HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOTHER 2! As August 27th, 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the cult classic video game known to us as Earthbound, and because I have my own fanimation devoted to it that is very close to being completed, today I will post about my “authentic” Mother 2 experience during my recent visit to Japan this summer.

As some of you may know, Japan has many “Gashapon” (or Gachapon) capsule dispensers that are essentially gumball machines with toys instead of candy. There is a dense concentration of them in Akihabara, an area in Tokyo known for carrying a huge selection of anime, manga and game-related goods- everything from DVDs, toys and accessories to cosplay fashion and idol band merchandise.

Somewhere in all of this pop culture chaos exist a small number of Mother 2 Gashapon dispensers. The one I encountered was on the upper floor of a well-known retro game store called Super Potato (pictured above). I’ve heard there are one or two others, but this was the only one I ran into.

Like most Gashapons, each attempt at nabbing a toy costs 200 yen, about 2 US dollars. The selection is completely randomized, which means I spent the better part of 10 minutes just cramming money into the slot and feverishly opening each plastic ball to inspect the contents in mounting frustration. I have included a highly scientific illustration of this process below:

Countless 100 yen coins and extra Paulas later, I finally acquired the final figure and completed the entire set: Ness, Jeff, Paula, Poo, Master Barf, Master Belch, and of course the elusive Mr. Saturn! The pink monster is supposedly “rare” but I have two of him to Mr. Saturn’s one. Not a bad investment as the Mr. Saturn goes for about 5 times the Gachapon price on eBay and re-sell stores. (Technically I think these are phone straps which are hugely popular in Japan, but to me they’d be more amusing as Christmas tree ornaments.)

The Super Potato store also carries original copies of the Mother 2 Famicom game, and features a huge print-out of the Magicant map from Mother 1 in one of their many stairwells. Pretty cool!

The only evidence of Mother 3 that I saw were copies of the actual game in a glass display case going for $80 (?!), but it was probably good for my wallet that there wasn’t any merch of Lucas or the Magypsies. Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Tokyo, definitely check this place out and have a go at collecting your own Mother 2 souvenirs straight from the source!