Childhood Disappointments: Gashapons
Remember those little collectible figurines that really served no purpose? Yeah me too.
Growing up, I always remembered asking my parents from 50 cents to use the toy vending machine to get a little toy in a capsule. I’ve always wanted to collect them all but I never got to because I always got the same figurine (gosh darn)!!!
As I got a little older, I tried my hand at those blind box toys. I thought, “since I could feel the shape of the figurine, maybe I could finally complete the set.”
Spoiler: I was still wrong.
Growing up, collectibles were a big thing. The excitement of seeing what you get, and trying to collect them all were enough to catch our attention. But looking back, we can see how much of a waste of money they were! They don’t do anything except exist!
So today we’re going to talk about some Gashapons and how they’re doing right now!
What is it?
Gashapons, also called gachapon, are vending machine capsule toys popular in Japan and elsewhere. You put the correct amount of money in coins into a toy-vending machine and twist it till a toy plops into the tray. You would then open a capsule and either be really happy with your toy or highly disappointed. In Japan, these collectibles are often of higher quality and a bit more expensive compared to America.
In recent years, the term is also used to describe blind-box trading figures which are toys where you don’t know what you’ll get until you open them. Many popular franchises like My Little Pony, Hello Kitty, Trolls had blind bag toys to their toy offerings. Some brands like Shopkins, and Mighty Beanz became popularized from this concept of “blind collect them alls.”
Did You Know?
- The word Gashapon is Japanese and comes from “gasha” which sounds like the cranking of the toy-vending machine and “pon” which is the sound the toy makes when it lands in the tray.
- Even as total toy sales fell in the US by 2% between 2017 to 2018, the blind bag market grew by about 60%
- Gashapon has been adapted digitally into many gacha video games and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) like MapleStory.
- Virtual blind bags, known as loot boxes, were banned in Belgium because it effectively exposed children to gambling
- In Japan, you can buy complete sets of Gashapon toys which usually end up being cheaper than blindly purchasing them from the machine
Author’s Experience
Growing up, I was obsessed with these, especially the Gashapons of cute anime figures from the Japanese store near me! I would get upset when I got the “ugly” character but my parents wouldn’t let me buy a lot of them since it got expensive pretty quickly. My favorite gashapon pull was when I got Yui from K-On!
Something I totally wiped from my memory was Mighty Beanz! They’re these little beans that have a metal piece in them so they would move around. They were originally launched in 2002 and discontinued in 2006. However, they had a short stint from 2010 to 2012 then are now back for real starting in 2018. I had a couple of them but I honestly don’t know what possessed me to buy them. They were pointless. Looking back, I wish I bought other blind bag toys instead.
I guess it’s because of my love of Pokemon that I’ve never been able to outgrow this “collect them all” mentality. I definitely shouldn’t have spent so much time and money on blind bags and gashapons…
Wacky Packages
I was fortunate enough to be able to interview a company creating blind bags today! This is a collaboration between the company Super Impulse, the creators of World’s Smallest, and Topps Trading Card Company. Topps used to sell Wacky Packages but in sticker form but with this collaboration with Super Impulse, they made it 3D! Here’s a transcription of my interview with them.
Wacky Package Minis is a really cool idea! Why was this partnership such a good fit for Super Impulse?
Thank you! We are really thrilled to be working on the Wacky Packages brand. Topps Trading Card Company is our partner on this project — they created the brand and we license from them. We have significant experience with licensed products, particularly with toy brands. While Wacky Packages are stickers, rather than toys, the merchandising is for an impulse purchase. Most of Super Impulse’s products are miniature impulse toys, so we know how to reach this audience.
What prompted the return of Wacky Packages and its collaboration with Super Impulse? Why miniatures instead of stickers?
Well, we do include a mini Wacky Packages sticker in every package of Minis, so we didn’t abandon the original product! Miniature products — toys, grocery items, entertainment properties, video games, etc., have been trending. Super Impulse’s niche is miniatures, and we are best known for our line of functional World’s Smallest toys. A trend of non-functional miniature grocery items, targeted primarily at a younger girl demographic, became huge last year. We thought that Wacky Packages would be a great complementary product line appealing to both boys and girls. The nature of the parody humor — some cynical, some silly, some gross — tilts a little more towards boys.
How did you come up with the “new skool” and “old skool” categories? What was the process of choosing which items were your “chase” figures?
Topps introduced Wacky Packages in 1967. They have continued to release new series ever since with over 50 years of designs in their archives. Since there are generations of kids that have collected Wacky Packages, there are plenty of adults that the brand appeals to, including hard-core collectors. We wanted to appeal to everyone who has a soft spot for Wacky Packages — therefore, the “old skool” series. And of course, we want to appeal to boys, tweens, and teens — the new generations so they can appreciate Wacky Packages. The “new skool” Minis feature designs from products of the past few decades and are more relatable to these groups. The chase items are based on color actually — we really like the shimmery material used to produce the product, and it is most visually effective in lighter base colors.
Most miniature collectibles are fairly one dimensional; all you do is try to collect them all. How do Wacky Packages try to change this or enhance the experience?
With over 50 years of sticker designs to draw from, we figure we can keep this collectible going for at least 30 years, so we’ll have our younger collectors hooked until mid-century. In addition to the sticker — a bonus — we’ll be doing contests that involve consumer creativity with prizes that may include unique styles, full series, original or unique artwork, and more.
What is your target demographic with this product?
If a seven-year-old started collecting the original stickers in 1967, they’d be 60 now. So using that as a base, our target is 6 to 60 year old’s. Anyone with a sense of humor, a touch of nostalgia, a cynic’s view of the world, and an appreciation for satire. And people that like having a bunch of useless stuff.
Where do you see the future of collectibles going?
Once the smart and cool people discover Wacky Packages Minis, all other collectibles will probably fade away.
Thoughts?
I definitely loved the whole experience of opening them up! It definitely brought up that nostalgic feeling of excitement of trying to guess which figure I would get. I laughed at the creative twists on the names of well-known household products. My favorite had to be “Moron Salt” which is a parody of “Morton Salt.” Although I had a lot of fun opening them up, as with all blind boxes, the appeal fades away quickly if you’re not an avid collector of the collection. I’m sure people who remember the original Wacky Packages and new collectors alike are siked to get their hands on this product but for me, I think my collecting days are over.
Keep Dreaming,
Rachelle
About the Author: Rachelle Cha is a sophomore at Rutgers University studying Computer Science and Statistics. Her favorite piece of nostalgia is the Tamagotchi!
