Capsule Toy Machine Labels | Shenmue 3

Capsule toy machines are a familiar sight in the first two Shenmue games, and details released to date have confirmed (such as in this April 2019 Yu Suzuki interview by Famitsu) that capsule toys will continue to play a role in Shenmue III; for example as collectible items for obtaining complete sets or as a way for Ryo to make some cash at the pawn shops.

A couple of Shenmue III screenshots seen so far have shown capsule toy machines. The first of these was in the screenshot of a ferry interior revealed at the press conference for MAGIC Monaco 2019 in February, which had a couple of capsule toy machines sitting to one side under the stairs.

In this screenshot, the illustration on the closest capsule toy machine shows what looks to be a fire-fighting themed toy set, with fire extinguishers and a fire ax. A figure in a purple top leans at an angle (which some fans have pointed out recalls the hero in Space Harrier) while holding a fire extinguisher and hose.

More recently, a row of three capsule toy machines were shown outside the Hi-Tech Land Panda arcade in one of the screenshots Yu Suzuki shared during his talk at the Reboot Develop Blue conference in April.

Here are the labels from the front of the capsule machines, after being run through image-processing software.

The label on the first machine shares obvious similarities with the one in the ferry image; in fact, the main discernible difference is the figure holding the fire extinguisher, who is now dressed in orange and posing in a more balanced manner with feet apart. The rest of the illustration, including the text layout and other items around the figure, matches closely with the label in the ferry screenshot.

Here is a side-by-side comparison:

Given that the rest of the label appears similar to the first in every other respect, I suspect it may represent a revision of the label design that has been made by the developers.

The definition on the magnified labels is rather poor, so it is a matter of conjecture as to what the toys on the other labels they may represent. Share your theories below!

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