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

This is a collection of the posts I have made, in the past few months, about the situation of Beyblade in Japan right now. They were made in the Beyblade Random Thoughts topic, but with a Grade 3 tournament having recently been hosted by TAKARA-TOMY, these news deserve more attention.


Here is the history of news, from the oldest to the latest :
(Feb. 01, 2013  2:09 PM)Kai-V on February 1st 2013 Wrote: You see, instead of clearly saying : "We are putting Beyblade on a hiatus, and you have until [deadline date] to redeem your points and go to events", TAKARA-TOMY is simply saying that Beypoints have to be exchanged before March basically, and that Bey Ta Go machines are going to start being removed too. Any other being would just use this opportunity to announce a break if there was one ... Yet, they are waiting.

(Feb. 25, 2013  4:39 AM)Kai-V on February 25th 2013 Wrote: To make it clear :

I posted around the beginning of February about TAKARA-TOMY's announcement that Beypoints needed to be redeemed before a certain date, events past another date were uncertain, and that all Bey Ta Go machines were going to be removed from the toy stores. In fact, it was right in this topic, but apparently everyone missed it ...
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-Beyblade...pid1090803


However, for the World Championships 2013, Hasbro and/or TAKARA-TOMY very clearly said : "See you next year!" at the World Championships 2012, so it is not at all stupid to have expected another one to happen this year or the year after.


And yes, with proof now that there are more Zero-G episodes to come in Japanese DVDs and on Western broadcasts, as well as with Hasbro doing efforts to make Beyblade an evergreen brand, Beyblade's future is simply uncertain, and it could definitely continue even if TAKARA-TOMY decides to stop it for Japan.

(Apr. 05, 2013  3:35 PM)Kai-V on April 5th 2013 Wrote: Cool, an official Metal Fight Beyblade tournament will apparently happen at this sort of TAKARA-TOMY convention at the beginning of May :
http://www.daiomochahaku.jp/index.html

(Apr. 06, 2013  2:39 AM)Kai-V on April 6th 2013 Wrote: As I had mentioned, the message TAKARA-TOMY posted on the official Beyblade website was rather ambiguous and vague ... The part about the events basically just meant that you could only be sure of the few tournaments in March, and after that, do not bet on anything ...


It is a sort of 'convention', but it does not seem that TAKARA-TOMY will actually have a booth about Beyblade to announce something else, hence why I made no mention of that possibility.

(Apr. 13, 2013  4:20 PM)Kai-V on April 13th 2013 Wrote:
(Apr. 05, 2013  3:35 PM)Kai-V Wrote: Cool, an official Metal Fight Beyblade tournament will apparently happen at this sort of TAKARA-TOMY convention at the beginning of May :
http://www.daiomochahaku.jp/index.html

And here is finally the page about it on the official Metal Fight Beyblade website from TAKARA-TOMY :
http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/grade2.html

(The page is called "grade2.html", but it is actually Grade 3 apparently.)

The tournament is Zero-G of course.

(Apr. 19, 2013  7:45 PM)Kai-V on April 19th 2013 Wrote: Another great news : TAKARA-TOMY is completely aware that their big toylines like Transformers and Beyblade usually have a three-year cycle; the best part of this is that their graphic for this shows a continuous sinuous line, not one with interruptions where they would try something else. It is also part of their plan to make several successful toylines with shorter cycles while Beyblade and Transformers evolve, have their downtimes and climaxes throughout the decades. This is why we have been seeing "Yabababike", "Cross Fight B-Daman", "Battorog", etc. recently by TAKARA-TOMY where they really try to make those successful, but the lines come out of nowhere, really, and there will just be several short climaxes over the years.


These are some pictures of the Grade 3 event held in Japan at the Daiomochahaku on May 4th 2013 :

[Image: daiomochakublog1.jpg]
Source : http://ameblo.jp/mu01-ta08/entry-11525626195.html

[Image: daiomochakublog2.jpg]
Source : http://ameblo.jp/wankotorisimariyaku/ent...30465.html

[Image: daiomochakublog3.jpg]
Source : http://ameblo.jp/bay-life/entry-11524642818.html

[Image: daiomochakublog4.jpg]
Source : http://ameblo.jp/sads9614/entry-11523294404.html


As you can see, several display cases showed almost every recolour and regular release of Metal Fight Beyblade. A lot of Japanese blading groups like TOP GUN came to the Beyblade tournament, probably to make it clear, like what we do here at the World Beyblade Organization, that there are still people keeping the hobby alive in the hearts of Bladers, and that TAKARA-TOMY must acknowledge them.

As you can also see and as I had mentioned before, Blader KEN was present and judged some battles and the finals.


So, if you were depressed about Beyblade's state and future, you most likely never got the news above! Do not forget that Hasbro is bringing Zero-G over in the rest of the world this fall 2013 as Shogun Steel.


EDIT:
(May. 12, 2013  9:04 PM)Kai-V on May 12th 2013 Wrote: By the way, another great news everyone : no need to worry about SonoKong either, they are hosting a Beyblade tournament on May 17th 2013. More details are available in Korean here :
http://beyblade.sonokong.co.kr/champ/sch...p?seq=1362

There is still hope to see an easy-to-get Bandid Genbull F230TB!

EDIT 2:

(Aug. 08, 2013  4:54 PM)Kai-V on August 8th 2013 Wrote: Beyblade dead in Japan ? Not at all !


Intergrow will release a new Beyblade video game titled "Metal Fight Beyblade 4D x Zero-G Ultimate Tournament" for the Nintendo 3DS this fall 2013, which is essentially the localization of Rising Star Games' Beyblade Evolution video game. Beyblade games in Japan have never sold that well, so this is rather ambitious, but absolutely positive !

You can find out more information here :
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-New-Beyb...Tournament



In other news, it seems that both Hasbro, with BeyWarriors and BeyRaiders, and SonoKong are telling TAKARA-TOMY that they will not wait for it to get back on with Beyblade. SonoKong has announced a new toyline very similar to Beyblade called "Top Plate" (old Beyblades were called "Top Blade" in South Korea), and it will be accompanied by a whole new anime too. Here is the detailed thread :
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-SonoKong...-TOP-PLATE



And an equally big news as the first one in this post : Cross Fight B-Daman has officially been cancelled, and it has apparently been clearly said by TAKARA-TOMY that the line's production would be suspended in the very upcoming months. That is what Takara had done for Beyblade back in 2004-2005, but they have not announced that for Metal Fight Beyblade yet!

(Oct. 02, 2013  2:10 AM)Kai-V on October 1st 2013 Wrote: Wow, some rather big news for the Japanese release of this video game :

The release date has been postponed to December 19th 2013, probably to increase the sales by encouraging parents to buy it for Christmas or New Year.

The Japanese release will also come with a rare recolour : Samurai Pegasis Limited Colour Brave Ver. There are no pictures of it yet, but it will probably look amazing.

The official Japanese site for the game has been updated too :
http://game.intergrow.jp/beyblade/

You can see some screenshots of the minigames and it will have hints on those as well, and apparently you can get a new stadium in the game with a special "AR Card".

(Oct. 15, 2013  1:31 AM)Kai-V on October 14th 2013 Wrote: As I previously mentioned somewhere on the forums, one page about Beyblade was published in the September issue of CoroCoro, after almost nine months of absence in CoroCoro! This is the scan of the page, which is exclusively about the Metal Fight Beyblade 4D X Zero-G Ultimate Tournament Nintendo 3DS game. As we know, this is just the Japanese title for the BEYBLADE: Evolution 3DS video game that Rising Star Games has produced for Hasbro :


(Nov. 13, 2013  5:42 PM)Kai-V on November 13th 2013 Wrote: In your face anyone who did not believe it : there are tons of events happening from November 16th to December 1st in Japan in various stores !
http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html

Prizes at all of those events are either Storm Pegasis 105RF Bronze or Pegasis 105F Bronze, depending on the location and the date.

(Dec. 14, 2013  7:38 PM)Kai-V on December 14th 2013 Wrote: Ohoh, we may not have seen how many Bladers went to the Beyblade events held in the last few weekends of November and December in Japan, but apparently it was worth it because TAKARA-TOMY is holding another series of many Beyblade tournaments in December and the first half of January 2014!!

http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html

This time, the prizes are Storm Pegasis 105RF and Galaxy Pegasis 105R²F, but silver versions! Could it be that there will be another wave after that with gold versions, with Big Bang Pegasis too...?!

(Dec. 16, 2013  2:52 PM)Kai-V on December 16th 2013 Wrote: These events were definitely '3DS-promotion-flavoured', because now we even have the priviledge of a Grade 2 event being organised, and it is presented by Intergrow, the company behind the Japanese 3DS video game titled "Metal Fight Beyblade 4D X Zero-G Ultimate Tournament" being released on December 19th 2013. The rest of the tournaments I have announced for November, December and January were all Grade 4 events, which are lower shop tournaments.

This Grade 2 tournament will be held on December 21st 2013, and Blader KEN will even be there.

http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/grade2.html

The prizes are gold, silver and bronze Shinobi Saramanda with Beylaunchers of matching colours, as well as a copy of the game for each top three winner.


Also, apparently the 3DS game is still being advertised in this month's CoroCoro, which only makes total sense because it gets released in three days ... It would have been idiotic otherwise.

(Dec. 18, 2013  3:59 PM)Kai-V on December 18th 2013 Wrote: Oh man, we are even lucky enough to get a whole new post about it on the Gan Gan Hobby Circle (originally just the WBBA Circle) :

https://my.takaratomy-business-service.c...t-169.html

It also shows the official image for the Samurai Pegasis W105R²F Braver Ver., which I have posted in the BEYBLADE: Evolution forum already.

The blog post basically just repeats what we already know about the Grade 2 Event and the Japanese video game, Metal Fight Beyblade 4DxZero-G Ultimate Tournament, but it does acknowledge at the beginning that it has been a while since the last Beyblade news.


This is also our chance to possibly get heard :


If each of us, on this 86,100-Member website, clicked on this clap icon, it would show TAKARA-TOMY they have a lot, a lot of support and still a lot of fans out there in the world. Come on, some Battroborg posts have over eighty claps, we can definitely beat that! This is definitely the thing you should share right now with all your friends if you love Beyblade even just a bit.

(Dec. 23, 2013  1:42 AM)Kai-V on December 23rd 2013 Wrote: Cool, so it appears that it went rather well for a tournament announced barely a week in advance after people stopped having the habit of checking TAKARA-TOMY's website for updates. I believe there was a limit of 215 people accepted at the Grade 2 Event that was hosted on December 21st 2013 in Japan for the release of the Metal Fight Beyblade 4D X Zero-G Ultimate Tournament video game, but what I seem to know for sure is that more than fifty players attended.

This is rather good. Just take us for example : we are worldwide, but if we advertise a tournament one week ahead of time, the turnout will not be huge. There was quite a lot of promotion in several news agencies in Japan, but all this week, so that leaves very little time for parents to plan this unexpected outing or to even learn about it. Those news agencies are barely things kids will check out either.

Here is the picture I keep implying hah :
[Image: p387.jpg]
Credit : http://ameblo.jp/take4-ma2/entry-11734094781.html

You can find another here :
http://ameblo.jp/kat-yuchin/image-117337...65317.html
http://ameblo.jp/twelvetwelve/image-1173...12763.html

(Jan. 02, 2014  5:16 PM)Kai-V on January 2nd 2014 Wrote: Just to address the rumour that something is happening in March 2014, TAKARA-TOMY could be very, very secretive again and not advertise it at all, but currently there is no mention of Beyblade for the World Hobby Fair Winter 2014, which is in January and February.

However, let me tell you that everything presented at that World Hobby Fair edition is so bland ... When Beyblade was there, there were almost twice as many special goods you could buy, more companies and even more toylines per company. This might support what I reported several months ago that the boys toys business in Japan is just overall down at the moment.

(Jan. 06, 2014  10:55 PM)Kai-V on January 6th 2014 Wrote: You know, apparently Beyblade products can still be found at Toys "R" Us stores in Japan. Obviously there is nothing new, but they have not completely disappeared. The following photograph is just one of a few I have seen lately :
http://ameblo.jp/mikatakakumei/image-117...86372.html

(Jan. 09, 2014  7:12 PM)Kai-V on January 9th 2014 Wrote: 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.

(Jan. 19, 2014  3:55 PM)Kai-V on January 19th 2014 Wrote: 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

(Feb. 14, 2014  4:17 PM)Kai-V on February 14th 2014 Wrote: 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.

(Mar. 14, 2014  2:54 PM)Kai-V on March 14th 2014 Wrote: 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.

(Apr. 20, 2014  3:34 PM)Kai-V on April 20th Wrote: http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html

Many more events up until May 11th this time! The prizes are now back to Gold Versions of every Pegasis except Big Bang.

I do not find much feedback about these store tournaments, but damn, surely they must be working for TAKARA-TOMY to continue them every month so valiantly.

(May. 31, 2014  12:49 AM)Kai-V on May 30th 2014 Wrote: Oh hey, no worry : there are official tournaments confirmed in June in Mishima Toys, which is, from what I understand, an important Japanese toy store.

http://www.mishimatoys.co.jp/event/?seq=4


There is currently no update for June on the TAKARA-TOMY Beyblade site, but I believe that might be because something big is coming in June or July.

(Jul. 08, 2014  3:43 AM)Kai-V on July 7th 2014 Wrote: I have no idea under which rock I had been sleeping, or if the update was indeed done retroactively (recently but with a past timestamp), however there were/are confirmed events in June and until July 13th 2014 in Japan again !

http://beyblade.takaratomy.co.jp/shop/event_201311.html

This time, the prizes are Silver versions of the Pegasis Beyblades.

This is really super news, guys. I have to say these events leading up to June/July with a sudden break were sort of hinting towards big news at some of the prestigious fairs in Japan around these days, so when I saw that there was nothing at all announced there, it was worrisome, but apparently no need to worry at all : there is still activity in Japan !

(Aug. 04, 2014  10:51 PM)L-PegasusBlader Wrote: Kai-V said I could post this here.

(Aug. 04, 2014  9:55 PM)L-PegasusBlader Wrote: Despite Sonokong redirecting its official Beyblade website to Top Plate, Sonokong actually released three new sets in 2014 with rereleases of Zero-G and 4D Beyblades and 4D Beyblades in a Zero-G Stadium.

Problade EX Set
[Image: ProbladeEXSet.png]

Beyblade Dragon Armor LX Set
[Image: BeybladeDragonArmorLXSet.png]

Extreme Nemesis LX Set
[Image: ExtremeNemesisLXSet.png]
Wow. It seemed like they had so much fun at that tournament. I'm just happy that Hasbro is doing Shogun Steel. Thanks Kai-V, for all the updates!
So does this basiscally mean takara tomy, like hasbro is making beyblade and transformers evergreen brands?
(May. 12, 2013  1:50 AM)Time Wrote: So does this basiscally mean takara tomy, like hasbro is making beyblade and transformers evergreen brands?

TAKARA-TOMY has never expressed that, and I do not know how you understood that from my list of posts above. They are just probably never going to fully end the Beyblade series, they will just keep things calm for a while until they can get it started again and it will be another full hit.

Hasbro, on the other end, wants to try to make it an evergreen brand, which means that there will almost never be a break, there will be spinoffs, etc.
The tournament looks amazing and I love how the bladers' faces were covered with giant baby heads to hide identities. But it's so sad to see Japan ending Beyblade, and I almost screamed like Kenta when I saw this. Hopefully in a few years, Beyblade will come back as a new series similar to how it transitioned from plastics to MFB.
Great news! I remember sending Kai-V about that Bey Ta Machine thing. I thought TAKARA-TOMY were wrapping up their bags and leaving the Beyblade scenario.
I can rest assured that I will be able to see a ED240 spin track and a RGF performance tip, hah!
Um how can you? Takara releases makes parts and they've stopped. They'll probably make a completely new system for the next series they do (if they make one as Kai-v's info is all i'm basing this on).
So it looks like Beyblade isn't done! I'm pretty interested in a new system. Maybe they'll do Splice System Beys XD XD XD XD

it's great to know that my favorite hobby isn't a gonner, even if we need to wait a year or two for new Beys.
(May. 12, 2013  3:59 AM)Bazooka Wrote: The tournament looks amazing and I love how the bladers' faces were covered with giant baby heads to hide identities. But it's so sad to see Japan ending Beyblade, and I almost screamed like Kenta when I saw this. Hopefully in a few years, Beyblade will come back as a new series similar to how it transitioned from plastics to MFB.

That is not what this topic says, or is about ... ?
(May. 12, 2013  3:59 AM)Bazooka Wrote: The tournament looks amazing and I love how the bladers' faces were covered with giant baby heads to hide identities. But it's so sad to see Japan ending Beyblade, and I almost screamed like Kenta when I saw this. Hopefully in a few years, Beyblade will come back as a new series similar to how it transitioned from plastics to MFB.

Where do you see Japan ending Beyblade ... ? If anything, what I have posted proves the contrary.
Do you know if any of the combos used (for this event, or any past ZERO-G events) were posted anywhere? It'd be interesting to see what the metagame is like over there.
(May. 12, 2013  6:45 PM)Kei Wrote: Do you know if any of the combos used (for this event, or any past ZERO-G events) were posted anywhere? It'd be interesting to see what the metagame is like over there.

They are not posted that often, but I will try looking.




By the way, another great news everyone : no need to worry about SonoKong either, they are hosting a Beyblade tournament on May 17th 2013. More details are available in Korean here :
http://beyblade.sonokong.co.kr/champ/sch...p?seq=1362

There is still hope to see an easy-to-get Bandid Genbull F230TB!
Even more good news! I need Bandid Genbull so badly.
(May. 12, 2013  9:04 PM)Kai-V Wrote:
(May. 12, 2013  6:45 PM)Kei Wrote: Do you know if any of the combos used (for this event, or any past ZERO-G events) were posted anywhere? It'd be interesting to see what the metagame is like over there.

They are not posted that often, but I will try looking.




By the way, another great news everyone : no need to worry about SonoKong either, they are hosting a Beyblade tournament on May 17th 2013. More details are available in Korean here :
http://beyblade.sonokong.co.kr/champ/sch...p?seq=1362

There is still hope to see an easy-to-get Bandid Genbull F230TB!

I feel like I'm missing some knowledge of Sonokong here, do they basically release every random booster bey as starter or what?

Also, sorry to be a little off-topic here, but Kai-V do you speak Japanese?
It's a good thing they release Random Booster Beys, haha! It helps everyone get parts they need, that's why I <3 SonoKong.
(May. 12, 2013  10:43 PM)Time Wrote: I feel like I'm missing some knowledge of Sonokong here, do they basically release every random booster bey as starter or what?

Basically, yes. They release every Bey as a Starter, including Random Booster prizes. However, they don't release everything that come from an RB.
(May. 12, 2013  10:49 PM)*Ginga* Wrote:
(May. 12, 2013  10:43 PM)Time Wrote: I feel like I'm missing some knowledge of Sonokong here, do they basically release every random booster bey as starter or what?

Basically, yes. They release every Bey as a Starter, including Random Booster prizes. However, they don't release everything that come from an RB.

So, the people who sell the prize beys really cheap could just be inserting sonokong ones into the random booster _ boxes?
I am not really sure of people who price it cheaply, in fact most overprice the prize beys.

Besides, it is generally cheaper for a seller to sell SonoKong products.
(May. 12, 2013  10:51 PM)Time Wrote:
(May. 12, 2013  10:49 PM)*Ginga* Wrote:
(May. 12, 2013  10:43 PM)Time Wrote: I feel like I'm missing some knowledge of Sonokong here, do they basically release every random booster bey as starter or what?

Basically, yes. They release every Bey as a Starter, including Random Booster prizes. However, they don't release everything that come from an RB.

So, the people who sell the prize beys really cheap could just be inserting sonokong ones into the random booster _ boxes?

I find that kinda unlikely. I mean you can only get sonokong in certain parts of the world so assumedly you wouldn't be able get both takara and sonokong in the same place. I think the cheap ones are just sellers who can afford to do that or are able to check boxes for the prizes so they can get them easily and cheaply.
I just know on my Thief Phoenic that I ordered the listing had pictures of both the Sonokong starter and the Takara Random booster boxes.
i for one am glad that beyblade will always stay alive and be an evergreen brand that is for Hasbro.

I HAVE THE BEYSPIRIT!
(May. 13, 2013  8:01 AM)Ghutain Wrote: i for one am glad that beyblade will always stay alive and be an evergreen brand that is for Hasbro.

I HAVE THE BEYSPIRIT!

We kept Beyblade alive from 2005 to 2008 even though no official Beyblade company was taking care of it, and we will still keep it alive if it must happen again in the future. That is what having a "BeySpirit" is.



Time, yes, I know two of the three Japanese alphabets.
(May. 13, 2013  1:00 PM)Kai-V Wrote: We kept Beyblade alive from 2005 to 2008 even though no official Beyblade company was taking care of it, and we will still keep it alive if it must happen again in the future. That is what having a "BeySpirit" is.



Time, yes, I know two of the three Japanese alphabets.
As cheesy as it sound, I got really excited over hearing this Smile
Also, Kai-V, did you learn Japanese on your own or is it your first language? Just wondering, since I'm kind of interested in learning the language (sorry for being off-topic)
I believe her first language is English, with French not far behind. Japanese is probably something she taught herself, which is quite remarkable.

Also, 2005? I thought the WBO launched as Beywiki in 2007? Confused
(May. 13, 2013  11:49 PM)~Mana~ Wrote: I believe her first language is English, with French not far behind. Japanese is probably something she taught herself, which is quite remarkable.

Also, 2005? I thought the WBO launched as Beywiki in 2007? Confused

Isn't 2005 when Plastics ended? Maybe she means like when it died, when Beywiki was open it kept it Alie. Just my though.