The slogan of hit Kojima Productions walking simulator Death Stranding is “Tomorrow Is In Your Hands.” Toy and novelty maker HMA could put something else in your hands, too. Late in March 2021, Death Stranding-themed gacha capsule toy machines will be deployed throughout Japan. There will be two collections of items based on the BB Pod and the Q-pid Keys from the game [Thanks, Famitsu!].
The BB Pod is the “bottle” that contains the iconic Death Stranding BB – or, “Bridge Baby.” In the game, Porters like Sam use BBs detect deadly BTs while they journey across the landscape. In turn, Porters need to take care of their BBs, managing stress levels and comforting them when they throw a tantrum. The BB Pod capsule toys come in five varieties patterned after the different states of a BB in-game. There’s the standard normal BB Pod, with a yellow tint, an empty pod, a pod tinted orange to show a BB with elevated stress, and an almost opaque black pod showing a BB in Autotoxemia. The final BB Pod design is based on the pod used by Higgs.
The second set of Death Stranding capsule toys is somewhat more low-key, in that it resembles a set of Q-pids metal slabs worn by Sam. Sam uses them in the game to hook up terminals to the Chiral Network. The Q-pids take the form of die-cast metal charms about 6 cm (about 2.4 in) long. On each slab, physics equations like Quantum entanglement and the Schwartzchild radius are engraved.
The Death Stranding capsule toys are coming to physical locations in Japan in late March 2021 and will cost 400 and 500 JPY (about $5 USD) each. Box sets of the BB Pods can be reserved at participating retailers. A more exacting replica of the Q-pids is also sold through Kojima Productions’ online store, but costs much more.
The game itself is immediately available on the PS4 and PC. The PC edition in particular includes crossover content based on Cyberpunk 2077 and Half-Life.
