My latest obsession

In just about every MRT station and 7-11 you'll find these toy machines. And they're actually really popular in Taiwan. You can get anything from Pooh to Thomas to Doraemon (and they're actually licensed and legal!) toys just by dropping in a $50 NT coin (about $1.50 USD) and turning the knob. You don't know which one you'll get. It's best to get these from stations that have employees hanging around. This way, if you get one you already have, then the worker can open up the machine and swap the one you got for another one.

While the 7-11 stores have the machines where you can get the toys in the capsules, some of the nicer toys are the vinyl ones that are nicely designed and full of detail. You can get these from any 7-11 or any other quick stop. Just buy a specific drink or snack and pay an extra $39 NT ($1.20 USD). Unfortunately, the boxes are all the same, so its a crap shoot as to which one you'll get. And the 7-11 workers don't exchange them if you get one you already have.

I know these are somewhat popular in America among the comic/toy collectors, but in Taiwan they are popular among everyone. Just about every cube in my office has at least one entire collection of one of the 7-11 toys.

This is from the CiBoys Zodiac Warriors series from 7-11.


This is from the Sam series from 7-11.
Mild-mannered panda by day. . .


. . .ruthless viking warrior by night!


Here's the capsule they come in when you get them from a machine.


This guy is from the Legend of Zelda line.


This is Doraemon. Outside looks like his head. . .


. . .but when you open it, you get a scene from the cartoon!


This is Carnage from Spider-Man. I actually got this one in Japan.


1984 Transformers Jazz.


1984 Transformers Megatron.


How can you not love these? Hours of fun!


This is only a small sample of my collection. . .

Jason