Trivia / Beyblade

• Author's Saving Throw: Hasbro announcing that Beyblade X would be localized with minimal or no alterations at all is likely an attempt at this. The altered performance of Hasbro's Metal Saga Beyblades was grumbled over by its more competitive fans, but they generally got by unless they really wanted to import the Japanese versions. However, the major changes to Burst starting with the SlingShock system were met with a lot of outcry from older fans due to greatly simplifying the new Attack Layers and removing the majority of metal from everything except the Forge Disc. Many long time players who swore off Hasbro previously are now willing to give them a second chance, especially since it could mean saving a lot of money on imports.
• Bad Export for You:
  • The later seasons of Beyblade Burst toys, especially Turbo and Rise, are widely regarded as this in Hasbro markets. Both the built-in metal of Cho Z (including those known for metal in the Layers like Luinor and Zeutron) and the Layer Weights and special Forge Disks of GT were replaced with new gimmick Performance Tips that are much less varied in overall performance. However, it should be noted that Burst is still selling exceptionally well in most markets, and whether or not a particular fan feels this way has to do with how closely they wanted the Western toys to match the East Asian versions. Kids in particular, especially those that don't follow the Japanese release, don't really care.
  • Hasbro's launchers from 2009 onwards are generally considered to be inferior to the TakaraTomy versions in most cases. In particular, Burst's initial pack-in launchers had no locking mechanism and had weaker launches as a result. Even during the Metal Saga, they failed to release a left-spin or dual-spin String Launcher of any kind. Even the Spark Power Launcher, released in the Storm Surge subline as an adaptation of the Superking BeyLauncher, replaced the string launch mechanism with the regular ripcord version.
  • However, this is Subverted for the Dual Threat Launcher, which was slightly stronger than the BeyLauncher LR but harder to find after the end of Evolution. The Western version of the Sword Launcher, designed after the Digital Sword Launcher but without the digital components, is also considered to be better than even the Dual Threat Launcher despite using a ripcord, giving better control and power than any other Hasbro offering at the time.
  • Also subverted with the Shogun Steel toyline despite using the same launchers as Metal Fury, because players didn't need to buy new launcher grips. The grips for the Zero-G toyline were also not great at staying connected, and since the tools for assembling the Beyblades were build into the launchers, you would have to take them off of the grip in order to use the tools. The lack of significant improvement in performance made the new launchers and accessories in Japan seem more in the interests of finance than anything.
• Channel Hop:
  • Zig-zagged in the United States. All three seasons of Bakuten Shoot Beyblade aired on Jetix. Cartoon Network aired the movie, however, and later aired Beyblade: Metal Fusion and Beyblade: Shogun Steel. Not only did the premiere of Beyblade Burst on Disney XD mark the franchise's return to Disney, but Disney-ABC bought the TV rights for the entire Beyblade anime collection, including the original anime they aired a decade ago.
  • In Canada, where Corus Entertainment's Nelvana dubbed the previous anime series for YTV, Burst marks the franchise's debut on Teletoon. The show also airs on the Canadian version of Disney XD, a sibling channel.
• Defictionalization:
  • Some originally manga- and anime-only tops got real life versions after much begging from fans.
  • Takara's wide release of Omega Dragonis had its own coloring. Hasbro duplicated the one from the show for its Legends release.
• Inspiration for the Work: Almost everything about Beyblade is taken from the older game of beigoma. The traditional metal tops are wound with string and launched into a bowl-shaped "ring" where they will clash, with the winner being whoever is left spinning either through outlasting the other or by knocking them out of the ring. Bit Beasts, or Avatars, are based on how modern beigoma will have names, anime characters, or words stamped into their centers with children sometimes treating certain ones as good luck charms or partners. The only truly new feature is that Beyblade tops can be customized by swapping parts, while beigoma are cast as solid pieces.
  
  The creators of Beyblade specifically wanted to revive interest in beigoma since popularity was in decline, and many beigoma makers were abandoning them from their productions, if not shutting down entirely. The success of Beyblade helped significantly improve sales and save the traditional toys from disappearing completely, though only one (very busy) factory still makes them. They cited Shunichiro Tsuji, the owner of said factory, as an inspiration as well for actively proselytizing the game to members of his community and actively running the Beigoma Club despite his long hours in the factory. He created the Beigoma Club mostly on his own, recruiting the majority of its numerous members himself.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes:
  • The plastic era is long gone, but that doesn't stop people from playing it anyway. Since Sonokong (the Korean distributor) didn't pick the series up for a few years, they kept the game in production almost until Metal Fusion started, meaning more availability on the second-hand market.
  • Similarly, many Metal Fusion/Fury/Masters and Shogun Steel fans still play only with those Beyblades. Being that the last of those ended in 2014, second-hand copies are still frequently available through online auction sites for reasonable prices.
  • The Dual Threat Launcher in Hasbro markets has become increasingly harder to find due to it seemingly being discontinued. It was released as a stand-alone in the Evolution subline, then seemingly replace by the far weaker, spring-wound Precision Strike Launcher. As such, they go for as much as $40 on eBay. However, others say that the Sword Launcher included in the Xcalius and Apocalypse Blade sets is actually better in terms of performance and is easier to find in stores. The QuadDrive and QuadStrike string launchers released later in the series are functionally identical but still hard to come by
• No Export for You:
  • The original Metal System tops from the Metal Fight Beyblade manga are only available in Japan. A good number of accessories never made it across the Pacific, either. In particular, the string version of the Left Launcher never got used in America despite demand. This likely is because they were only used in the first few chapters of the manga, but never in the anime. Bizarrely enough, the Rev Up Launcher, having the undisputed best launch power available, never got released outside of America except a very late and shortpacked release in Hong Kong of all places.
  • Similarly, the Burst BeyLauncher, Launcher Grip, Knuckler Grip, Beylogger, Level Chip, and all but one Japanese Beystadium saw no US releases. The basic Burst Beystadium eventually saw release under the Pro Series, but all others never got an official Western release. The only accessory that did, the BeyLauncher LR (as the Dual Threat Launcher), was altered somewhat but otherwise looked and worked mostly the same.