Bizarre Gachapon Prizes (Who thought of these!?)

Japan loves these little gachapon machines, and I love them too. When a new set of Kirby figures comes out, I just want to collect them all! But, there are just as many gachapon machines that I will look at completed puzzled, not understanding who it is that is buying them! Here are just some of the most bizarre ones I’ve ran into in Japan.

The beautiful kanji character sides series: similar to prefixes and Greek/Latin word roots of English, certain parts of kanji characters might tell you what the word is related to (ex. Plants, flowers, heat, etc.). So here is a collection of those roots in a transparent shape so you can display them.

(The idea is actually kinda cool, but the fact that they are randomized means I might not get the one I want. It is like having a huge letter “S” on my desk but it doesn’t relate to me in anyway.)

The squishy sashimi series: have you ever thought to yourself that the raw tuna last night was delicious, and you wish you can have an inedible version of hung on your bag so you can squish it with your fingers any time…… 

(Uhhh….. why???)

Squirrels with random objects in their mouths series: look at these cute little creatures and the shape of their cheeks to figure out what they just ate! Was it a fish or was it a wrench? Put your coins in and see which squirrel you will get!

(The squirrels are cute, but not a chance in a million years would I have thought that this would be a great idea as gachapon prizes. Those guys who came up with the idea were absolutely mad geniuses.)

And if you check out my gallery, you will see even more examples of these ridiculous ideas. I definitely don’t hate them, but they are just so out of the blue, I wish I can work in a toys company and be the one suggesting “let’s make tiny hats for cats” and see it become a product. Share with me your "favorite"!