Capsule Toys

Remember when we were kids and the grocery store had capsule toys for 50 cents at the exits? They still exist in Japan. Sometimes they are simple toys for as cheap as 100 yen and sometimes they are blind-boxed, highly collectible toys for 300 yen and up. Blind boxing is when a toy is wrapped, so you don’t know which model/color you are going to get until you pay for the item and open it. This practice is slowly becoming more popular in the U.S. thanks to designer toy shops such as Kid Robot .

Outside the entrance at a local bookstore, I saw a capsule machine filled with Lego mini-figures. It showed the eight variety of figures that were blind-boxed. I was a Lego maniac for many of my formative years, and I was instantly smitten with the possibility of getting a Lego elf, a mini-figure that has never been in any Lego set! The samurai and bearded fisherman were also worth going for.

Becky encouraged me to get one for 300 yen, and I admit I had a slight gamblers’ rush as I dropped in my three coins and turned. Then I suppose I had gamblers’ disappointment as I opened the capsule and tore open the bag revealing the baseball player, one of the less desirable outcomes, in my opinion. The disappointment was severe.

After dreaming of the Lego elf for days, we returned to the bookstore with a pile of 100 yen coins. We weren’t sure how much money we were willing to commit. I put in my first 300 yen and had that gamblers’ rush for a second time. I tore open the bag and peaked in. “I got the elf,” I said, shocked and delighted. He now guards the house moving around from surface to surface.