Capsela – Nostalgia Central

The Mitsubishi Pencil Company of Japan began manufacturing Capsela building sets in 1975. But Capsela was more than just a construction toy – it was actual engineering.

Clear plastic capsules joined together by way of geared knobs on the sides to create mechanical sequences. With these foundation pieces, one could build cars, tanks, boats, cranes and many other items.

Different capsules had different attributes. Some had motors; others had gears to transmit the motor power to wheels, propellers, or pulleys. Some capsules had switches or pontoons.

Even the batteries were safely encapsulated, protecting those engaged in any aquatic activity.

Capsela products were sold in several categories for budding engineers of varying levels of expertise, with parts ranging from 30 to over 100.

The Capsela Computer came with a multi-function computer capsule around which one could build multi-tasking designs, complete with flashing lights.

One version of the toy even allowed you to plug into a Commodore 64 for more advanced control.

To escape the purely “educational” tag, Capsela also released a sister series called SpaceLink with a science-fiction theme (which ironically featured cockpits and action figures but no motorised parts).

Capsela Powertram was a series designed to bridge SpaceLine’s science fiction with the engineering capabilities of the original Capsela.

The series was licensed to Play Jour and produced by VTech, Kidology, and other subsidiaries. The range was re-released in Japan by Bandai, who added new colours to the basic range of transparent spheres.

In the US, the Capsela line was purchased by Educational Insights, a manufacturer of learning toys and educational materials for schools (many teachers used Capsela to demonstrate physics to their students). They have since discontinued the line.

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