A big slash in price from last year’s bag had us both intrigued and also a bit skeptical.

Every time one of my students goes to Japan, I ask them to bring back the weirdest, most delightful capsule toy that they can find. The miniature toys really run the gamut of the wacky to the wonderful, and the constant element of surprise in what you’ll get is a great marketing ploy to keep you spending more and more of your yen until you get the exact one that you want.

It’s hard for our team of writers to pass up some good capsule toy fun, so there was no way that we would miss another try at a New Year’s lucky bag from Mulan Akiba, a trade-in marketplace for all kinds of hobby goods in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. The nice thing about this place is that you don’t need to worry about reserving a lucky bag or entering a lottery in advance for one–there will always be plenty of stock on hand if you pay the store a visit on New Year’s Day.

▼ The exterior of Mulan Akiba

We realized that this year’s capsule toy lucky bag price was actually reduced by 1,000 yen (US$6.36) compared to last year’s bag, despite holding basically the same number of toys. That kind of drop is unheard of in these times–if anything, prices have continued to creep up over the past year in Japan.

▼ Left: Last year’s lucky bag, which contained 31 toys for 3,000 yen, versus right: this year’s lucky bag, which contains 30 toys for 2,000 yen

Our excitement at that deal was almost enough to make us forget the pain of needing to crack open all 30 of the capsule toys, which were rolling around loose in the paper bag.

We decided to sort the capsules into rough piles before anything else. The ones with transparent tape covering the clasp would take a little extra effort to pry open, so we cracked our knuckles and prepared to dive in.

Ta-da! It took about 30 minutes to open the whole bunch. By the looks of it, about 80 percent of the toys this year were character-themed goods, while the remaining ones were more travel-themed or mini brand items.

Here’s a closer look at the individual items.

● Uma Musume Pretty Derby rubber mascot (1)
● Uma Musume Pretty Derby (Umayuru) acrylic strap (2)
● Oshi no Ko acrylic stand (2)
● Project Sekai: Colorful Stage acrylic clip (2)
● Project Sekai: Colorful Stage capsule stamp (1)
● Goddess of Victory: Nikke character figure (1)
● Chiibato (Patlabor) rubber keychain (1)
● Laid-Back Camp rubber strap (2)
● Toy safe (2)
● [Pictured above] Pon Juice pouch (1) and magnet (1)

▼ First batch listed above

● Pokémon squished mascot (3)
● Harry Potter magical brooms (2)
● Patlabor x Tsuchiura (city in Ibaraki Prefecture) manhole acrylic keychain (4)
● Dinosaur keychain figure (2)
● Chiikawa multi-use towel (1)

▼ Second batch listed above

Uniquely, there was a Where’s Wally? figure that came in two parts. It would be easy for even kids to snap together.

▼ How many North American readers are now realizing that his original name is “Wally,” not “Waldo”?

Lastly, the Gundam mobile suit figure had an unbelievable number of parts for a capsule toy. It was really more like an extra-miniature Gunpla.

This one would be tricky to assemble for adults, let alone kids. The visual in the little leaflet also had extremely tiny print.

All in all, this year’s Mulan Akiba bag wasn’t a bad haul–but your level of satisfaction would probably depend on if you were a big fan of the character-themed goods in particular. We’re also curious whether this year’s reduction in price will lead to a further 1,000 yen discount next year and the year after, until the lucky bag is completely free. After all, we’ll never turn down a gift horse when offered.

Store information
Kaitori Hanbai Senmon Mulan Akiba Main Shop / 買取販売専門ムーラン AKIBA本店
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto-Kanda 1-4-21
東京都千代田区外神田1丁目4-21
Open: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

All images © SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

[ Read in Japanese ]