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From the Game: Yujin Famicom Gashapon (super-tiny Nintendo systems!)

Once again, it seems that Japan gets far cooler video game toys than we do. You know those little vending machines in supermarkets that give you small toys in plastic bubbles for a few quarters? They have those in Japan, only they're called "gashapon" (from the popping sound they make when you open the bubbles), and they tend to be way more awesome than the sticky hands and Homies figures we get.

These little gashapon are from the Yujin Nintendo History collection, and they're tiny replicas of the Family Computer, better known as the Famicom, the original, Japanese version of the NES. They're ridiculously detailed, and include five different Japanese versions of the NES hardware and its various accessories.

The collection includes the original Famicom, the newer Famicom (which was also released in the United States as the redesigned NES-101), the Famicom Disk System accessory, the Twin Famicom (which combined the Famicom and the Disk System into one unit), and the Family BASIC Keyboard accessory. They run the full span of Nintendo's 8-bit hardware generation in Japan, which itself is an interesting story.

The original Famicom launched in 1983 in Japan, bringing the cartridge-based goodness we all know and love to the world. A year later, Nintendo released the Family BASIC Keyboard, which plugs into the Famicom and, with a special BASIC cartridge, let users actually tinker with programming. After that, the Famicom Disk System came out, another accessory that allowed users to use floppy disks to play certain games. Through the Disk System, games like Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus got save features (though Zelda would get a save feature built into the US version of its cartridge, thanks to battery backup). A year after that Nintendo released the Twin Famicom, which incorporated both cartridge and disk slots in a single design. Finally, in 1993 Nintendo released its final iteration of the 8-bit Famicom, a streamlined redesign of the original.

That's enough of a history lesson. Now, let's get down to the tiny toys. The first thing you'll notice is that they're small, barely bigger than a quarter. The second thing you'll notice, if you put your eyes up close, is that they're detailed. Extremely detailed. Between the plastic molding and the super-small printing, these really are a work of engineering art.

The main Famicom systems have functional cartridge slots that can accept their own cartridges, and each gashapon includes a cartridge or cartridge-like device. The original Famicom includes Super Mario Bros., while the new Famicom includes Super Mario Bros. 3. The other three include a BASIC cartridge, an adapter cartridge for connecting to the Famicom Disk System, and a third cartridge I can't quite identify. The Mario carts are some of the most impressive doodads in the whole collection. They're barely the size of my fingernail, but the labels are full-color, detailed replicas of the original Japanese labels on the games.

Besides the cartridges, each gashapon comes with other accessories. The original Famicom comes with an RF switch that plugs into the back of the system, the new Famicom comes with two detachable controllers (the other systems have "wired" controllers stuck to the systems with plastic strings), and the others include things like A/V cables and a tape recorder.

All of the accessories and some of the systems actually connect together through tiny plastic cables, so you can hook up the Famicom to the Famicom Disk System, then run that all to the Family Basic Computer keyboard, and then hook up the tape recorder to it. In fact, each Famicom has a small port for hooking up to the Family Basic Computer, and both the original and new Famicom systems can connect to the Famicom Disk System with the cartridge adapter. All you need is a really tiny TV and you can have your own 1980's living room.

If you want to get your own gashapon, it's best to stalk eBay for the "Yujin Nintendo History Collection." You can pick up the whole collection for as little as $20. The series also includes a very tiny version of R.O.B., which I unfortunately couldn't acquire.