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Capsule toys are a popular way of selling small collectibles that fit into a palm-sized capsule through mechanical vending machines in Japan. In fiscal year 2025, the market was valued at *** billion Japanese yen, with popular types of capsule toys including figurines, keyrings, and other small merchandise. Collectibles are commonly based on real-life objects or characters of media franchises and released as sets, which contributed to the rapid growth of capsule toys in the last decade.

Gashapon and gacha – a question of trademarks

Capsule toys and the act of rolling for such toys is known as gashapon or gacha in Japan, and the term used depends on the manufacturer of the vending machines. Bandai, who had reported holding a ** percent share of the capsule toy market, owns the trademark for gashapon and releases collectibles based on major IPs like the Gundam series, One Piece, and Dragon Ball. Tomy Company, who is the other major market player through its subsidiary T-Arts, holds the trademark for the term gacha and manufactures toys and small merchandise based on licensing agreements, including Pokémon, Disney, Sanrio characters, and various anime series that are currently airing in Japan.

Japanese fans in collecting fever

Capsule toys enjoy popularity among children and adults alike, with a survey revealing that one in three adults bought capsule toys. The randomized aspect and affordable price ranging mostly between 100 and 500 yen encourages collectors to spin for their favorite characters multiple times, which results in average lifetime spending on capsule toys accumulating to several thousand yen. The popularity of gacha provides the basis for the video game model, which is commonly implemented in the mobile gaming market and further fuels the fever of collecting for Japanese fans.