BANDAI's super popular Gashapon brand's "Marker Accessories" (めじるしアクセサリー) series recently dropped its Halloween-limited edition, the "Sanrio Characters Halloween!" (サンリオキャラクターズ めじるしアクセサリー Halloween!). After hitting Japanese stores in the second week of September, it immediately sparked a massive buying frenzy.
When stores opened, a huge crowd surged into some Gashapon specialty shops and Sanrio sections, pushing and scrambling for the items. Onlookers described the chaotic scene as a "battlefield," leading several stores to quickly implement a numbered ticket system to control the crowds.
▼ A shopping mall turned battlefield
サンリオハロウィンめじるしチャームで戦場になってた pic.twitter.com/xf3PqVqyYi
— ゆな (@disney_ariel_77) September 8, 2026
Gashapon's "Marker Accessories" series is designed to be both a cute charm and a practical identifier. Each accessory comes with an elastic silicone ring that can be slipped onto clear umbrella handles, water bottle necks, pen barrels, or even attached to bags to prevent mix-ups. This clever design has made them a hit with students and office workers since their debut. This special Halloween edition features six popular characters: Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Pompompurin, Pochacco, and Hangyodon. All of them are decked out in pumpkin hats, witch hats, or other spooky Halloween costumes. Each gacha pull costs 300 yen.
▼ Gashapon Sanrio "Halloween Marker Accessories"
Thanks to its limited-edition holiday theme and star-studded character lineup, the product immediately became a hot topic on X right after its release. Videos captured by netizens showed massive crowds rushing towards the gacha machines the moment the shutters went up, with the pushing and shoving compared by some on social media to the opening rush at a pachinko parlor. As stores sold out at lightning speed, major Japanese resale platforms were flooded with full sets being flipped at exorbitant prices. What originally cost less than 2,000 yen for a set was being scalped for several times that amount, sparking outrage among fans fed up with resellers.
▼ After all that chaos in stores, scalpers immediately popped up online...
▼ Netizens pointed out one mother in the footage, carrying a child who looked like they were about to slip, yet still running through the crowd just to snag a gacha.
In response to the resale speculation and stock shortages, BANDAI's official product page had actually already noted that "this product is expected to be shipped multiple times after its initial release." Sanrio fans and readers don't need to rush to pay inflated prices on the resale market; they can keep an eye out for restock announcements and re-release schedules from official Gashapon stores and specialty shops.
via： X @Trending