Yes, we love our gashapon toys here in Japan. They’re inexpensive, readily available, and we can’t seem to get enough of them… especially if they’re cute, sparkly miniature Sailor Moon transformation toys!
That’s right — back by popular demand, toy manufacturer (and apparently all-round good guys) Bandai will be re-releasing the “Sailor Moon Transformation Compact Mirror” and the “Sailor Moon Stick and Rod” series of miniature toys, and with the intricate details and bright colors that are sure to capture fans’ hearts, they’re every bit as magically charming as they were before!
The “Sailor Moon Transformation Compact Mirror” gashapon toys were certainly a big hit when they were previously released in January 2014.
The compact mirror series, which includes the “Transformation Brooch compact mirror”, the “Crystal Star compact mirror”, the “Cosmic Heart compact mirror”, the “Crisis Moon compact mirror” and the “Chibi-Moon compact mirror” will once again be available from gashapon machines for 300 yen (US$2.40) a piece in September. And judging from the picture, it looks like the compacts, while small enough to fit in a gashapon capsule, will have an actual mirror inside, like they did with the previous version.
And if September is too long for you to wait, don’t worry. The “Sailor Moon Stick and Rod” line of gashapon toys will be coming out in mid-June!
These toys were so popular that they sold out immediately after they were released in November 2014, but now the “Moon Stick”, the “Cutie Moon Rod”, the “Transformation Stick: Sailor Mercury” and the “Transformation Stick: Sailor Mars” will be available once again for a price of 500 yen each. The sticks are between 15cm and 17.5cm (5.9 in – 6.9 in) in length, and all four types come with a stand that allows you to display them wherever you like. The Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars sticks even come with colored sand inside the clear bottles attached on top.
Now, we haven’t seen the actual gashapon toys yet, but the magical items recreated in careful detail in miniature sizes have got to be super cute! We can easily imagine fans forgetting themselves and buying multiple number of these toys. Thankfully, gashapon trinkets are much easier on the wallet than some of the other Sailor Moon merchandise out there, like sweets-inspired jewelry or stylish designer bags, so it won’t mean financial disaster if you have fun collecting a few of these items.
Sure, they’re just toys, but we have a feeling that the sense of magic and excitement they represent might be worth much more than the coins that you put into the gashapon machines, especially if you’re a fan who grew up watching Sailor Moon!
Source: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Project Official Site (1) & (2) via Nijimen.net
Top Image: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Project Official Site (1) & (2) edited by RocketNews24
Inset photos: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Project Official Site (1) & (2)