Dec 21, 2025
Age ratings on capsule toys
I noticed on a trip to a toy capsule center yesterday that many of the capsule toy machines have an age rating on them. Some of the age ratings make sense, some are a complete mystery. A search on the internet revealed that many people have pondered this in the past, but i couldn't find an adequate answer to some of the weirder age ratings.

I've seen many toy capsules over the years with 3+ age rating. This makes perfect sense because pretty much all capsule toys aare choking hazard to babies, infants and toddlers. Recently I've also seen many machines with a 6+ age rating, like the one above, which also makes sense for the same reason.

The above toy capsule machine is for miniatures of beer and other goods you find at a izakaya. The age rating on it is 20=. In other words only people aged twenty years old or older are supposed to buy this product. I get the reason for this, although I am not sure I agree with it. It matches the legal age for alcohol consumption. However, aas there is no actual alcohol in this capsule item, i wonder is it really necessary to put a 20+ age rating on it.

But the rating that I can't make any sense of, is the 15+ age rating. Which was on the majority of toy capsule machines at the toy capsule center I visited yesterday. As I said above, I can't find the reason for the 15 rating, but one person on Reddit suggested that its because the capsule machines are a form of gambling. But if that was the case, shouldn't the age be 20 years old not 15.
Another person suggested that it maybe because the items in those machines are considered collectibles rather than toys. Seems more likely than the gambling scenario. But unfortunately i don't know if that is the official reason. Do you know why the majority of capsule machines have a 15+ age rating?
Former nickname was "Saitama". Changed it to save confusion on place review posts! Irish, 20+ years in Japan! I also write on my personal website: insaitama.com
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