Namco gacha figures: Valkyrie and Makoto

I admit I don’t have the time or patience for GunPla (‘Gun’dam ‘Pla’stic model kits), but with so many characters made available, they are of particular interest. Thankfully, I found the suitable compromise of gacha, or capsule toys from Japan. Fitting figures into a capsule requires the companies to condense them into individual parts that boil down to the owner snapping joints together. This means I get the satisfaction of assembling something without it requiring the time or dedication GunPla owners put into their craft.

What I have found so far, is the gacha market contains figures for characters and series for which I would never otherwise believe official merchandise exists. This journey began last year when online retailer Genki Video Games posted gacha offerings for Reiko Hinomoto from Konami’s Rumble Roses series. I decided to add this figure to my collection, but visiting the Genki website revealed another figure in the series: Martial Champion’s American ninja Racheal.

Konami gacha figures for Racheal and Reiko

American ninja Racheal from Martial Champion

From this point, I realized gacha is a potential portal to some of the most obscure video gaming merchandise in a method that doesn’t break the bank. It seems most can be grabbed online for less than $10, so they are great additions to pack into game orders.

Recently, I was looking up media for the Namco arcade release Mach Breakers, and shopping results returned a hit on a gacha figure for Makoto Kotobuki, the game’s representative athlete from Japan. This figure was part of a Namco Real Figure Collection series that also includes Waya Hime from Bravoman, Kai from Return of Ishtar and Ivy from SoulCalibur.

Perhaps the most bizarre, the series includes representation from the Valkyrie no Densetsu digital comic Roza no Boken in the form of Valkyrie and Violet figures. I’m a fan of the Valkyrie character, and this one in particular features her without her helmet as she takes a rest on a rock.

Makoto from Mach Breakers

Valkyrie as seen in Roza no Boken

As a birthday present to myself, I picked up the Makoto and Valkyrie figures and assembled them earlier this month. I very much like this Namco series by Yujin, as it was a bit easier to assemble compared to the Konami figures while maintaining some decent quality to the figure.

Of course, this search led to me to discover a few other gacha, along with another Namco Real Figure Collection series with figures of interest. For now, though, I’ll have to keep my gacha purchases to one or two times a year, or my shelves might become flooded with characters only niche arcade fans will recognize!