Collecting
paka
Turn the handle all the way round, then open what drops.
How to play
Drag the handle clockwise. About three quarters of a turn and a capsule drops, then tap to open it. Cards you get are kept in the album.
Notes on the feel
There is a notch every ninety degrees on the way round. Without them you are just moving a finger in circles, and the moment of opening goes flat too. The capsule bounces twice before it settles for the same reason — it buys a beat before you open it.
What is this, really?
Put a coin in, turn the handle, and a clear plastic capsule rolls down into the tray. In Japan these machines stand in banks outside shops and along the corridors of shopping centers, often forty or fifty of them side by side. Bandai's official anniversary site dates its own capsule toy line, Gashapon, to 1977; the first machine, the BVM100, entered a market where twenty yen was the usual price and charged a hundred. The name is simply the noise: *gasha* as the handle turns, *pon* as the capsule drops.
The interesting part is earlier than most people expect. It is not what is inside — it is the few seconds between the coin going in and the handle coming round, while it still feels as though nothing has been decided. And then the capsule can be opened on the spot. Buy it, get it, open it: the whole thing is over in a minute. This toy is that minute and nothing else.
How it is done where it comes from
A real handle has weight at the start, a series of catches on the way round, and a release at the end. Turning it in one impatient sweep gives you less than easing over the catches one at a time.
It is also worth noticing that the machine gives you nothing to decide. You cannot aim, you cannot improve, and the handle does not reward a technique. All you can do is turn it, which is exactly why the turning has to feel like something. There is a catch every ninety degrees here for that reason. Without them you are only moving a finger in a circle, and even the moment of opening goes flat. The capsule that drops bounces twice before it settles, which buys a beat before you open it — hurry if you like, or leave it sitting there. Whatever card comes out lines up in the card album, and filling all twelve triggers something that only happens once.
Questions people ask
- Are some cards rarer than others?
- No. All twelve have the same likelihood and no rarity is displayed anywhere. There is nothing to win, no prize, and nothing to pay.
- How many times can I turn it?
- As often as you like. There are no coins and no limit. The number of turns is kept in this browser only.
- What happens once I have all twelve?
- A completion sequence plays, once. After that the machine works exactly as before and duplicates come up as usual. If you want to collect them again from scratch, clearing your browsing data clears the record too.
Sources
Dates, names and definitions above are written only as far as the material below confirms them.
- Bandai, Gashapon 45th anniversary site (Gashapon official site, Japanese)1977 / first machine "BVM100型（通称 エイコン）" / 「当時20円が主流だったカプセルトイ市場では異例の100円で参入」 / the name comes from turning the handle with a *gasha* and the capsule dropping with a *pon*