I recently bought some cool little items to spruce up my games room. The Dot-S range features a variety of iconic videogame characters that can be constructed on small pegboards with colurful plastic pins. I went for the Dig Dug set but after making a Pooka on one of the two boards, I decided to create a couple of Space Invaders on the other!

Dot-S Dig Dug Set

My Dot Pin Creations



Aside from Dig Dug you can also get sets themed on Pac-Man, Mario, Zelda and more. Of course, what I really want are the Bubble Bobble sets, but they've been sold out for over a year - anyone care to sell me some?

Bubble Bobble Dot Pin Puzzle

I also picked up a partial set of Shooting Game Historica Gashapons. For those that don't know, Gashapons are little vending machine toys that are immensely popular in Japan. Each one features a model kit that allows you to construct a replica of the ships from some of the greatest Japanese shmups, including Gradius, Darius and Image Fight. The most desirable one is of course the R9 fighter from R-Type, which I haven't been able to get my hands on as yet. However, a second series is on it's way featuring the R-90 from R-Type III and Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone, amongst others.

Darius ship in kit form

Red Darius ship completed

Shooting Game Historica Squadron!

These fun and relativly cheap items can be picked up from National Console Support in the USA and Play-Asia in Japan. Just search for 'dot pin' or 'shooting historica'...