Revolver Hades came a bit later, it was part of a set that never got released over here due to poor sales. I don't think it's resemblance to a gun had anything to do with it.
I played B-Daman longer than I rightfully should have, I think. Part of that was that it took me back to my childhood; I was huge into marbles when I was very young. Kind of got out of it when I was 8, but the nostalgia factor kept be buying and ordering B-Daman for about 5 months. Always wanted to try the Crash series, but when that came out, I was at a point where my income was very limited, so I never ordered 'em. Highest I went to was Cartridge series. They were slightly fun, but got boring after a bit.
I think the real issue with customization in this series was that you didn't really have to sacrifice one type of part for another. You could just keep adding on parts. Whereas in beyblade, you really did have to decide if you wanted to go for attack, endurance, spin stealing, etc., in B-Daman, you could have a shooter that excelled in aiming, stock, maneuverability, comfort, speed, and stability all at once if you had the right parts. The challenge was amassing add-ons, not building a design to counter another.
Flash Leopold, UK Superhero, you know where I'm going with this by now...