the word gashapon ( ガシャポン ) is a japanese onomatopoeia which is made up of two sounds - "gasha" for the turning of a crank on a toy vending machine & "pon" for the sound of the toy capsule dropping into the receptacle. unlike those cheap ass toys rolling out of a 50 cents coin-operated gumball / vending machine outside grocery stores in america, these japanese capsule toys are made with a higher quality & have more molding details. some series even have "hidden-treasure" versions of the toy that would not be advertised. one of the rituals i have whenever i am in tokyo town is to get at least a couple gashapon capsule toys. by inserting coins into the slot with all the hope you can embrace for getting the one toy you want just makes me feel like that kid again. but that kid always gets the toy he already had & would curse like there's no tomorrow. anyway he'd dust himself off, put more coins in, & get what he desires eventually, like this stripy coloful kendama ( けん玉 )
