Gashapon

 

Gashapon machines are similar to the coin-operated toy vending machines seen outside grocery stores and other retailers in other countries. While American coin-operated vending toys are usually cheap, low-quality products sold for a few quarters (US$1 or less), Bandai's gashapon can cost anywhere from ¥100 (US$0.91) to ¥500 (US$4.56) and are normally a higher-quality product, followed by other Japanese manufacturers. They are often constructed from high-grade PVC plastic, and contain more molding detail and intricately painted features. Many gashapon are considered collector's items, with rare ones fetching extremely high prices in secondhand markets.^[8]

Gashapon toys are often licensed from popular characters in Japanese manga, video games or anime, or from the American entertainment industry. These highly detailed toys have found a large following among all generations in Japan, and the trend is spreading elsewhere in the world, especially among adult collectors. It is not uncommon for sets marketed specifically for adults to feature risqué female figurines.^[9]

Virtually all gashapon are released in sets—each series will have a number of figures to collect. They are by nature a blind purchase; people insert coins and may hope to get a toy or figure they desire. Such an amusement element may become frustrating, as one risks obtaining the same item repeatedly.

Enthusiastic collectors will buy sets from gashapon stores in places such as Tokyo's Akihabara or Osaka's Nipponbashi (Den-Den Town). Depending on the store, the sets are usually cheaper than buying them randomly out of a machine.

Bandai has been selling Gashapon toys since at least 1977. As of March 2021^[update], Bandai Namco has sold 3.711 billion Gashapon toys for ¥100–500 each, generating approximately between ¥371–1,860 billion ($3.38–17 billion) in estimated sales revenue, since 1977.^[10]

Capsule toys has also come to refer to blind-box trading figures, which are essentially the same product sold randomly out of sealed cardboard packages instead of a machine.^[11] One brand that does blind boxes is Chinese toy brand Pop Mart, which does designer toys, is very popular with teenagers and young adults.^[12] Kidrobot is another company famous for their blind boxes, in particular the Dunny series^[13] as well as collaborations with various popular franchises.^[14] Dreams Inc. uses blind boxes for its Sonny Angel and Smiski figurines.^[15]

There are also blind bags, which is a similar concept but in a disposable bag instead of a cardboard box. This is one way that Gashapon figures make it to the US, as companies like Bandai release their Gashapon figures as blind bags for American audiences.^[16] LEGO also used blind bags for their collectible Minifigure series, before switching to blind boxes due to environmental concerns.^[17]

This is based on fukubukuro, a grab bag of randomized items for a set price that originated in Japan in the 1980s.^[18]

Another variety of capsule toys is bottle cap figures. These small figures are mounted atop plastic bottle caps, as might be found on soda bottles. They are sold both in machine capsules and blind boxes. The caps are not functional as they lack screw threads to secure them to the mouth of the bottle.

Games—often freemium—largely based on a gacha mechanism of monetization are referred to as gacha games.^[19][20] Gacha mechanism, or gacha, is essentially a monetization model which the user pays with in-game currency to enter a draw in order to obtain the character or item they want.^[21] If a player does not obtain what they hoped for, there is the option of paying with their own money for more draws, and this is the main way to monetize the Gacha games.^[21] The gacha game model arose in the early 2010s, faring particularly well in Japan.^[19][20]

Gacha can be free to play. Rare or valuable gaming items often need to be obtained through special gacha purchased with real money.^[22] The games may feature different tiers of gacha pulls, which give different sets of rewards.^[19][23] Examples of gacha games include Genshin Impact,^[24] Fire Emblem Heroes,^[19][25] Puzzle & Dragons,^[19] and Dragon Collection.^[20]

Many free-to-play massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) and mobile games also use gacha mechanics, with randomly generated items of varying market values being acquired via microtransactions. In addition, paid console games have included gacha-style progression based on random items but with no in-app purchases, such as Work Time Fun.

The anime-oriented subculture surrounding the production of gacha games has also given birth to the term gacha pop, referring to J-pop songs in diverse genres, from those of pop act Yoasobi to rock musician Kenshi Yonezu, associated with anime soundtracks or aesthetics sought by a global audience.^[26]

Gacha mechanism has come under scrutiny for its resemblance to gambling. Similar to gambling, gacha manipulates the emotional state of the player, specifically the player’s sense of luck, satisfaction and insecurity, as well as the player’s financial stability and dopamine release to ultimately cause a gaming addiction and encourage continued game play.^[21] Problematic use of gacha have also indicated to high levels of gambler’s fallacy.^[21] Gambler’s fallacy is a luck-related erroneous belief that a certain event is less or more likely to occur, based on a previous series of events.^[27]

Winning high ranking virtual items in gacha is extremely rare and unpredictable. As a result, this can ultimately trigger the gambler’s fallacy in players. To minimize the relationship between gambling and the use of gacha, in 2016, the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) passed a law stating that companies must disclose the probability of drawing items in paid gachas so consumers can understand their chances of winning.^[28][29] This law is now respected and followed by every Gacha game today.^[28]

Besides gambling, gacha games are also commonly associated with a social phenomenon called parasocial relationships.^[30] Parasocial relationships refer to a sense of attachment that develops between receivers and media characters.^[30] In terms of gacha games, Gacha players develop a parasocial relationship with in-game characters which players obtain through gacha mechanism.^[22][30] This parasocial relationship is primarily developed based on the character’s aesthetic and rich narrative element.^[22] Rentia and Karaseva’s study demonstrated how players are initially attracted to gacha games due to the games' aesthetic although moving forward, players grow to greatly value the narrative elements associated with the gacha characters.^[22]

When a new character is introduced for the first time in a game, many gacha games will release a quest that follows the character’s life events, including the character’s life, intentions and aspirations, giving the opportunity for players to get acquainted with the characters. In Genshin Impact for example, when players pull a character, they receive more information and backstory about that specific character.^[22][31] Players can also read information on what characters think about other characters and their relationships.^[22][31] It is at this stage in which some players develop an intense emotional connection and as a result, engage in a parasocial relationship with an in-game character. For many players, the charming anime-style design of gacha characters create a strong attraction, which in time evolves into a strong emotional connection, then a parasocial relationship with the character.^[22][30]

As a result of parasocial relationships with in-game characters, gacha players will personify the probability of drawing characters.^[30] Mackenzie and Lax’s study discovered how gacha communities traditionally referred to the successful acquisition of a desired character as the character ‘coming home.’^[30] This reflects how, because of the strong emotional attachment they feel towards the character, gacha players will personify or give human life to character so much so the character develops a human capacity to acknowledge the player’s desire, and therefore returns home to where they belong.^[30]

There are several ways you can acquire Gashapon figures and items outside of Japan. One way is Bandai's officially licensed repackagings in the form of blind bags, sold in stores like Five Below and Target.^[16] Another way is through a dedicated Gashapon store. There are officially licensed Bandai Gashapon stores across the United States, including in the American Dream mall in New Jersey,^[32][33] as well as individual Gashapon machines (both licensed and unlicensed) in various stores and malls. These stores allow you to exchange money for tokens that can be used in actual Gashapon machines. There is also Gacha Gacha in Australia, which is a similar concept but done by a third party rather than Bandai.^[34]

You can also buy Gashapon figures through sites like eBay and dedicated sites like Gacha x2.^[35]

• Designer toys
• Figurine
• Gumball machine
• Model figure
• Urban vinyl
• Capsule toy

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Capsule toys.

• Gashapon at Bandai (in Japanese)