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 Hazuki can collect in the Shenmue series. The toys are characters or items from various Sega games such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic the Fighters, Space Harrier, Hang On, or NiGHTS into Dreams. In Yokosuka they cost ¥100, while in Hong Kong they cost $5.
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.
Shenmue II
In the Dreamcast versions, Ryo's collection can be transferred from your cleared Shenmue I 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. 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, 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 cost.
Shenmue III
A depiction of how the Shenmue III capsule toys will look like
The capsule toys are confirmed to return. Through the Shenmue III Kickstarter and for the current Slacker Backer Campaign, if someone were to pledge $120 to $300 (plus a shipping fee of $10-20 depending on the reward), they will receive one random actual collectible capsule toy of either Ryo, Ryo driving a forklift, Shenhua Ling, or Chai. For people who pledge $500 or more (plus the shipping fee), they will receive all four. It is confirmed that these capsule toys will actually appear in the game, which could mean that there will be a new Shenmue themed capsule toy machine in the game. [1]
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!".
List of Capsule Toys
Gallery
