Funkorogashi, Negibukuro and Choshuriki ......! Five capsule toys representing the year 2022, where anything goes! The annual Capsule Toy Awards 2022 will be announced! Wacky Kaiyama's 71st Capsule Toys!

Wacky Kaizan, a capsule toy collector and researcher, will present the "Capsule Toy Award" again this year, selecting the most memorable capsule toys of the year based on his own prejudice! This will be the 6th year for this memorable event!

Before announcing the annual awards, let's start with a summary of this year's awards.

Personally, as a capsule toy collector and researcher, I have appeared in a variety of media, including the BS Shochiku Tokyu channel's "Koshiro Matsumoto Ga Numaru" where I was able to present my favorite world of capsule toys, and Fuji TV's "Non-Stop" where I was able to introduce a capsule toy that went beyond the ordinary.

I have also been able to upload daily videos as a gacha YouTuber on the YouTube channel "Wacky Gacha Channel. Please check it out if you haven't already.

And now to the main topic!

In the capsule toy industry, I feel that more innovative items have been introduced and have gained more citizenship than ever before.

Looking at individual items, sound items have become more technologically advanced, and there have been many collaborations with companies and ring items released. There were also many sharp items of the "what's this? type sharp items were also common.

Bandai, the leading company in this field, held a major event to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Gashapon, and also developed the "Flat Gasha," in which thin items such as files and paper crafts come out of the capsule. Furthermore, the company tried to look toward the future by recycling capsules from scrap capsules and developing nature-friendly capsules made primarily of paper.

In addition, the number of stores specializing in capsule toys increased in the city. The number of stores specializing in capsule toys in town has also increased, with the appearance of locally produced limited edition gachas, and the media coverage of these toys has increased dramatically.

On the other hand, the Corona disaster and the soaring cost of materials due to the weak yen have been a source of concern for manufacturers. It was probably a difficult year to manage. Despite this, the number of capsule toy items was one of the highest ever.

That's how much excitement there was, and we messed up more than we could count!

So without further ado, I present to you the best gacha of the year for 2022!

From among the capsule toys released between December 2021 and November 2022, we will announce this year's "Nice Fancy Award," "Nice Gimmick Award," "Nice Topic Award," "Nice Shock Award," and "Best MVC (Most Valuable Capsuletoy) Award" as well!

Please enjoy these awards along with comments from the manufacturers!

Nice Fancy Award

Acorn Tank Yale 300 yen, released in October 2022

Yale's gacha is reasonably priced and the product itself has a warm feeling. They produce a lot of capsule toys that make children smile unintentionally.

The "Donguri Tank" released by a manufacturer that seems to be sending a cheer to such capsule toy lovers is a nice fancy prize.

The mini-book depicts a lush forest that makes you want to take a deep breath. There, acorns!

You would think it was a common scene you see everywhere, but if you look closely, you will see a caterpillar at the foot of the acorns! And a turret!

And if you open the acorn umbrella, you will see a tiny squirrel! Have they become armed because they are concerned about the weak and strong in the natural world? Why is it that we feel comforted by the squirrel that peeks out from the acorn, even though what we are dealing with is so physical? The simple squirrel's expression shows nothing but fancy.

On the other hand, it makes me think a lot about what exactly peace is ....... Deep (?) story. As I was saying, we have decided to give out the annual fancy award.

<Manufacturer's comment

A product made with soul.

It is a surprisingly good product.

We hope to make even better products next year.

If you find an acorn tank too...

Tweet about it.

Please recommend us to everyone you know!

Nice Gimmick Award

■1/24 Flagpole Collection & Picolino Toys Cabin ¥400 October 2022

With the Beijing Olympics and the Soccer World Cup being held this year, you probably had many opportunities to see the flags of countries around the world.

One such memory of national flags is the raising of the national flag at the morning assembly in elementary school. At first, the flag was raised slowly to the tempo of "Kimigayo" or some other song played as background music, but it gradually stopped matching the length of the song, and in the end, the flag was raised without any regard to the tempo of the song. ...... Such sad memories can be recreated with this capsule toy.

This product is the result of a collaboration between Sunpole Corporation, which boasts the top share in the flag pole industry, diorama artist and scenic artist Araki, and Toys Cabin.

By assembling the parts that fill the capsule, a pole approximately 30 cm in length is completed. The inside of the pole is hollow, so by threading a string through it, the flag can be raised and lowered freely!

The flag is also noteworthy! It is made of stiff fabric, so it is always taut. It gives the feeling of fluttering in the wind, which is great to see.

And that's not all. It also comes with "Picolino," the car stop with four of those little birds perched on it. It can be inferred that this product was produced without compromise after a heated three-way argument between the three parties.

To our delight, the flag of Saint-Paul is also included in the lineup.

We believe this is a successful example of "manufacturer collaboration products," a trend in the gacha industry this year. Raise and lower it as many times as you like!

Nice gimmick of the year award. Congratulations and best wishes for the future.

<Manufacturer's Comments.

With the cooperation of Sunpole, a company well known for its large flagpoles for national flags and schools, and the scenic artist Alarkey, we were able to successfully commercialize this product after much trial and error in order to reproduce realistic flagpole hoisting.

We hope you will enjoy displaying them alongside the cute piccolino you may have seen at least once in parks and other places.

Nice Topic Award

■ Negi bag Turlin International, 300 yen, released in September 2022

Freedom from that hassle?

The long, magnificent green onion sticking out of a bicycle basket looks a bit tacky. ...... Can't something be done about it?

It would be very impressive if such an unmanageable thing could be completely fit in the basket!

Such a nice product is this "green onion bag.

The bag is so neat and fun that it only holds green onions, with no French bread or burdock root on the side, that it quickly became a hot topic of conversation on social networking sites!　It sold out in no time.

The "Negi Bags for Bundles" can easily hold a large bundle of green onions.

The "Negi Bag for One Negi" has a shoulder for easy carrying. You will feel like a samurai carrying a sword!

Small Negi Pouch" gently wraps soft green onions and can be closed like a pouch.

The "Blue part of green onion cover" covers only the green part of the green onion and ties it up with a kinchaku (a thin cloth). It is a cool green onion cover that elegantly tucks away "that part" that has a large presence.

As a result, this bag became a very popular product, selling out rather than the actual green onion.

This year, many capsule toys that make you say, "What's this? Capsule toys that were "what's this?" were on the market this year, but this "green onion bag" stood out from the crowd. It was decided that it would win the annual "Hot Topic of the Year" award.

<Manufacturer's comment

Thank you very much for choosing us for the Nice Topic Award.

I never imagined that the "green onion bag," which I created out of pity for the green onions on the side of the road, would be the subject of so much attention on social networking sites, TV, and radio.

I am surprised and filled with gratitude that so many people have shared my desire to "take good care of green onions.

I hope you will use the green onion bags and enjoy delicious green onion dishes during this cold season.

In 2023, we will continue to release products that will make you giggle.

Please give your enthusiastic support to Turlin International, which has taken over Epoch's capsule business.

Nice Shock Prize

■Riki Choshu's House Bandai 500 yen, to be released in December 2021

Chikara Choshu, the legend of the pro-wrestling world, hit the capsule toy industry! This item was a hot topic of conversation even before its release.

There have been many sound toys released this year, but this entrance chime made me laugh out loud.

The bus get-off button, the tabletop call button, and the other capsule toys have fulfilled our desire to press them over and over again. And now, a doorbell. And when it's a celebrity's house, it ignites a sense of mischief.

Is it really Choshu-san's house? Isn't it Mr. Koriki? First of all, you'll find out if you press the button!

If you press the "pinpo-n" button at ......, you will hear a cute voice with a lisp that says, "Who is it? It's really you, isn't it?

That alone is enough to shock you, but if you have the courage to press the chime again and again, you will hear a voice saying, "I'm going to get mad!

It is exactly the voice of Riki Choshu in the ring! This is the voice of Riki Choshu in the ring!

The manufacturer is Bandai, and the year 2022 was the 45th anniversary year of the Gashapon capsule toy line, and the timing of this capsule toy was like the opening of a new project. Looking back, I think it was a gem that foreshadowed the many shocking measures that were to follow. This was the winner of the Annual Nice Shock Award.

<Manufacturer's Comment

Thank you very much for selecting this product for the 2022 Nice Impact Award.

We wanted to create a product that is small enough to fit in a capsule and offers a realistic experience! When I was thinking about this, I came up with the specification ......, which responds when you play at a celebrity's house, and I wondered whose house you would like to go to. I thought, "I would like to go to my favorite actor Riki Choshu's house! I thought, "I want my favorite Riki Choshu!

I was not sure what to expect when I proposed the project to Riki Choshu, but he readily approved it and even during the voice recording, he was very kind and said, "If there is anything that bothers you, please don't hesitate to point it out. During the voice recording, he was very kind and said, "If there is anything you have a problem with, please don't hesitate to point it out. Thank you very much.

We will continue to come up with casual and fun projects, so please continue to support Gashapon!

2022 M.V.C. (Most Valuable Capsuletoy)

Animalier Collection 1/1 Hunkorogashi 500 yen SO-TA July, 2022

The real-scale fumikogashi featured in the 67th serialization is the grand prize of the year.

In fact, we introduced this when we appeared on "Koshiro Matsumoto ga Numaru," so some of you may have wondered if this was the case. Some of you may have wondered if this was the case.

Various insects have been released as capsule toys this year, but this may be the ultimate item in that you can get an insect that is hard to see in person, but that you would like to take a closer look at. Even the poo has been perfectly reproduced.

In a sense, we can say that "Uchi" is a standard item in capsule toys. The poo that seems to be wafting out of the air, even though it is not supposed to smell, is an irresistible gem for those of us who have been exposed to capsule toys for a long time! The texture of the poo is also very rough, and it has been painted with a mixture of various colors. Perhaps you may feel more spirit than the insect part.

The main body of the insect is as magnificent as a beetle, and you may be surprised that it is really a dung beetle. I was surprised. Incidentally, it is prohibited by law to make a figure from a real dung beetle, so the prototype was made from a specimen more than 100 years old.

The result was very convincing. The result is a figure that is very impressive. It is also recommended for interior decoration.

This MVC is going to be this dung beetle. Congratulations!

<Manufacturer's Comments

Thank you very much for choosing us as the MVC.

This product has been thoroughly reproduced in its actual living state under the complete supervision of Mr. Keitaka Fukui, a leading expert in the production of insect specimens.

Is this also a member of the Daphnia magna family? The "Ensifer orientalis" has been carefully reproduced from its unique dull coloration to the concavity of its head and even the knots on each of its legs. When I think of dung beetles, the name "Tamaoshikogekoge" comes to mind! (scarab)" comes to mind, we have pursued not only the color of the body, but also the realism of the droppings.

We will continue to produce exquisite sculptures of various living creatures under the title of "Animalier Collection. We appreciate your support.

Thank you very much for all the excitement and inspiration you have given us this year!

The warm response we received from our readers made us realize that our lives revolve around capsule toys.

I will try to give you a crackling and refreshing review next year as well! Please check back again!

Wakiwaki Wacky!

This is Wacky Kaiyama, a capsuleer in Morinomiya City.

<Profile

Wacky Kaizan
Freelance TV personality, gacha-gacha collector and researcher (capsuleer)
He has been collecting GACHA-GACHA since he was 7 years old and owns 100,000 of them. He has published several books including "Showa Retro Gacha Gacha: The Most Powerful Collection" (Graphix, Inc.), "All About My Inch Gacha Gacha Cosmos", "The Wonderful World of Inch Gacha Gacha - Cosmos Forever", and "The Final Definitive Version: The True Story of Inch Gacha Gacha! The Truth of Phony Gachagacha - Cosmos, Its Love" (Futabasha), and "Nihon Kaishikashi Gachagacha Daizen" (Tatsumi Shuppan).
Videos of the latest gacha and retro "cosmos" gacha are shown daily on his official YouTube channel, "Wacky Kaiyama Gacha Channel!