World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc.

Takara-Tomy has designed a fatally flawed product: the BeyLauncher. So far:

My black BeyLauncher's prongs have broken.
The handle of my BeyLauncher-L pulled off.
The handles of two other BeyLaunchers are broken.

The biggest problem with the BeyLauncher is definitely the handle; it is simply not a good design. The only way to get decent power from the BeyLauncher is to release it as you shoot, but because of the handle's design, when released it flies around and will hit your hand or the Launcher. Eventually, this impact will cause it to break. The only way to prevent this is to not release it -- in this case, you'd be better off using a Light Launcher -- or to attach an elastic between the handle and your wrist, a fairly effective but unnecessary way to rectify the problem.

Either the handle needs to be made much stronger, or the design changed entirely. Personally, I think a long plastic cylinder would work better as a handle than the current pronged design, as actually holding it the same way you would hold a Winder is extremely inefficient.

On top of that, the Launcher's prongs tend to break after extended use. Some theorize that Clear Wheels were actually introduced to reduce the pressure on the prongs, but regardless, their breaking is a serious problem.

In addition to all of this, Takara-Tomy needs to know that just because we are not living in Japan does not mean they can rip us off. These items are constantly breaking under normal use. BeyLaunchers are also quite expensive compared to Light Launchers, so there should be some expectation of durability. People are reporting breaking as many as one or two BeyLaunchers a week. This can quickly add up to a lot of money.

I will be informing Takara-Tomy of this and seeing if I can arrange replacements for broken BeyLaunchers. Hasbro, if you're reading this, redesign the BeyLauncher so it actually works like it should.

Post pictures of your broken BeyLaunchers, too!

I'll be posting pictures of my Broken Black Beylauncher tomorrow. Both the prongs are gone

The prongs on the Light Launchers break just as easily , seemingly.

I only have a left beylauncher, but it's still annoying how you have to release it at the end of your pull and let it hit your hand =/

(Jul. 15, 2009  4:26 PM)t3haxle Wrote: [ -> ]I only have a left beylauncher, but it's still annoying how you have to release it at the end of your pull and let it hit your hand =/

Same. Sometimes it stings a lot. Imma try that Elastic thing though.

What if the handle (the thing you pull) had some sort of rubber over it? It could act as a grip and reduce damage upon impact with the launcher...I think.

My launches are weaker and i do not release the string after ive launched it. Thats why I have no complaints at all.
and probably why i suck at tourneys

a really nice idea!
gonna post pics of my 2 broken beylaunchers as soon as i come back to my country.. which is after about 3 weeks.

My beylauncher was completely destroyed today off of 2 uses...the coiling inside completely broke out and the gears wont move at all and i cant put the coiling back in. Major issue

The handle of the Beylauncher breaks primarily due to the force of pulling it from one side of the handle, not due to the impact. If you pulled it from the center, it should be fine... but the impact isn't good for it either.

My beylauncher handle is completely broken. I use it that way. Just as a little nub.

I am very careful with the handle and make sure to pull it straight... I dont see me breaking my handle becuase most of the time I just pull it to almost the end and let it go. So the impact isnt as great. The prongs are a REAL issure though. When i first seen MFB's i thought the notches in the side of the face were used to launch

So here's my proposed redesign for the BeyLauncher.

[attachment=1116]

OK, so it's not a huge change, but this small change would actually fix a lot of the problems. I noticed that when the handle is cracked off and there's only a little nub left, the handle doesn't fly around when released; it just goes straight back in, because there is no weight pushing it from side to side. Plus, nobody actually holds the handles as a handle. This would accommodate the best way to hold it. If you really wanted to, the handle could be covered in rubber, which would reduce breakages to almost 0 and make it a lot easier to hold. Not that I ever expect any of this to actually happen.

[Image: redesignbeylauncher.jpg]

Ive thoguht of this before actually. Its not the best illustration >> but hopefully you can see. Its a circle of plastic with plastic grip stuff on each side...

@ brad :very nice. and i noticed the same thing about how its better when its broken. and with the rubber. it will be awesome! but maybe add a circle thing around the end of the hande to make it easier to hold?

I think putting a ball at the end like in jsc's design would be good.

I still think the tooth and gear design was the most efficient

(Jul. 15, 2009  8:02 PM)Anubis Wrote: [ -> ]I still think the tooth and gear design was the most efficient

sorry but i actually absolutely love the beylauncher aside from the handle and the breaking prongs

The Beylauncher is not being used as it is designed to be used. You are supposed to hold on to the handle and not release it. The reason the Beylaunchers are breaking is because they are exceeding the speeds they are designed to withstand and they are being used in a different manner. This doesn't explain the light launchers breaking though...

That's why I think we need something that's designed to be pushed to its limit, like the tooth and gear design was. You pull it out as fast as you can and that's all there is to it.

(Jul. 15, 2009  4:26 PM)t3haxle Wrote: [ -> ]I only have a left beylauncher, but it's still annoying how you have to release it at the end of your pull and let it hit your hand =/

This was what I had at the Spinoff, it hurt like crazy and I am 19 so it is not very good for kids of a young age really.

I really like Jsc's idea though, it really looks safe and pretty cool.

I never let go of the handle when I pull it ..
Why do that?
If you pull it hard enough you can bull it all the way till the end.. then I just gently let it insert it self whilst holding it..

However my prongs are gonna break within 1-2 weaks i reckon..

Well, by just changing the shape of the handle isn't enough. Adding a force dampener like rubber will help supress the force so it doesn't break.

But so far the only damage to launchers I have are some scratches and a little crack. I have no idea how yours can break that fast

(Jul. 15, 2009  8:22 PM)Ghost Wrote: [ -> ]I never let go of the handle when I pull it ..
Why do that?
If you pull it hard enough you can bull it all the way till the end.. then I just gently let it insert it self whilst holding it..

However my prongs are gonna break within 1-2 weaks i reckon..

If you do that though, isn't the rope going to break or get pulled out over time because of how hard you would pull it?

Also Werkbau, people like Brad and Blitz most properly use them a lot within a short time.

Yes.. it will..
But I've been using it non stop for more then a week now..

I know by heart when the cord reaches the end.. so I won't pull the cord out of the casing..

I think adding a rubber cushion would help with the launcher, since it seems the impact upon return is worse than the pulling action. That said, I plan on putting a rubber band around the base of the handle to hopefully alleviate some of that shock.

Well i've recently been seeing scratches on my string launcher. and i'm wondering is that on everyones or is it just me ?