Bandai is turning Pawapuro-kun — Japanese baseball’s most recognizable mascot — into a collectible bobblehead for every one of the 12 NPB franchises. The line is called Yurerun desu. (roughly: «they really do wobble»), and it hits gachapon capsule machines starting the second week of August 2026. Central League teams come first; Pacific League teams follow in the weeks after.
What Is a Gachapon — and Why Does It Matter for Baseball?
Gachapon are Japan’s iconic capsule-toy vending machines. You drop in a coin, turn the knob, and a random capsule falls out with a miniature figure inside. Bandai dominates that market, moving millions of units a year across anime, video games, and sports licenses. Baseball has always had a spot in the lineup — but releasing all 12 NPB franchises simultaneously under one character is a genuine event.
The price per capsule in Japan is around 500 yen — just over $3 at current exchange rates — making this one of the most accessible sports collectibles on the Japanese market. You don’t need to go to a game or wait for a special promotional night. These machines show up in convenience stores and shopping centers across Japan, and increasingly at import specialty shops in Latin America and Spain.
Pawapuro-kun: The Face That Ties It All Together
Pawapuro-kun is the mascot of Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū, Japan’s best-selling baseball video game franchise — a series with decades of history and millions of copies sold. Using him as the common thread across all 12 clubs gives the collection a coherence that no previous NPB gachapon line has had. For fans who want to complete the full set, that’s the whole point.
All 12 Teams
Central League:
- Yomiuri Giants
- Hanshin Tigers
- Hiroshima Toyo Carp
- Yokohama DeNA BayStars
- Chunichi Dragons
- Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Pacific League:
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
- Orix Buffaloes
- Chiba Lotte Marines
- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
- Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
- Saitama Seibu Lions
Why Latin Fans Should Care
Those 12 clubs aren’t just Japanese baseball history — they’re also part of Latin American baseball history. Venezuelan, Dominican, Panamanian, and Mexican players have suited up for these franchises across different eras, whether on their way to MLB or as a career destination. A collectible figure of the team where a regional idol played gives this collection a pull that goes well beyond the Japanese market.
Each series includes at least two design variants per team, according to coverage from Famitsu and Dengeki Hobby. For fans outside Japan, the usual import channels — AmiAmi, Hobby Link Japan, and resellers on platforms like Amazon and Mercado Libre — are the way to go. Expect the final price with international shipping to run four to five times the original gachapon price, but for anyone chasing the complete 12-team set, the motivation is obvious: no other collection puts every NPB club under the same character at the same time.
