Bitlot and other Candy Toys

I got myself a Japanese candy toy:

I’ve probably purchased previous trinkets that classify as candy toys, but this is the first time I know for sure. It’s a term I’ve heard thrown around a lot over the years, but until now I’ve never looked into what it means.

About Japanese Candy Toys (aka Shokugan)

It’s not a perfect comparison, but the general concept of Shokugan/Candy Toys is that they’re essentially the Japanese equivalent to a Kinder Joy egg. The main difference between them is in where the focus lies.

With Kinder Joy, the marketing focuses as much or more on the candy as it does on the toy surprise.

*The frontpage of their website is an endless video loop of flowing chocolate and the crunchy candy center*

Whereas with Shokugan it seems the toy is the main focus, and the candy is an afterthought. I haven’t actually seen any of the candy myself, since it isn’t included when Shokugan are imported to the States, but I’ve heard that they come with a piece of soda flavored gum or something.

But if the candy is an afterthought, why even include it in the first place? According to my research, it sounds like a giant loophole. For instance, by including even just a single piece of cheap candy, Shokugan is classified as a food item, which apparently means they’re taxed less. It also creates the justification for stocking the toys near the front end of stores, near the registers alongside all of the actual candy.

In other words, stuff like Kinder Joy (or Cracker Jack, or even Happy Meals) are products sold by food manufacturers that use a toy as enticement, whereas Shokugan is made by toy companies that use the candy as a workaround.

It should be no surprise then that the quality of Shokugan toys are much higher than any of the stuff you might get from Kinder or McDonald’s. I mean, if that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t sell them here in the West without the candy. Hell, they even sell them on Premium Bandai!

Collectible

Additional research reveals that some companies, including Bandai, try to make Candy Toys as collectible series of limited edition trinkets to encourage you to buy more.

One thing I haven't figured out though is whether the toys are typically sold at random (ala Gashapon or blind bags), or if you know going in what each package contains.

Bitlot

Today’s particular Candy Toy is a Bitlot. As far as I can tell Bandai has only made these Bitlots out of Gundam characters, and they’re essentially slightly nicer versions of a Lego minifigure.

*Interesting that they made them for both human characters and mecha*

I got the Real Type Colors Gundam of course, and it’s surprisingly nice.

It’s sort of the inverse of that Freedom Gundam Gashopon toy I got a while back. That thing had tons of surface detail but bad coloring, while this has very little surface detail and excellent coloring. Personally, for something this small and inexpensive, I much prefer the latter approach.

*This thing didn’t really need any extra color, but I still managed to add some with a couple of markers and five minutes of time*

I don’t have anything else to say. These things are super cute, and if I see them again I might pick up another.