Tweet

Gashapon or capsule toys have been in the market for a while in Japan; its variety and the fact that you don’t know what you will get till you open the capsule always catch kids’ attention, but adults also like it, which must be the key reason why it has been in the market so long despite the fact that it is a toy.

"ZoAmichi" some rights reserved. flickr

When I was a little child, there are not much variety of gashapon available compared to now if I remember correctly; boys miniature robots, character shaped erasers (which never erase anything! Lol) or key rings were major varieties back then.  But nowadays, its main consumers are not only children but adult collectors, so essentially there are a lot wider varieties available in the market.

For example, there are rather realistic animal, fish and reptile series like this.

"Kawa0310" some rights reserved. flickr

It’s actually cute, isn’t it?  it is pretty realistic, so I think this is educationally good for childresn??

Some of them are for a decoration use only, but some have got a magnet on the back so they can be used as fridge magnets 🙂

And very well crafted camera series!

"youthkee" some rights reserved. flickr

It seems it is very well made, and although it is miniature camera toy, you can even exchange lenses and move the lever of the camera (200yen = US$2.10)!!

And here is the ultimate Japaneseness version, Buddha statue series!!

"Jason Oertell" some rights reserved. flickr

It seems this series are developed under the concept, Japanese idols of the heart!

Very tasteful, isn’t it?!  It may looks a bit too classic and minor, but it seems variants are regularly updated once a half year, so it must have passionate collectors!

Those which I introduced today are, of course, a part of a variety, but gashapon can be purchased between 100 and 500 yen (US$1.05-5.25), which is also a good reason why both kids and adults keep coming back to buy another one^^

What do you think about today’s article?

If you have bought one of those gashapon before or even collecting ones, please share your story with me!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you  😉

Source: NAVER matome

This is JAPAN Style!