I will say this, I found it curious that neither Takara Tomy nor Hasbro celebrated Beyblade's 10th Anniversary with some nostalgia bait. If there was ever a time to bring out Bakuten Shoot-inspired MFBs or reprints, it was then. I guess maybe they'll wait for the 15th, or even the 20th?
(Mar. 23, 2015 2:06 AM)To Wrote: [ -> ]I will say this, I found it curious that neither Takara Tomy nor Hasbro celebrated Beyblade's 10th Anniversary with some nostalgia bait.
They're so unkind to us, haha. If an anniversary event ever pops up during a period where the series is active, I'm sure that is when they might do something.
If the official Beyblade shop just closed up, are beys going out of production in the west now too? (I'm really out of the loop, fill me in lol). I suppose now is the time to stock up, eh?
Well, it took 20 years for Hasbro to make MP-01 Optimus Prime for G1's 20th anniversary, haha.
To be fair, we did kinda get some Zero-G homages to Plastics, which we probably would have gotten if the series was not cut short.
I've decided to just cut off all hope for anything related to the original Beyblade being re-imagined or celebrated.
I would love to see the characters again, and the Ol' Bit Beasts.
But also remembering; kids have NO idea what a Draciel is.
(Mar. 23, 2015 4:26 AM)Neo Wrote: [ -> ]I've decided to just cut off all hope for anything related to the original Beyblade being re-imagined or celebrated.
I would love to see the characters again, and the Ol' Bit Beasts.
But also remembering; kids have NO idea what a Draciel is.
That has never stopped nostalgia-oriented toylines in the past. Hasbro and Takara both did
10th Anniversary lines for Beast Wars, which is a sub-property that most likely reached out to fewer people than Beyblade did.
What the lack of an anniversary line indicates to me is that those involved believe there is no older audience for Beyblade. On a huge mass-market consumer level, they're almost certainly correct. Beyblade was, is and forever will be a children's property. That's fine. The thing is other brands have managed to cultivate a profitable niche of older collectors and players. By not even attempting to cater to that audience, those involved are ensuring there will never be one. As Beyblade is a cyclical property, players don't grow with the game, instead they outgrow the game. I think that mentality hurts Beyblade far more than the reality that there's only so many times you can reinvent the spinning top.
Of course that can all change. Maybe a more impressive anniversary will be met with a push?
(Mar. 26, 2015 1:51 PM)To Wrote: [ -> ]What the lack of an anniversary line indicates to me is that those involved believe there is no older audience for Beyblade. On a huge mass-market consumer level, they're almost certainly correct. Beyblade was, is and forever will be a children's property. That's fine. The thing is other brands have managed to cultivate a profitable niche of older collectors and players. By not even attempting to cater to that audience, those involved are ensuring there will never be one. As Beyblade is a cyclical property, players don't grow with the game, instead they outgrow the game. I think that mentality hurts Beyblade far more than the reality that there's only so many times you can reinvent the spinning top.
This. I'm quite impressed, To; I really like all of your recent posts. You were always sort of like this, but more so now than before. Adding on to what you said, take a look at Yugioh and the Pokémon TCG. I don't know of any kids who play Yugioh, it's all people my age. As for Pokémon I've been to some TCG leagues early on in high school and everyone there was high school age or college age. Those brands know about this crowd, and I personally think that this crowd is their target audience. Sure, kids buy the cards but it's the teenagers or college students who actually know how to play the game properly. Beyblade has somewhat developed an older audience, this site has certainly proven that, but Takara isn't acknowledging that OR they just aren't paying attention to who buys their products. Unlike card games, Beyblade is a toy so of course plenty of sales are still going to be by kids, so it is understandable as to why they would at least assume that older audience wouldn't pick it up.
And just because there is an older audience in the west doesn't mean there is in Japan. At the end of the day, Beyblade is a Japanese toy that is based on a Japanese game and is made for Japanese children by Japanese adults, who are employed by a Japanese company. In Japan.
We have received a few Japanese members here in the past, but they could certainly be outliars in this situation. Okiblaze, for example, was an American living on a military base in Okinawa. He was very western. Or if there is an older fanbase part of the reason we haven't seen them here could be due to Japan's extremely low English literacy rate. OkiBlaze was an American, he grew up in The States, he speaks fluent English. Obviously not every Japanese fan does, and we don't get many westerners here who can speak Japanese so having a Japanese board would be a waste for us. But there are plenty of possibilities when it comes to older Japanese fans of the series.
And then there's Blader DJ...
(Mar. 23, 2015 4:26 AM)Neo Wrote: [ -> ]I've decided to just cut off all hope for anything related to the original Beyblade being re-imagined or celebrated.
I would love to see the characters again, and the Ol' Bit Beasts.
But also remembering; kids have NO idea what a Draciel is.
You sure do love your old gen. I personally think that the tribute characters are unfulfilling and just straight out boring, they're appearances are not as long, they're not as special and they're just too weak in general.
While I don't count some sort of rerelease of the old Beyblades, it would be nice if some sort of media came out relating to old beyblade, maybe a special crossover episodes(Though Simpsons Guy was terrible and only relied on the gimmick). I also believe that not catering to the older audiences is really going to hurt beyblade, though it depends on if they're aware that any are still there.
I personally really liked Karura, personally, but Guardian Garudas looked nothing like a Dranzer.
(Mar. 26, 2015 9:14 PM)Kai-V Wrote: [ -> ]I personally really liked Karura, personally, but Guardian Garudas looked nothing like a Dranzer.
I agree, Garudas looks stunning, amazing, I ABSOLUTELY love it's chrome wheel design and I wish it was released with a burning passion, the wheel just looks great and it would be one of my favourite Zero G Beyblades along with Saramanda.
Karura is okay, he just isn't a worthy tribute as he isn't that good, he isn't that weak and his design is cool, but eh... I'm getting off topic.
(Mar. 23, 2015 2:06 AM)To Wrote: [ -> ]I will say this, I found it curious that neither Takara Tomy nor Hasbro celebrated Beyblade's 10th Anniversary with some nostalgia bait. If there was ever a time to bring out Bakuten Shoot-inspired MFBs or reprints, it was then. I guess maybe they'll wait for the 15th, or even the 20th?
Are you talking about 2009? Because Beyblade started in Japan in 1999 so the 10th anniversary would've been in 2009 and the 15th anniversary would've been last year.
Also, there were a couple of recent things that commereated the old sereis. The Beyblade Shop sold shirts for the original series and the first season and Takara released some posters,
one of which commemorated the Dragoon series. But other than small things like this, I don't think they will have big callbacks to plastics/HMS in the main toyline. They definitely will not re-release plastics or HMS. Beyblade is not like other toylines, because Beyblade is a combination of toys and games. They can rerelease older transformers toys for collectors and kids who want a cool new toy they never had before. But with Beyblade the main appleal of the toy is competition. The purpose of new Beyblades, launchers, and accessories is to help you win battles and improve your game. Sure, we and some other nostalgic collectors would go crazy for rereleases of plastics, but I think kids would be unimpressed with plastics losing to their 4D/synchrome Beyblades.
They could make new releases inspired by the older series, but I don't really see that happening for MFB. They made Bandid Genbull which was inspired by Draciel I guess? Dragoon is basically Pegasus and L-Drago I suppose? Maybe in a future series?
Beyblade hasn't been around as long as Transformers or other toylines that are much bigger and popular, but maybe when Beyblade comes back and the franchise will have a couple more years under its belt, the fan community might grow even more and have a larger significance in the eyes of Hasbro/TT.
Regarding older Japanese fans, I know there were people like Beholder and Akira's Daddy as well as various Japanese Beyblade blogs/fansites. Plus, Beyblade was designed as "the evolutionary form of the beigoma", so Beyblade always had some appeal to Japanese parents who have nostalgia of the original beigomas.
(Mar. 27, 2015 2:30 AM)-Vulcan- Wrote: [ -> ]Regarding older Japanese fans, I know there were people like Beholder and Akira's Daddy as well as various Japanese Beyblade blogs/fansites. Plus, Beyblade was designed as "the evolutionary form of the beigoma", so Beyblade always had some appeal to Japanese parents who have nostalgia of the original beigomas.
Oh yeah, I forgot about Akira's Daddy! Wasn't he western too though? His English seemed a little too good so I assumed he was western and his son was hafu.
On the subject of Annoversaries, it will be interesting to see if anything would be done for the 20th, which is our "sources are correct" should take place during the new series.
(Mar. 27, 2015 2:30 AM)-Vulcan- Wrote: [ -> ]Are you talking about 2009? Because Beyblade started in Japan in 1999 so the 10th anniversary would've been in 2009 and the 15th anniversary would've been last year.
The date of the anniversary would be up in the air, I guess. Do you go with the original three layer tops from 1999, the manga in 2000 or the anime in 2001? I wouldn't say the three layer system is entirely memorable, but it technically is the start of the franchise.
(Mar. 27, 2015 2:30 AM)-Vulcan- Wrote: [ -> ]Beyblade is not like other toylines, because Beyblade is a combination of toys and games. They can rerelease older transformers toys for collectors and kids who want a cool new toy they never had before. But with Beyblade the main appleal of the toy is competition. The purpose of new Beyblades, launchers, and accessories is to help you win battles and improve your game. Sure, we and some other nostalgic collectors would go crazy for rereleases of plastics, but I think kids would be unimpressed with plastics losing to their 4D/synchrome Beyblades.
I understand the concerns over compatibility and antiquity compared to contemporary Beyblades, but at the same time, when has that ever stopped Takara Tomy and Hasbro? There have been plenty of side toylines that were incompatible with the Beyblade system of the year, as well as being entirely outmatched in play.
Unless those involved were to reboot
Bakuten Shoot, I wouldn't expect an anniversary line to anchor the toyline. That's not the case with
Transformers or any other brand that has heritage, but is still mass market. I'd expected a
Beyblade anniversary set to be a smaller, more collectors-oriented side toyline that reprints select tops. I don't think that's unreasonable. Nor do I think it's unreasonable to have asked for
Bakuten-inspired MFBs, though that's far less likely than a small scale reprint.
Eh, I still think those Zero-G tops (sadly most of which were not actually produced) were more of a "subtle" homage, per say. I think for whatever reason neither TT or Hasbro wants to recognize the brand's older audience on an obvious scale (say rereleaes, etc.), which would maybe confuse younger fans with the older terminology/names/tops, not enough of a market, - or, again, for whatever reason they had.
Byakko and his owner were clearly based on Driger and Ray, Garudas and his owner based on Kai, and so on. I mean, it's a thing that older fans will understand that would easily fly over the target audience's heads. I mean, obviously a proper anniversary and things would have been much better, but at least we know they still acknowledge the old fans enough, to give them a tip of their hat.
(Mar. 28, 2015 1:54 PM)To Wrote: [ -> ]The date of the anniversary would be up in the air, I guess. Do you go with the original three layer tops from 1999, the manga in 2000 or the anime in 2001? I wouldn't say the three layer system is entirely memorable, but it technically is the start of the franchise.
The manga did start in 1999. Why wouldn't 1999 be considered the start of the franchise? The first 4-layer plastics were very basic, but they laid the groundwork for the rest of the series, and the concepts from Dragoon Grip Attacker, Draciel MBD, Dranzer ACB, Metal Dragoon, and Roller Defenser were used in the rest of the series and even in MFB.
With reprinting plastics, I think the kids of today would not put up with the plastic runner assembly compared to MFB, which have the individual parts already assembled. If there was a reprint, it would have to be very limited, and strictly for older fans. At least right now, Hasbro and TT would prefer focusing on their main demographic. I actually think the goal of the Beyblade Shop was to gauge interest of hardcore fans and fans of the original series with basic offerings like shirts and DVDs. Their twitter/instagram pages (now gone) kept posting pictures of plastic/HMS Beyblades for the obvious nostalgia pull. But since they closed, maybe they found that there were not enough nostalgic fans?
This could change in the next series. Fans of the originals would be much older by then and probably have more spending power and might turn into something like the hardcore Transformers fans of today.
Well, then I guess 1999 it is.
The Beyblade Shop launched too late to do anything. MFB had already gone into its downward spiral by then and t-shirts/DVDs aren't exactly a big selling point. It would've made better sense to launch that when MFB was hot so they could offer tops that were hard to find at retail.
(Mar. 29, 2015 3:45 AM)-Vulcan- Wrote: [ -> ] (Mar. 28, 2015 1:54 PM)To Wrote: [ -> ]The date of the anniversary would be up in the air, I guess. Do you go with the original three layer tops from 1999, the manga in 2000 or the anime in 2001? I wouldn't say the three layer system is entirely memorable, but it technically is the start of the franchise.
The manga did start in 1999. Why wouldn't 1999 be considered the start of the franchise? The first 4-layer plastics were very basic, but they laid the groundwork for the rest of the series, and the concepts from Dragoon Grip Attacker, Draciel MBD, Dranzer ACB, Metal Dragoon, and Roller Defenser were used in the rest of the series and even in MFB.
With reprinting plastics, I think the kids of today would not put up with the plastic runner assembly compared to MFB, which have the individual parts already assembled. If there was a reprint, it would have to be very limited, and strictly for older fans. At least right now, Hasbro and TT would prefer focusing on their main demographic. I actually think the goal of the Beyblade Shop was to gauge interest of hardcore fans and fans of the original series with basic offerings like shirts and DVDs. Their twitter/instagram pages (now gone) kept posting pictures of plastic/HMS Beyblades for the obvious nostalgia pull. But since they closed, maybe they found that there were not enough nostalgic fans?
This could change in the next series. Fans of the originals would be much older by then and probably have more spending power and might turn into something like the hardcore Transformers fans of today.
Kids nowadays are also getting into various anime and Japanese media, though.
Some kids probably buy model kits.
But Beyblade's are not that complex to build, and they could just pre-package them anyways.
(Mar. 16, 2015 11:16 AM)ashton pinto Wrote: [ -> ]We recently got some news that ->
From our WBO Indian page Wrote:LATEST UPDATE FOR INDIAN BLADERS
#Bakuten #Shoot #Beyblade / Beyblade Season 1 (2001) will be airing in #India, on 13th April (2015) at 1:30pm on #Hungama TV
https://www.facebook.com/WBOtournamentsindia?ref=hl
via Hungama TV's Advertisement (witnessed by a few friends of mine from a few different cities IIRC)
So we are going to have a lovely summer ! Bakuten shoot and zero G
Hello Indian Bladers !
Quote:#Beyblade #Shogun #Steel AKA #Zero G will air on 12th #April 2015, every #Sunday 9:30 PM IST, only on #CN
Zero G? No thanks. But damn I wish they aired the old gen series in the UK.
Honestly, any publicity is good publicity. Zero-G will probably interest more of the kids who were attached to and grew up with MFB but the original would probably attract a bit older audiences- something for everyone.
Zero G beys were released in India just a few days ago, @[Maximum Dranzer] has a store , so we got the news and he was the first one to get them
Single packs cost 499rs , around 8$
(Mar. 16, 2015 10:30 PM)Leone19 Wrote: [ -> ]That'd be pretty cool, but weird. Especially since it's not a more recent series, but nevertheless, if it's true, that'll be pretty awesome.
The Dub was all non-sensical .. Kai was turned in a road side language speaking guy , and the toughest to believe was that Kenny was made a girl
It was a complete DOWNFALL! It was worse than expected
Just in case it could interest some of you... I find some legends back in Hart at Granby,Qc, Canada. but they sell it 15.99$CAD each.
(Sep. 08, 2015 4:45 PM)loyd87 Wrote: [ -> ]Just in case it could interest some of you... I find some legends back in Hart at Granby,Qc, Canada. but they sell it 15.99$CAD each.
Are they Hyperblades?
If not, too overpriced.
Legends series not Hyperblade (Storm pegasus, Galaxy Pegasus, Hell kerbecs, twisted tempo, etc) I know its overpriced but its the only store I find to have some of them...