Adventures in gachapon! Can you feel that hybrid dog-bird?

Gachapon (or "gashapon") is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures here in Japan. They are coin-operated machines that randomly dispense from a selection of... anything, really. The endless variety is what keeps me addicted and checking them every time I find one.

I came across one that caught my eye the other day.

This series is called "Inutori", which means "Dogbird".

The breeds in this series include (from right to left):

The cover-boy, "Shibird".

"Terrierbird".

The masterfully named Bichon frise/pidgeon hybrid, "bigeon".

"Huskeybird".

"Retriebird".

"Pendog".

Each one comes with a nest and two small eggs. The machine will cost you 300 yen for each try.

Well, I just had to have a "pendog", so I tried several times. This was my haul in the end:

Not pictured are the two other shibirds and an extra Spuds MacKenzie, but in the end, down to my last couple 100 yen coins... I got the pendog.

4 out of 6 in the set, but I'm pretty satisfied.

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The end of Japan Jukebox

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Japan Jukebox

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