fruit made just for fans of the brand.

First, they’re not cheap. How much would you expect to pay for a Hello Kitty melon? Does $49, or 4,980 yen sound about right?

In addition to being $50 a pop, the melons are not a new addition to the Hello Kitty world of products. Hello Kitty melons first hit the internet’s big fruit salad back in 2010, and apparently were enough of a hit to come back for this summer’s harvest.

Not a lot of Hello Kitty melons are available for fruit-loving Sanrio collectors, either — just 300 will be sold by Belluna gourmet shopping for very dedicated Kitty-chan fans.

Hello Kitty Hell adds a bit of Sanrio fan-frustration to the mix:

“The sad, sad part is that you know the people at Sanrio are now desperately trying to figure out how to turn the inside of the melon pink to better reflect the brand image and their effort to further increase my (and everybody else’s) Hello Kitty Hell…”

Do you think a Hello Kitty melon is worth $50, even though there’s no way it can be added to a permanent collection of kitty trinkets?