I'd love to learn more about these tiny (0.5" or less) charms made in 1920's/30s from celluloid.  Hundreds of tiny shapes/objects in cream, red, black and other colours, including mixed shades, represent traditional Japanese images such as Daruma, lanterns or temple bells as well as western images such as Mickey Mouse, tennis players or totem poles..  Little people range from gentlemen with top hats (or just the top hat itself!) to sea captains to ghosts.   Animals include cats, tigers, bulls, elephants.  What they all have in common is a tiny circular, and usually brown face with eyes that pop in and out.  Sometimes they have dangly legs too.   The image below shows 2 western style gentlemen, complete with canes and top hats, and an arab with fez.

Often, they have their original hanging thread attached.  It is not unusual to find 3-10 hanging on a celluloid ring (like a curtain ring).  These may be mixed with straighforward celluloid charms.  The photo below shows the evolution of Japanese celluloid charms, including kobes:  Bottom left shows a ring of charms made in wood and bone.  Next to it is a ring of wood and bone, with 3 celluloid charms: a Catalpa tree bean, a fish and a peanut.  The top ring are all celluloid kobes.  Certain objects ar present in all: the gourd drinking vessel and cello while the dice, drinking vessel and purse are present in two.

My favourites are the demon heads with horns which, although tiny, pack a fearsome punch as the eyes pop out.

These charms are tiny versions of the more traditional large Kobe mechanical toys made for tourists from 1890 in Kobe.  They were the novelties in crackers (UK), possibly Cracker Jack in the US and gumball machines everywhere.  In the 1950's, versions were made with the same pop out eyes in cheap injection moulded plastics, often as a Daruma but modernised to be in green with "Man from Mars" moulded on.  The ring link moulded in is plastic rather than the more common metal in kobes (although some have a celluloid link).  Production moved to Hong Kong and Japan stopped making the kobe charms, although continued to make key rings and purse decorations of charms with pop out eyes which you can still find today..

There seems to be a cult following on Ebay with rare designs raching $50+.  Comments welcome.