A match made in nostalgic heaven: Fender team up with Pac-Man to create one of the coolest guitars we’ve seen

Talk about gobbling up everything in its way, Pac-Man has seen its likeness on just about every merch product you can think of — turning up on sneakers, beanies, Crocs, hoodies, drinkware, cookware, Lego collectibles, heck, this nostalgia mercenary has even had a collaboration with Krispy Kreme doughnuts, maze-themed icing.

But the coolest collab by far has to be the newest guitar release from the good folk at Fender.

The new Fender x Pac-Man Player II Telecaster feels less like a guitar and more like a quarter-fed hallucination from the golden age of suburban arcades — a Telecaster dipped in neon memory and launched straight through a wormhole connecting 1951 honky-tonk America to a mall arcade circa 1983. 

Built on the dependable Player II platform, the guitar still delivers the snarling twang and sharp-edged clarity that made the Tele the patron saint of bar bands and punk lifers. But visually? It’s gloriously ridiculous. The Pac-Man maze sprawls across the body in full pixelated chaos, turning one of rock & roll’s most utilitarian instruments into a playable lunchbox-sized fever dream.

Predictably, guitar purists are already clutching their butterscotch blondes in horror. Reddit critics called it “too gimmicky,” while others mourned the missed opportunity for PAC-MAN fretboard inlays or arcade-button kill switches. But that’s beside the point. This thing isn’t chasing tasteful minimalism — it’s chasing joy.

And in an era where most signature guitars feel algorithmically focus-grouped into oblivion, the Pac-Man Tele at least has the courage to be loud, weird, and unapologetically fun.

Antonino Tati

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