Gacha capsule toys, Ichiban Kuji prize tickets and blind boxes are three kinds of random collectibles you can buy in Korea, and Hankook Ilbo reported in May 2026 that large gacha shops were opening one after another around Seoul’s Hongdae and Seongsu. All three are surprises you pay for in advance, but they differ in what you choose, whether results are graded, how rare items are mixed in and what a try costs. This is a research piece, written from official pages by Bandai, Bandai Spirits, the Korean distributor Daewon Media, GS Retail and Pop Mart Korea, plus dated news reports, checked on 22 October 2026 (23 October in Korea). I did not visit the shops or buy anything for it, and it does not estimate odds or rank the formats objectively; the order suggested at the end is my own judgement.
Three ways to buy a surprise, and what actually differs
Gacha capsule toys, Ichiban Kuji and blind boxes share one idea: you pay first and find out what you got afterwards. (In games, “gacha” also means paid random draws; this guide is about physical things you can hold.) The differences come down to three questions: what you get to choose, whether the results are graded, and how the rare items are mixed in.
With gacha you choose a machine (a series) and turn the handle; one item from that series drops out in a plastic capsule. Ichiban Kuji is Bandai Spirits’ character-merchandise lottery: you pick a paper ticket, peel it open and collect the prize printed on it straight away. Bandai Spirits’ official how-to promises that every ticket wins something, and GS25, the Korean convenience-store chain that sells it, calls it a “no-blank draw.” A blind box is a sealed box you open after buying, and Pop Mart Korea says every series includes a secret item that is rarer than the regular designs.
None of the three leaves you empty-handed, but none guarantees the item you want either. Ichiban Kuji prizes come in grades, blind boxes hide a secret, and gacha and blind boxes both produce duplicates. Citing National Tax Service data, the Korea Economic Daily (Hankyung) reported that the country had 3,996 toy shops at the end of June 2026, 673 or 20.3% more than a year earlier, and that the tax service named the growth of gacha shops and figure stores as a main reason.
Gacha: turn the handle, get one item from the series
The word comes from Japan; Hankook Ilbo explains that it grew out of a Japanese onomatopoeia and means a machine that dispenses capsule toys. Bandai, whose capsule toys carry the Gashapon brand, says it entered the market in 1977 with 100-yen machines at a time when 20-yen machines were the norm, and named its toys after two sounds: the “gasha” of turning the handle and the “pon” of the capsule dropping out. Gashapon is therefore Bandai’s name, while gacha (가챠 in Korean) is the everyday word for capsule toys from any maker. That is the short answer to “gacha vs gashapon.”
The routine is simple. The front of each machine shows the series; you pay, turn the handle and open the capsule. Hankyung reported in August 2026 that gacha shops in Korea typically charge ₩2,000 to ₩7,000 a turn, and that because you cannot know what will come out, people often keep turning until they get the character they want and swap the duplicates in online communities. On the prices found for this guide it is the cheapest of the three per try, which makes it the easiest to sample.
Where to find it: Hankook Ilbo reported in May 2026 that large gacha shops and random-goods stores were opening one after another around Hongdae and Seongsu in Seoul, and Hankyung, citing National Tax Service data, reported that toy shops in Mapo-gu, the district that includes Hongdae, rose from 49 to 70 in a year. Bandai has its own outlets too: a December 2025 launch report says Bandai Namco Korea’s FUN SQUARE store on the second floor of Lotte World Mall in Jamsil includes a Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and that FUN SQUARE also has stores in the Starfield Suwon and Times Square shopping malls. No official Bandai Namco Korea store page could be opened on 22 October 2026, so check before you go.
The downsides follow from the format. You cannot choose within a series, so wanting one particular figure can mean many turns and a pile of duplicates. Payment is the other unknown. Bandai’s 2017 release said its Japanese machines then took 100- to 500-yen coins, but I found no official source on what Korean gacha machines accept, so read the label on each machine before you put money in.
Ichiban Kuji: a ticket that never loses, and a Last One prize
Ichiban Kuji, roughly “number-one lottery,” is made by Bandai Spirits. Its official how-to illustrations show the Japanese routine: take a purchase ticket to the till, pay, draw a ticket from the box, peel it and receive the prize printed on it on the spot. Prizes are graded by letter. The Korean listing for Ichiban Kuji Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX vol.4, for example, runs from A and B prizes (bust figures) through a C figure, D magnets, an E goods collection and F and G acrylic stands to an H clear poster.
One extra sets it apart: whoever draws the last ticket of a set also receives the Last One prize. In that Gundam series it is a red Gundam bust about 18 cm tall.
In Korea, Daewon Media says it is the official distributor of Banpresto Ichiban Kuji, with exclusive distribution rights and its own official stores. Four were listed on 22 October 2026: Yongsan (I’Park Mall, Living Park 3F, Dopamine Station; 10:30–22:00 according to the mall), Hongdae (AK Plaza 5F; weekdays 11:00–22:00, weekends and holidays 10:30–22:00), Jamsil (Lotte World Mall B1; 10:00–21:00) and Busan (Shinsegae department store B2, Hyperground, 35 Centumnam-daero, Haeundae-gu; weekdays 10:30–20:00, weekends 10:30–20:30). Bandai Spirits’ Korea lineup page lists many series released there, from Dragon Ball and One Piece to Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan. It is a list of releases rather than current stock, so check what a store still has on the day.
Some GS25 convenience stores sell it too. According to GS Retail, GS25 introduced Ichiban Kuji kiosks with Daewon Media in June 2025, and on 24 July 2026 it announced that it had turned GS25 Seomyeon Star, on the “Street of Youth” in Busan’s Seomyeon district, into its first Ichiban Kuji-themed store: a convenience store downstairs and, upstairs, a kiosk and seven large display cases. You pay at the kiosk, pick a coupon on the screen and receive a random prize. GS Retail said the area’s steady flow of foreign tourists was one reason it chose the site.
What does a draw cost, and what is the catch? Prices are set per series, and I found no Korean prices on the official pages checked on 22 October 2026. The one example is an August 2025 Herald Business report in which a reporter paid ₩13,000 for one Demon Slayer draw at a GS25 kiosk. “No blank” does not mean “worth the money” either: every ticket wins, but an H poster is not an A figure, and you cannot choose your grade. Ichiban Kuji makes most sense when a series you love is on sale and a lower prize would still make you happy.
Blind boxes: a sealed box, printed odds and a secret
A blind box is sealed so you cannot see what is inside. Pop Mart Korea’s FAQ explains that blind boxes usually come as a series of different figures or designs, that the side of each box lists the lineup and the odds of getting each item, and that every series includes a secret item that is rarer than the regular ones, with odds of its own. Reading that side panel is the first step.
Pop Mart’s blind boxes cost more than gacha. On 22 October 2026, Pop Mart Korea’s online draw service, POP NOW, listed series from ₩11,000 a box (a Nudaeng series) to ₩32,000 (THE MONSTERS Cat Mode On plush keyring series, featuring Labubu). Figure series such as CRYBABY, Jujutsu Kaisen, Hirono × Harry Potter and one featuring the K-pop group RIIZE were ₩16,000 (CRYBABY was marked “coming soon” and Hirono × Harry Potter “sold out”). Both the ₩11,000 and the ₩32,000 series were Global Express items, and shipping can be charged on top. The Labubu cat keyring series has nine regular designs and one hidden edition, Maine Coon Kitty.
Buying online comes with conditions. On POP NOW a box’s contents are revealed when you pay, and Pop Mart treats that moment as opening the box, so you cannot cancel or return it because you changed your mind. A “shake” hint helps you guess which designs are not in a box. Items marked Global Express ship from abroad, take about 15 to 30 days and may require a Korean personal customs clearance code. For a short trip, buying in a shop is simpler. Pop Mart Korea’s store finder listed 13 shops on 22 October 2026. In Seoul, the Hongdae flagship (56 Wausan-ro 23-gil) and the Myeongdong premium theme shop (36 Myeongdong 8-gil) both open 11:00–22:00 daily, and there are shops on the sixth floor of I’Park Mall’s Living Park in Yongsan, on B2 of The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, on B1 of the COEX Mall and at 5 Bukchon-ro in Jongno (Anguk). Busan has one in Samjeong Tower (Busanjin-gu) and one in Shinsegae Centum City. Hours differ by shop, so check before you go.
Chasing secrets has a cost. BigGo Finance, an unbylined finance-news site, reported that when the Labubu cat series launched in China on 15 October 2026, the hidden edition’s top price on a resale app on day one was nearly seven times retail, while half of the regular designs were already offered below retail. Fakes are the other risk: according to Korea’s Tax & Finance News, the Korea Customs Service held about 7,000 suspected fake Labubu items over two months in mid-2025, mostly sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms, usually for ₩10,000 or less, under half the genuine price of ₩20,000 and up. Customs warned that goods sold far below the genuine price outside official sellers are likely to be fake.
Trying them on a trip: budget, payment and fakes
Set a budget before your first turn. All three formats make it tempting to keep buying until the item you want appears. In the Hankook Ilbo report, Lee Hong-joo, a consumer economist at Sookmyung Women’s University, said random buying encourages repeat purchases through a mechanism partly similar to gambling, and that buyers need limits of their own. Deciding in advance how many turns you will take, and what you will do with duplicates, makes disappointment easier to handle.
Payment depends on the format. Bandai Spirits’ Japanese how-to has you pay for Ichiban Kuji at the till; at GS25 you pay at the kiosk itself. I found no official note on what Daewon Media’s stores accept. Blind boxes are bought at a shop till or online under the POP NOW rules above. Gacha machines may vary by shop and I could not confirm what they accept, so carry a card and some cash.
For a route in Seoul, Hongdae is the easy choice: gacha shops have multiplied around it, and the official Ichiban Kuji store is on the fifth floor of AK Plaza; Yongsan and Jamsil have official stores too. In Busan you can pair GS25 Seomyeon Star with the official store at Shinsegae in Haeundae. Hours and lineups change often, so check the official pages on the day. Leave some room in your luggage, too: capsules are small, but Ichiban Kuji’s top prizes can be figures: in the Gundam example the A and B busts and the Last One bust are about 18 cm, and the C figure about 25 cm.
Related on Rank Three: to sort out how you will pay at machines and tills, see How to pay in Korea as a tourist: foreign card, WOWPASS or a QR wallet?; if you are weighing a base near Hongdae, Myeongdong vs Hongdae vs Gangnam: where to stay on a first trip to Seoul?; and if Seomyeon or Haeundae in Busan is on your list, Seoul to Busan by KTX, express bus or flight: which should you take?.
Our three picks
- Gacha: turn the handle, get one item from the seriesGacha (capsule toys)
The easiest start: typically ₩2,000–7,000 a turn (Hankyung, August 2026) for one item from a series, at gacha shops around Hongdae and Seongsu or the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop at FUN SQUARE (reported December 2025; check before you go). You cannot choose within the series, so duplicates are likely, and check what each machine accepts before paying.
- Ichiban Kuji: a ticket that never loses, and a Last One prizeIchiban Kuji
For anime fans when a series they love is on sale. Every ticket wins a graded prize, and the last ticket of a set also takes the Last One prize. Sold at Daewon Media’s official stores in Yongsan, Hongdae, Jamsil and Busan and at kiosks in some GS25 stores, including GS25 Seomyeon Star. Prices vary by series; the one example found (₩13,000 at a GS25 kiosk in 2025) is above typical gacha prices.
- Blind boxes: a sealed box, printed odds and a secretBlind box
For designer-toy collectors and Labubu fans. Pop Mart prints the lineup and odds on the box side, and every Pop Mart series hides a secret. Pop Mart Korea’s online draws were ₩11,000–32,000 a box on 22 October 2026; they count as opened at payment, so no change-of-mind refunds, and treat very cheap unofficial sellers as a fake risk.
Side by side
| What to check | Gacha (capsule toys) | Ichiban Kuji | Blind box |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | One turn: one capsule | One ticket: the prize printed on it | One sealed box |
| What you choose | The machine (series) | The series on sale and one ticket | The series; you cannot see inside |
| Can you lose? | No: one item from the series | No: one graded prize (A–H in the example) | No: one item from the series |
| The rare one | No common rule in the official sources checked | Top grades, plus the Last One prize for the final ticket | At Pop Mart, a secret (hidden) item; odds printed on the box side |
| Price per try | Typically ₩2,000–7,000 (Hankyung, Aug 2026) | Varies by series; ₩13,000 in one GS25 example (Aug 2025 report) | ₩11,000–32,000 online at Pop Mart Korea (22 Oct 2026) |
| Where in Korea | Gacha shops in Hongdae, Seongsu and elsewhere; Bandai Namco Korea’s FUN SQUARE (Dec 2025 report) | Daewon Media’s four official stores (Yongsan, Hongdae, Jamsil, Busan); kiosks at some GS25 stores, including GS25 Seomyeon Star | 13 Pop Mart shops on its store finder (22 Oct 2026), incl. Hongdae, Myeongdong, I’Park Mall Yongsan, The Hyundai Seoul, COEX and Anguk in Seoul and two in Busan; popmart.com/kr online |
| Paying | May vary by shop and machine (not confirmed officially) | At the till (per the Japanese how-to) or a GS25 kiosk | At the till, or online (Global Express may need a customs code) |
| Refunds | Not stated in the sources | Not stated in the sources | Online draws count as opened at payment: no change-of-mind refund |
| Watch out for | Duplicates and repeat turns | You cannot pick your grade; the one price found is above gacha | Chasing secrets, swinging resale prices, fakes |
| Good for | First-timers and small souvenirs | Anime fans with a favourite series | Pop Mart and Labubu collectors |
Where I would start
For a first try I would start with gacha: it costs the least per turn, and whatever comes out is still a small souvenir. If a series you love is on sale as Ichiban Kuji, that is the next step; nothing loses, and the grades make it clear what you are paying for. Choose blind boxes when you already love a character: read the odds on the side of the box, buy from an official shop, and buy only as many as you would be happy with if the secret never appears. Whichever you try, decide how many turns you will take before the first one.
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