Many people falling in love with the concept of Gachapon often ask, can they find them in the US? The answer is - Yes! So where are they hiding?
Gacha Gacha
These, otherwise known as The Gashapon Store, are owned and run by Bandai. As you might guess, they only carry Bandai toys. Not to worry though, Bandai licenses all kinds of things so if you want a Gundam, Hello Kitty, Spy x Family, or just a cute hamster you'll find it there. The downside is you'll need to be in a mega city to find one as there's only around 5 currently across the US.
Tomy
In contrast to Bandai's offerings, Takara Tomy are much easier to come by. While it seems only the most popular toys are making it to the US, you can find them at any Walmart or GameStop. The downside here is instead of getting to play at a Gacha machine, the come in blind bags or boxes. They are the same toy, but the blind grabs don't have the little slips of papers the info is instead printed on the packaging. In this case though even if you do happen to find the vending capsule version, they still don't have the slip. That one's a mystery.
Events
Unfortunately I haven't come across any of the other big names in the US yet, don't give up just yet! Ask around your local anime and game conventions, you may have a Gacha dealer. Myself included in this lot we drive all over to put up our colorful machines and offer the imported delights. The downside is after import shipping, some toys can be pricey.
All in all the gacha market is growing, and with recent plans from 7-11 to bring Japanese values to the gas station. If your unfamiliar with the Japanese kombini, it's a real treat compared to what we in the US are used to. Sadly, I fear outside of large cities, us rural folk won't be seeing the fresh every 4hr food deliveries. Hopefully they bring the gacha!
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