So remember a little back I talked about Tomy going all in on Natsume Yujincho? Well, to start with, they still are. In fact they doubled down - there is no shortage of Nyanko-Sensei merch. Not gonna lie, these sake cups are one of the cutest dang things ever. But Natsume and his demon cat aren't the only ones getting this treatment! Tomy's no stranger to Kirby, in fact they've made Kirby toys for so long I've met people who thought they were the IP creator.
Now its always a little weird to me to find out game characters are older then me, though it should probably be obvious, its just odd to think about when Link always appears to be maybe 20. Its Kirby's 30th anniversary and Tomy's celebrating with him in a big way with 108 Plush offerings from giant plush to keychains and 38 Gacha Toys.
Kirby and his unique power stealing ability gives him tons of forms and colors along with his simple yet always adorable changes to his look and 30 years worth of cast and characters he's got no shortage of figure material. But with 38 different Gachapon offerings you know he got more then just figures. Here's some of the fun ones.
I'm not here to claim parents will appreciate this one, but I know as a kid I would have loved it. Kirby in various forms shooting a pachinko ball. Its a little metal ball, the same we'd use in ball bearings. It comes with a little stand to shoot at but we all know it won't end there.
I'm willing to admit this might just be me, because I also found the Nyanko-Sensei cups adorable, but I really do love these diorama pieces. Sadly, because I feel like it really might just be me - I won't be picked up a machine of these. But they're one of the more unique pieces for this release.
Double sided sipper pouches have a character face on one side and a symbol on the back. They're small, and meant for a bag hanger. These ones are unique in that they're metal. There's another set of zipper pouches that came out as well which are cloth.
These are actually a throw back, by which I mean like waaaay back. Around 2001 Tomy attempted to bring the gachapon scene to America. This exact same toy came out but on the face was Pokemon instead of Kirby. I only know about it because one of the first Gachapon Machines I bought still had some in it! You pull the tab and its a ruler with cute little designs along it then turn the crank to wind it up again. Tomy's push into the US in the early 2000's didn't work out because of the average shop owner not wanting to deal with tokens and the highest common coin in USD is a quarter. These Tomy machines are the types I use - and I have the plugs which were one of the 'fixes' to the quarter issue. But it really doesn't work, no one wants to sit here putting in 2-4 quarters at a time for 5 turns of the knob to get their prize. It quickly goes from fun to tedious, this is why Gacha dealers are rare and when you do find one they use tokens.
These guys are technically figures, but figures with a purpose! They're meant to sit on your desk and help hold things. They can hold up photos, flashcards, pens, paperclips and fasteners, and rubber bands. Its kind of silly but a cute way to make your desk a bit of a happier place to be.
Some people find it insane that these types of watches can be found in Gacha Machines since something similar would easily be $15 at Walmart - but keep in mind these are small. They're only fitting on a kid. They're still cute for collectors but if you ever see one they're not fitting any adult and only very small teens. Because of this sadly I skip watches but they're always so cute and creative. I just wish the bands were slightly longer.
Those are what I think are the highlights of Kirby's 30th Anniversary release. Of course there's way way more, but everyone's come to expect figures right? You can check out the rest of the
very large release on Tomy's Website if you like.
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