New Nintendo capsule toys put video game history in your hand with mini NES, Famicom controllers

Controller Button Collection series also teases “secret” version.

There’s always an element of risk when buying capsule toys, since you won’t know exactly what you’re getting until after you’ve bought it. The trick, then, is to find a machine where every possible toy in the lineup is something cool.

That’s easier said than done, but leave it to Nintendo, a company that knows a thing or two about making fans happy, to put out a can’t-miss capsule toy line with its awesome new Controller Button Collection.

[新商品][POP-UP] #NintendoTOKYO ポップアップストア先行販売のカプセルトイ、「コントローラーボタンコレクション」が新登場。懐かしのファミコンに、海外で発売されたNES、どれが出るかはお楽しみ。 pic.twitter.com/peTDY9zjQM

— Nintendo TOKYO (@N_Officialstore) June 24, 2021

The inspiration for the lineup are the controllers from Nintendo’s 8-bit hardware, the Japanese-market Famicom and its overseas model, the Nintendo Entertainment System. The systems’ pads were some of the most influential controllers in video game industry history, and each has been broken into three segments for the capsule toy lineup, separated into squares containing the D-pad, start and select buttons, and A and B buttons.

Their molded plastic shapes look to be accurate scale replicas of the original peripherals, though it’s not clear whether or not the buttons actually move when you press them. Each piece does come with an attached chain, though, so that you can strap your keys on it or clip it to your bag. There’s also a “secret” seventh model in the line, and if I had to guess, my money would be on the Player 2 Famicom controller’s central section, which had a microphone instead of the start and select buttons Player 1 got.

At 500 yen (US$4.85), they’re a little on the expensive side for capsule toys, but you really can’t put a price on nostalgia. To start with, they’ll only be available at the Nintendo Tokyo pop-up stores opening outside of Tokyo this summer, as part of the company’s summer cross-promotion with department store chain Parco. That means you’ll be able to find the Controller Button Collection at Parco in Nagoya and Fukuoka from now until July 25, Sendai from July 31 to August 15, Hiroshima from August 14 to September 5, and Sapporo from August 21 to September 5.

Oddly enough, the announcement doesn’t mention anything about being able to buy the toys at the permanent Nintendo Tokyo store in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, at least not at the present time, but at least the Shibuya Parco will still have those cool Super Mario yukata summer kimono.

Related: Parco Nintendo Tokyo Pop-Up Store website
Source: Twitter/@N_Officialstore via Livedoor News/Engadget via Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Twitter/@N_Officialstore
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