There are six crazy straps in this collection, but can you guess what they’re meant to represent?
capsule toys (Page 9)
It might sound like a strange coupling, but there’s actually a valid reason for this six-part collection!
The “Brilliant Capsule” sales area in Shinjuku is filled with plenty of adorable and ladylike anime goods!
Phone accessories come embroidered with declarations of protection against online flaming and low batteries.
Move over water bottle panties, it’s time to dress up your drinks with a fashionable over-the-shoulder sweater that takes its styling cues from Beat Takeshi.
What’s brown, lumpy, and can now be purchased via capsule toy machines in Japan? If you guessed “a turd,” then you have a gross mind, but are also entirely correct!
Looking for a new line of tiny appliances? This cute cat-themed line of tiny toys is just what you’ve been looking for!
Need some new figures for your desk? Then check out these Buddhist statue figures from Kaiyodo!
Last week Bandai hinted that they would be announcing something big in their line of Gashapon capsule toy machines. Thinking I’ve seen it all in the capsule toy world I didn’t give it much attention. I figured it was probably just another series of sushi-cat hybrids or sausages shaped like giant isopods, same old same old.
It would seem I was wrong. Actually, Bandai did have something big up their sleeve and will be soon offering their line of capsule toys for random purchase from anywhere you happen to be holding your smartphone. That’s because next month they’ll be doing test runs on the sophisticatedly named Net de Capsule: remote operated Gashapon machines accessible over the internet.
One of the most symbolic foods of the Japanese winter season is the grilled mochi rice cake. You set up a charcoal grill and put a few slabs of pounded white mochi on it. After a while, the mochi will soften, blow up, and eventually become a warm, golden brown gooey delight that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside like a kind of savory marshmallow.
But what happens when you combine cute fluffy animals with these grilled mochi? Well, toy maker Bandai has the answer for us in this series of adorable mochi anime capsule toys!
We all love a good gashapon capsule toy. But whether it’s One Piece characters or doggy bread, getting more than one of the same toy is usually a disappointment. No wonder some collectors skip the vending machine step altogether and buy completed sets second-hand. Duplicates are no fun.
There’s one Japanese toy company that flips that idea on its head, however. Unlike conventional capsule toys, Epoch’s scale models actually look better the more identical items you have! And these miniatures of seemingly mundane items such as school desks, shopping trolleys and folding chairs have proved a runaway hit.
So when our reporter Mr. Sato heard about the latest capsule item from Epoch, he immediately grabbed a bunch of hundred-yen coins and headed out to start collecting…miniature cinema chairs! Here’s what he found.

















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