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Ryo buying Eggman toy 2

Ryo obtaining a capsule toy in Yokosuka.

Capsule Toys (ガチャガチャ Gachagacha), or sometimes referred to as Toy Capsules are mini gashapon figurines Ryo can collect in the Shenmue series. In the first two games, the toys are of characters or items from various Sega games such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic the Fighters, Space Harrier, Hang On, or NiGHTS into Dreams and there are also toys of animals and various items like vehicles and harbor themed items. In Shenmue III, the Sega-themed toys are gone and some examples of the new toys are super-deformed versions of characters from the first two Shenmue games, arcade cabinet toys, or toys of various items like fishing lures, hats, instruments, etc. This is due to Yu Suzuki not having the rights to the Sega characters and games since the game was not made by Sega. In Shenmue they cost ¥100 each, in Shenmue II they cost $5 each, and in Shenmue III they cost 5 yuan each.

Shenmue[]

Capsule Toys are first seen at Sakuragaoka right in front of the Abe Store. The two machines are from the Virtua Fighter and Sonic The Fighters games. Also if Ryo goes inside the Abe Store and purchases chocolate, caramel, or potato chips (¥120 ea.), he can enter a raffle, which is called Ichiban Kuji (一番くじ Ichiban kuji) in Japan and could win rare capsule toys such as a Gold or Silver Dural from Virtua Fighter, but the chances of winning are very low.

Ryo can also find capsule toys in front of You Arcade in Dobuita. The two machines are Excite Sega World (featuring various Sega characters such as Alex Kidd, Opa-Opa, the Bonanza Brothers and NiGHTS) and Virtua Figher Kids machines. Also at You Arcade, if Ryo scores a high enough score at the games there (¥100 per game), he will receive a miniature toy version of the arcade cabinet he played. Also when playing Hang On and Space Harrier, if he clears each game with one credit, he will receive certificates for each of the two he clears, with the manager Yuji Nito's face on them, and along with that, the miniature toy version of the game cabinets of the game he cleared for earning a high enough score. If Ryo goes to the Tomato Convenience Store in Dobuita and wins fourth prize at the raffle by purchasing the same items available to try the raffle at the Abe Store or a cassette tape (¥300 ea.) he can get rare capsule toys. The choices are Super Sonic, Metal Sonic, Hot Dog Truck, or B.B. Ultra.

Also when Ryo goes to the harbor lounge in the New Yokosuka Harbor District, there is a harbor-themed machine, the same Excite Sega World machine from Dobuita, and a vehicle-themed machine featuring toys of the various vehicles seen in the game and Hang On. Also the Tomato Convenience Store 4th prize options at the harbor are different than the prizes at Dobuita. The options are Forklift Red, Forklift Blue, Ferry and Crane. Ryo can also earn Forklift toys when he enters the Forklift race at his job at the harbor, and depending on what place he came in the race, he earns a different toy. For example if he wins 1st place, he will receive a forklift with the #1 on the side.

And when connected online with the Shenmue Passport disc, Ryo could trade prizes from the slot house such as Cherry or Mini Jukebox for rare capsule toys of animals. In the game's re-release Shenmue I & II, all these toys are in your inventory when you start a new game due to the re-release not having the passport features.

Shenmue II[]

In the original Dreamcast versions of the game and in the game's 2018 re-release Shenmue I & II, Ryo's collection can be transferred from your cleared Shenmue I save file, although certain capsule toys cannot be transferred or obtainable like the Mr. Yukawa Happi & Suit toys, and the Sega console character toys like Gear-O and Dreamcasko (In Shenmue I & II these were changed to toys of Sega consoles like Game Gear and Dreamcast). The Xbox release did not have this option due to the first Shenmue not being released on the Xbox. The same capsule toys machines from Yokosuka are still in Hong Kong but there are new toy sets including Virtua Fighter 2, Virtual On, and a Sega-AM2 set featuring characters from some of their games. There is a new Virtua Fighter Kids toy which is "Kids Dural C". Dural Gold and Dural Silver can actually be obtained in various different ways in Hong Kong and Kowloon, rather than only by winning the Top and 1st prize at the Abe Store raffle in Yokosuka. The same and new arcade prizes are obtainable, although there are new certificates available for clearing certain games with one credit. The original Hang On and Harrier tokens from Yokosuka are not obtainable, but can be carried over to your Shenmue II game save from a cleared Shenmue I file with those items in your inventory.

Ryo can also buy various zippo lighters and stone gems from big red board stands in Hong Kong and Kowloon. There also is a new option to make money by selling capsule toys at pawnshops either as sets or individually. Each pawnshop pays different prices, and the items that are available to pawn are different depending on the pawnshop. Ryo can also get advice about capsule toys from a man named Gongjue Zhou who is obsessed with collecting the capsule toys. If Ryo receives a winning can from the drink vending machines, instead of getting a free chance at a raffle (as the raffles did not return in the game) or goodies from the Shenmue Passport via the internet (You could trade each winning can obtained for an animation of a character in the first game for the VMU mini-game Shenmue Goodies.) he will receive a random capsule toy in the can. The only ones he can obtain in the winning cans are the 1st variant of each toy in the original Virtua Fighter set or Dural Gold and Silver which are the rarest. After getting a toy from the can, he will be able to get another can at no additional cost.

Shenmue III[]

The capsule toys return in Shenmue III, although all the Sega themed toys are gone due to Yu Suzuki not having the rights to their characters and games since the game was not made by Sega. Your completed save from Shenmue II cannot be transferred either due to the codes of both games being dramatically different. Ryo will need to start his collection again from scratch. Pawnshops also return so you can sell your individual toys or sets you don't need. In Bailu Village, there is a capsule toy machine with toys of super deformed depictions of some characters from the first Shenmue and some of the other toys include toys of various items like fishing lures. In Niaowu, there is a machine with toys of super deformed versions of some Shenmue II characters and there are machines of toys of mini arcade cabinets like QTE Title. There's also toys of various items like hats, radios, tables, etc.

120

The awards for the $120 Kickstarter pledge which include one actual random capsule toy of a Shenmue character.

Through the Shenmue III Kickstarter and for the Slacker Backer Campaign, if someone pledged $120 to $300 (plus a shipping fee of $10-20 depending on the reward), they would receive one random actual collectible capsule toy of either Ryo, Ryo driving a forklift, Shenhua Ling, or Chai. For people who pledged $500 or more (plus the shipping fee), they would receive all four inside a capsule toy machine box plus the one random one for pledging $120 to $300. [1]

Shenmue the Animation[]

Tails toy in anime

Ryo's Tails capsule toy sitting on the desk in his room.

In Shenmue the Animation Episode 2, it is shown that Ryo owns the capsule toy of Tails from Sonic the Fighters which can be seen sitting on the desk in his room. In the same episode, capsule toy machines are seen in front of You Arcade.

Bonanza Brothers toy in anime

Wong's Bonanza Brothers capsule toy sitting on a desk in his boat.

In Episode 9 and Episode 10, it is shown that Wong owns the capsule toy of the Bonanza Brothers, from the classic Sega game with the same name, which can be seen on his boat.

Trivia[]

  • The way the player can identify if a capsule toy obtained in the machines is rare in Shenmue I is if Ryo says "Great!". In Shenmue II, he will say either "This is!", "Oh! This is!", "This one is!", and for the rarest toy Dural Gold, he will say "Alright!". In Shenmue III he will say "I did it!".
  • When Ryo asks Tatsuya Yamamoto who is a kid that is obsessed with buying capsule toys about Chinese people, he will say he knows one named "Son Goku" and that you can get a eraser of him in the capsule toy machine. Eraser figures or "keshi" (消しゴム keshigomu) are solid color mini figures in Japan that can be obtained in capsule toy machines in the real world. It's not possible to obtain the Son Goku eraser or any eraser figure in any of the capsule toy machines in the game, and strangely enough Tatsuya was talking about the Virtua Fighter machine, and there is no character named Son Goku in that game. He was most likely talking about the Chinese fable named Son Goku.
  • In the original Dreamcast versions of Shenmue II, the Kids Dural C toy has a fish inside of her head like in the actual Virtua Fighter Kids game. In the Xbox version, she strangely is holding the fish with her hand instead. It is unknown why this change was made.

List of Capsule Toys[]

Gallery[]

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