In the last few months of sudden beyblade overload I have learned a few things:
- Beyblades are crazy popular. While not possessing the manic following of Pokemon, Beyblade exists below the surface as the Firefly of the anime gaming world. I searched the web only to uncover thousands of videos about customizations and battles. That brings me to my next point.
- Beyblading is a weird form of Physics. I find myself wanting to sit down and do the math on how these silly metal tops work so dang well. Clearly the weight plays a role in the blading, because the heavier beys seem to do better than the 12 or so lightweight beys in our tremendously large stable. Why are those 12 so light?
- Chinese Beyblades are crappy knockoffs. I bought some on a lark. I wanted to have that Beyblade party and give away beys and trophies. The chinese ones I bought are literally 5 grams lighter than their counterparts. That makes a huge difference in how they fight. The lighter beys get knocked around so much that they wind up losing energy a lot faster than their counterparts. Of course, weight isn’t everything.
- There are an incredible number of customizations. This is just the recorded stuff. I’ve gone through a dozen websites and watched my boys pick through videos in order to find the best customizations. It all comes down to understanding how you rip and what sort of battle you intend to have, sorta like pokemon. Do you have an Attack type? Defense? Balance? Do you rip left or right? All of this stuff matters to a seasoned blader–which we are not. Were are enthusiasts and budding players who enjoy a good rip, even if we don’t know how to play with the big boys, which brings me to my final point.
- Beyblade is fun for all ages. My brother in law wants to rip. My wife has ripped. I rip with the kids everyday. Even the 3 yr old is a ripping machine. We like the competition and the customization. It is a smart product that I never thought I’d get into. Yet, here we are.