Beyblade's current state in Japan- 7/07/14: Return of monthly events in Japan!

Kinda funny that it was Pre-Zero-G, but pretty interesting that it's not completely gone.

I still have slight hopes for something in March, haha.
(Jan. 06, 2014  11:24 PM)Ingulit Wrote: Wait, does that mean new Beys (as in more of the old Beyblades) are being produced, or just that the stores still have stock left over?

Galaxy Pegasis itself has stopped being produced years ago, for sure. At least the stores have not just sent all the leftover back to TAKARA-TOMY as if it were hopeless to try to sell them to fans still.
Well, to be fair, Toys "R" Us Japan didn't actually sell those bey stuff individually from a shelf. It's bundled in a parcel, or "lucky bag' is what they call it in Japan. With Toys "R" Us, customers just select "Boys" or "Girl" lucky bag, and know nothing of the contents beforehand, which in this case, happens to have beyblades. These parcel things are a rather common practice in asia near the holidays, and more often than not, unfortunately they contain outdated items that are hard to sell and needed to be cleared off, which explains the ridiculously cheap price (4,000 yen).
(Jan. 07, 2014  6:18 AM)Uwik Wrote: Well, to be fair, Toys "R" Us Japan didn't actually sell those bey stuff individually from a shelf. It's bundled in a parcel, or "lucky bag' is what they call it in Japan. With Toys "R" Us, customers just select "Boys" or "Girl" lucky bag, and know nothing of the contents beforehand, which in this case, happens to have beyblades. These parcel things are a rather common practice in asia near the holidays, and more often than not, unfortunately they contain outdated items that are hard to sell and needed to be cleared off, which explains the ridiculously cheap price (4,000 yen).

Well, that's disappointing. But hopefully it's just the older beys that are hard to sell.
Stock disposal is needed in any industry. One can argue that it's disappointing, while others think of it as promising (clearing old stuff to make way for the new ones).

One thing is certain though, the toy itself is no longer in production. We can not deny that fact, but we can certainly hope that the hobby is kept alive until the new series are introduced (if any). The fact that the last few events in Japan were still officially supported is a show of good faith by TAKARA TOMY, in my opinion.
This is the ad that was featured in the January issue of CoroCoro last month :
http://bbspirit.net78.net/beybladead_corocoro01-14.jpg

Classic and short, but it is important that it got published regardless.
Things are visibly looking great in TAKARA-TOMY's eyes, because it is worth it to them to release yet another wave of events in Japanese stores, this time for the latter half of January and the beginning of February !

As predicted, the prizes are now gold versions of Storm Pegasis, Pegasis and Galaxy Pegasis.

http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html
Wow, that's unexpected to me - I figured the G2 event was just for the game and all, but that's a lot more than I'd expect. And over a year from the last new release, now, that is just rather odd to me (that's well past the point I'd consider for clearing leftover stock and so on). Do they gain anything from these tournaments?
They might still hope for some last-chance promotion of the video game because everything happens in the first few months of a game's release generally, but no, it globally seems to be about the hobby. I have no idea what they gain, but they are clearly making effort to maintain a fanbase right now.
Wow, this is great news.

The last events seemed to be solely to promote the game; but as Kai-V said, this seems it's for the hobby! Grin
I clapped too. Honestly i'm amazed that Beyblade Youtube videos reach over 100,000+ yet this situation has only reach above 200. I really want the Beyblade franchise to continue to thrive and I am really happy about this series of situations that are going on in Japan. I just wish that westerners would take it a little more seriously than just being a kids spinning top game. Like on the same level as maybe yu-gi-oh!?
This is getting better and better! I just hope they can make a new series, because they seem to be gathering interest so they can start a whole NEW series.
I cant help but smile when I hear all this great beyblade news I want a new series.
Its kind of business smart for how Takara Tomy is handling these new events. I can see them making some kind of announcement at the end of the last set of events. It would be pointless and inefficient if they didn't have something planned for these events.
Having spent the last week in Japan and a full day visiting toy retail and consignment stores in Tokyo, I did not see a single Beyblade - new or old - for sale in any of them. Kai-V finds a possible silver lining in her posts and I truly hope she's correct.

I must, however, play the role of devil's advocate and consider a rash of recent events as being an effort to increase awareness/exposure of the video game. No, I don't think Beyblade is going away forever, but I think we're unfortunately nearing the 2nd great hiatus a la the years between HMS and Metal Fight. What has it been, a full year plus since TT's last new Zero-G beyblade was released?

Critical as I've been of Hasbro, kudos to them if they can bridge the gap with compelling products and stories during the possible TT hibernation. Perhaps they can even take the global lead at some point? Wishful thinking...?...yeah, I know, but it would sure be better than nothing (even if only by a little).


EDIT: readjusting to GMT -5:00 (from Japan time) leaves me awake at 3am posting!
I definitely saw places where Beyblades were still sold, but I suppose they are not in main stores likes Toys "R" Us I think.

Months later for a video game is rather outdated ... Rising Star Games' came out basically at the beginning of November, and they sent me a free copy so I could upload a sort of unboxing video, and I really want to do it, but I have the impression that even if I had uploaded it on BeyChannel in January, it would have been too late already, for some reason. If TAKARA-TOMY keeps holding events in late February and March, I think it is too late for it to just be game promotion. On that subject, from pictures I have seen, the video game could have clearly been a lot more advertised in those events : it was barely present sometimes, so I believe TAKARA-TOMY was trying to keep general Beyblade interest up. Intergrow also only advertised one of those events, not all the rest, which would have been smart. I mean, either both companies are acting in an incredibly subtle way which is unlike everything Beyblade and its anime ever do, or there is something else.
I'm hoping to be back there this spring - maybe with better planning I can check out an official event and get a better sense of it all. I DO agree that anything in the vein of Beyblade's next evolution would be welcome news indeed and could galvanize a clearly interested and loyal fan base that does still exist.


Wonder if I can get my hands on one of those beypoints machines...

I'll remain cautiously optimistic and share anything I see/hear when the next trip happens. I grew to really appreciate zero g and the next incremental step could be pretty sweet (so long as it's not anything related to spelling 'wheels' with a Z, I'm in)
Beyblade is completly dead in Hong Kong despite the existence of amines........
HK kids don't play beys already, and I don't think Taiwan should be any different as well.
(Sigh, how dumb kids are. They aren't even longlasting and just throw stuff away within the blink of an eye! I wonder how I stay so long.)

However, if TT is going to bring back the Beyblade trend at 2014, I'm all in for it.
Oh, what did I say ? We still get more events until March 9th in Japanese stores !
http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html
The prizes are now Pegasis 105F, Storm Pegasis 105RF and Galaxy Pegasis W105R²F Bronze Ver.

March is becoming late for the promotion of just a December video game.
Clearly they got wind of Limited format and are planning on something similar, hence the prizes. Serious

Wonder if they're planning on continuing from where Zero-G left off after a hiatus or something? These events cannot be making them much money, with what's been said about major stores not having much or any Beyblade stock.

Thanks as always for the news, Kai-V. Smile
Great news, even more events.

Now that the game has been out for a month or two, this can't be a promotion for it.


Hopefully, it's some kind of sign.
Hopefully they're gathering interest for something big. Glad to see more tournaments!
Still more events until April 13th this time!
http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html

The prizes are now silver versions of all the Pegasis. Apparently the prizes are going to do a neverending circle : bronze, silver, gold, silver, bronze, silver, gold, etc.

Yo TAKARA-TOMY, show us what all these events are leading to, because we know there is something.
Perhaps they'll do some MFB re-releases along with Hasbro come this fall (which would be really cool - more stuff for Limited, and no new releases we would have to buy/test!).

Oh gosh I hope that's it. Fingers crossed. XD