April 23, 2015

Slam That Korean Ddakji!

Little rubber gumball minifigures weren't a hit everywhere in the world.  To a certain extent, people could argue they even had limited success here in the States as well.  They could say it was nothing compared to the popularity of TMNT, He-Man, Transformers, and the rest of the Hasbro and Mattel lot you know.  Even in neighboring countries, like South Korea, they had their own ideas with soft plastics.

They are called Ddakji (or Ttakji).  I have no idea how either are correctly pronounced, but they are rooted in a traditional tabletop game with cardboard discs.  Westerners would best recognize traditional Ddakji as something like P.O.G.S. without the metal slammers.  Kids would merely take a cardboard piece and slam it crazy-hard down on others to try to flip them over.

Alternatively, rubber Ddakji found themselves on toy shelves as well, replacing the small thin discs for large, hand-size, rubber cut-outs of popular characters, with the exact same rules: whack your opponents Ddakji so hard with your Ddakji that theirs flips and lands on the opposite side.

I'm personally drawn into these guys, but then again, virtually anything neon, transparent, glittered, and slug-casted will always know how to get my wallet lighter.  Although I don't have the budget into being a serious Ddakji collector, I would love to have a a good amount around, if nothing else than to have a few drunk Ddakji games with friends.

I just recently learned of their existence and currently in the works of picking up some.  I'll do a hands-on review in the future when I get to slam them around myself, maybe even intoxicated.

3 comments:

  1. I have a thing for the bright, transparent colors! XD

    They look cool and I hope you can get some soon!

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    1. The only issue seems to be international shipping rates from South Korea. You get buy a nice box of ten or so between $6-10, but it's +$20 for the plane ticket or boat ride here.

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    2. Actually, they seem to be more accurately $6-10 a piece, but more or less floating around $5. Shipping still high for most sites.

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