So I've been back-and-forth-ing with someone from Nelvana -- the group that is doing the localization for Beyblade in North America and some parts of Europe -- and I finally got some information from him. However ...
Chris Dakota wrote ...Hi Brad,
Sorry I took so long to send you a response. I know it isn't much, but here's the info I can offer on BEYBLADE: STEEL SQUAD. ... Well, that's the first bit of information; the title has been modified from METAL FIGHT BEYBLADE to BEYBLADE: STEEL SQUAD. The cartoon series follows Greg (formally Ginga), Ken (formerly Kenta), and Kyle (formerly Kyouya) as the fight against the evil Daniel and Ryan of the Dark Nebula organisation to protect the world.
The first tops to be released will be Pegasus, Bull, Leo and Sagittario. They will all include the Beylauncher ... for whatever reason Hasbro has decided to not release the regular launchers worldwide. I think it may be due to some safety concerns, which is also their motivation for the stadium redesign. From what I can tell it's a mostly flat rectangle with large walls built into the plastic. As far as I can tell there are no exits or pockets of any kind like the previous Hasbro stadiums. From what I can tell in the pictures Hasbro sent us, the stadium is actually completely covered by a clear plastic screen and you shoot into it using two ramps. As far as I know this is the only stadium Hasbro has designed for release so far.
As for your questions about the limited Beyblades Aries, Pisces and Quetzalcoatl, my understanding is that rather than damage the market for these rare Beyblades in Japan Hasbro has decided to simply not release them like they did for several rare Beyblades in the previous series.
As for a release date, it's currently unknown but the first tops should be out for Christmas 2009.
This is all the information I have for now. If I hear anything else I'll let you know.
Sincerely,
Chris Dakota
Nelvana
Well ...
:pwn:
I would have preferred it if they just left it as 'Metal fight beyblade' and the stadiums don't sound to good if there just flat and rectangular... hm
Beyblade steel squad...
Stadiums....
Well atleast theyll be in US soon.
Beyblade: steel squad? Hasbro will make them? No rares?
Oh carp...
EDIT: I hope this is just an April fools joke...
Anyone who got/gets pisces, aries, etc should show em off to everyone
^EDIT: Never thought of that
(Apr 01 2009 11:04 AM)mirraslogo wrote ... [ -> ]EDIT: I hope this is just an April fools joke...
Lol, it could be.. I doub't it tho.
(Apr 01 2009 11:04 AM)mirraslogo wrote ... [ -> ]Beyblade: steel squad? Hasbro will make them? No rares?
Oh carp...
EDIT: I hope this is just an April fools joke...
Unfortunately I got the e-mail on March 31, and I doubt Nelvana would play such an elaborate joke on me.
Steel Squad...
couldn't they have called it something like metal fighters? or if thet must, steel fighters to make it sound more accurate and less cheesy?
I am happy, yet slightly unhappy; steel squad? Really?
Well, instead of being so critical, the way i see it is we should be excited because we know that its coming to NA. We all aged a bit but the era of Bey shall return! All we need to do now is spread the word, to make sure it is as big or even bigger than it originally was.
(Apr 01 2009 11:33 AM)Khel wrote ... [ -> ]I am happy, yet slightly unhappy; steel fighters? Really?
it's gotta be better than steel squad, don't you think?
MFB's will need a new abbreviation for the Americanized carp. since the "squad" should have nothing to do with the toy itself, I think it's safe to call the new release "BS"
(Apr 01 2009 11:35 AM)Hero wrote ... [ -> ]Well, instead of being so critical, the way i see it is we should be excited because we know that its coming to NA. We all aged a bit but the era of Bey shall return! All we need to do now is spread the word, to make sure it is as big or even bigger than it originally was.
I need community service to graduate. I volunteered at the elementary school to help out kids with their homewor. Guess what I'm going to bring as a prize for good behavior and grades to promote this!
(Apr 01 2009 11:38 AM)Deikailo wrote ... [ -> ]it's gotta be better than steel squad, don't you think?
MFB's will need a new abbreviation for the Americanized carp. since the "squad" should have nothing to do with the toy itself, I think it's safe to call the new release "BS"
I made a typo, I'm an idiot
This sounds like some badly named children's rap group.
oh no nelvana and hasbro are making bad decisions, how will i ever cope with this horrible new reality
(Apr 01 2009 11:42 AM)Khel wrote ... [ -> ]I made a typo, I'm an idiot
This sounds like some badly named children's rap group.
They really screwed themselves by naming one of the main characters Daniel and renaming the title to steel because we now have...
...a steely dan in a children's show.
I really hate Hasbro for this very reason that they love ruining Beyblade even though they don't admit it
"We are not releasing the limited booster prizes to prevent the market of Japan from collapsing"
(Apr 01 2009 11:35 AM)Hero wrote ... [ -> ]Well, instead of being so critical, the way i see it is we should be excited because we know that its coming to NA. We all aged a bit but the era of Bey shall return! All we need to do now is spread the word, to make sure it is as big or even bigger than it originally was.
I guess you are right. We need to take this in stride, since there was bound to be some unfavorable localization. At least it's coming out at a reasonable time frame. We should be happy that Beyblade Back! This sight is going to boom!
(Apr 01 2009 11:43 AM)Bey Brad wrote ... [ -> ]oh no nelvana and hasbro are making bad decisions, how will i ever cope with this horrible new reality
Buy Takara and make the little kids jealous like everyone used to do with pokemon cards?
But yes! More tournaments!
Finally some info
Thanks Brad!
It's nice to know that these will be released by Christmas '09 but what the hell is "STEEL SQUAD" could they not come up with a better name or left it at Metal Fight Beyblade (they probably thought the name MFB sounded too violent
).
The names for the characters aren't too bad but it sucks that they won't be releasing the rares
I was hoping they would at least release Pisces.
And it's no surprise that they will be changing the stadiums, but at least there won't be any annoying pockets, etc.
hmm...no regular launchers..... I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'll just stock up on the Orange Right launchers. Though it seems Takara is also trying to eliminate the use of regular launchers and Hasbro won't be using them at all it seems.
I just hope Hasbro doesn't change some beyblades like they did with the previous series. They totally ruined Uriel 2, Wolborg 1, Metal Driger, etc...
It's a shame, but so what?
I'll stick to Takara Beyblades, it's even cheaper than the Hasbros in stores here were.
With the Takara gear, we can make better tournaments anyway. We will have many new players to show them that Hasbro isn't doing well.