The NEW Yo-Yo's!

If you haven't read where I rambled on about yo-yo's, then please read that FIRST -- it's HERE.

Okay, so I'm a little late with this one, because I actually first spotted the trend about a month ago -- but I tell you, I've been so busy I just didn't have the time to tell you about this NEW craze which has been sweeping Hong Kong.

As I've written elsewhere, the yo-yo madness of early 2002 finally slowed down around the beginning of March, and for a few weeks there it seemed like it was really the end of the craziness. Oh, they still have yo-yo's for sale in a lot of places, and I remember seeing a special report on TV about yo-yo safety -- it wasn't the English language station but I was watching the local station just for kicks and saw it. It was a doctor giving a special 15-minute presentation on how to avoid Carpal Tunnel from slinging a yo-yo (I'm not joking, he was giving all kinds of stretching exercises and stuff to do before you "walk the dog" or put the "cat in the cradle"). 

And they also have had several mutant yo-yo guys on TV, I say "mutant" because they are so good at throwing a yo-yo that you have to wonder what genetic engineering released the "yo" chromosome in their DNA. I mean, these are the type of guy who they actually could make a movie about -- and don't act like that's crazy, someone might actually consider it, you know? I mean, they actually made a freakin' movie about people who chase tornadoes (Twister), and remember how they tried to make it like, "Oh, these guys chase tornadoes but they're totally NORMAL -- in fact, they are cool and funny!!"... It's like, "Ha ha! Here comes a storm, YaaaaHOOOOoo!" and it's like they tried to make it out like you were getting some glimpse into a whole little world -- no, wait, a whole LIFESTYLE -- and they even tried to make out like these guys were almost like cops or something, or maybe firemen is a better analogy, or like the guys on M.A.S.H.... ("What's that sound?" "I don't hear anything..."  (pause)  "It's a storm!" "Let's MOVE!!")

(I really hated that movie)...

Well, all I'm suggesting is that while I'm totally being stupid about the yo-yo movie idea, it's not so crazy as you might think, and especially because these guys they've shown on TV here in HK are really, truly that good with a yo-yo. I mean they are "knock a poker chip off an old lady's ear and into a cup" good... I mean, they are "sling a yo-yo covered in sand paper at a row of matches and they light all the matches with one throw" good... REALLY...

But I didn't intend to ramble on about that at ALL, I totally just got off subject there... Wow, sorry...

. . .

What I MEANT to talk about is how at the beginning of March 2002 the toy gurus of HK were faced with this HUGE problem. In the toy industry it's sometimes called the "Cabbage Patch Doll Syndrome" or more recently the "Tickle Me Elmo Syndrome"... Basically it's where you've had the most amazing commercial success imaginable, no one expected it, and NOW you've got to figure out what to do next.

I think they rose to the challenge. I mean, if I were a wagering man (I'm not), I would have put down money that they could NEVER come up with anything to rival the yo-yo's brief but stellar trajectory in the annals of recent HK toy history -- but I swear, the HK toy guys may have done it!!

Now, I'm not privy to the HK Toy Guru board meetings, obviously; but I can pretty much tell you how their brainstorming session went. I'm guessing that someone said, "Gee, who would've believed that we could go back and use a toy that is hundreds of years old and make a bunch of Chinese kids think it's totally cool!"... and then the next guy said something like, "Yeah, it ROCKS! But what will we do now?!?" and they all sat there and mumbled to themselves for a minute, tapping their pencils on the table... and then the young kid who is bringing in the coffee and donuts for everyone says, "Gee, it almost makes ME think you ought to think about an even OLDER toy to resurrect," and the Chairman of the Board gets this startled look on his face as he sits up on his chair, "Kid!!! WHAT did you just say?!?"... and the donut guy stammers, "Uh, well, uh, I was just, er, I mean, (gulp) I'm just saying, if a yo-yo works, why not try an even OLDER toy?"

You can figure out the rest, lots of back-slapping and "Choose an even OLDER toy?!? Brilliant idea, my boy, brilliant!"... "Congratulations, son, you're our new VP in Charge of Donuts and Toy Design!"... "Get our research team on this right away!!!"

And sure enough, they went right to work on developing the Next Big (Old) Thing. And what did they come up with? Well, the newest (old) item to capture the imagination of every pre-teen kid in HK is probably the only toy OLDER than yo-yo's -- SPINNING TOPS. 

(Actually, I guess there is one universal toy that's older, one that every kid in history (since, like, Cain and Abel) has played with -- and that's DIRT... but really that's not JUST a toy because you can eat it, too (just ask any 18-month-old kid)... Plus, it's a toy for the youngest kids only -- by the time kids get to be like 5 or 6 they seem to want something that costs money and/or makes noise)

So, yeah, spinning tops is the new craze, though it's not quite as big as yo-yo's. Oh, they're everywhere, trust me; but there are a few twists to the 2002 version of spinning tops that make it a little less "portable" than yo-yo's.

First, let me explain the background. There is this Japanese toy company called... well, actually I don't know what the COMPANY is called now that I think about it, but anyway whoever they are they make these spinning tops called "Beyblades." The idea is that these spinning tops are made for BATTLE. You and your "opponent" spin your tops and hopefully your top is put together in such a way (and you threw it in such a way) that your top can knock the other guy's top over and his will stop spinning but yours keeps going -- the one whose top spins the longest wins -- nothing new there. 

Here are a couple of examples of the Beyblades you can buy...

But the GENIUS of this whole setup is how they've made it so the kid doesn't just want a top, he wants to buy all these "parts" to CUSTOMIZE his top, to make it better for battle!!! You see, each top has basically 4 parts, the bottom part ("blade base"), the top part ("spin gear"), then two other parts that go in between, one called the "weight disk" and the other called the "attack ring." So some blade bases are said to be better for ATTACK and some for DEFENSE, and you can buy different weight disks and attack rings to use depending on what your "velly dishonorable" opponent will be using... 

	Click HERE to see the Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file  of a Beyblade poster to see what I mean about  the customization options (approx 340KB file).
Here is one of the  weight disks...

Oh, and another thing that makes it such a brilliant setup for the toy company is that you can't just have your "battle" anywhere -- NO! You've got to have your battles in a "Beystadium"!!! It sounds very Gladiator-esque, but actually a Beystadium is just a really cheap, thin, plastic bowl that's made to look like a big science fiction version of a dog's food dish. The one in the photo here looks all nice and sturdy but don't believe it, the ones the kids here in HK have are a waste. So this is why the Beyblades aren't EVERYWHERE in quite the same way that yo-yo's were, because you can't just stick one in your pocket and run -- you have to lug around this stupid plastic bowl for doing battle in. And the last few weeks you could see kids all over HK doing just THAT -- lugging around these cheap yellow, blue, red or white "stadiums" to go meet their friends and "have it out"...

Of course there are "official rules" of doing battle...

Basic BEYBLADE Rules of play:

1. All BEYBLADE battles must occur in BEYSTADIUM! -- BEYSTADIUM cannot be on table or other elevated surfaces

2. To begin official BEYBLADE battles, BEYBLADE tops must be launched after the signal of, "3,2,1... LET IT RIP!"

3. Only one launch per battle -- battle ends when one top stops spinning

4. If player touches opponent during opponent's launch of top, player loses 1 point

5. Player scores 1 point if opponent does not launch top into the BEYSTADIUM

6. If player's top enters one of the three penalty pockets anytime during battle, opponent scores 2 points (max score of 2 points per battle)

7. Player scores 1 point if his/her top spins longer than opponent's top

8. If player touches BEYSTADIUM during battle, opponent scores 3 points-battle immediately over

9. Compete in multiple battles -- the player with 7 or more points at the completion of a battle wins!

Special "Power Spirit Rules" pump up the Beyblade action! 
Each battle is fought under one special rule of play. Will your opponent change his battle strategy? Can you use the rule to your advantage? LET IT RIP and find out!

A. Dragoon Storm (Dragon Spirit) Reverse Launch = Opponent must launch his/her top with his/her opposite (non writing) hand

B. Draciel (Turtle Spirit) Delay Launch = Launch your BEYBLADE top 5 seconds after opponent launches his/her top

C. Dranzer (Phoenix Spirit) Power Launch = Player can use a Deluxe BEYBLADE launcher while opponent can only use the standard BEYBLADE launcher

D. Driger (White Tiger Spirit) Customization Launch = Opponent cannot use a customized top. His/her top must come straight out of the box.

. . .

Well, so that's what's been occupying the minds and imaginations of HK kids the last few weeks. Just like when we used to play "army" or whatever, something about "doing battle" really can capture a kids' dreams, you know? Even when it's just with spinning tops. Like the way Star Wars captured my imagination when I was a kid, you just can't stop thinking about it, and you see yourself in the smoke and the danger, and you're a hero, and it's all cartoonish, yes, but you imagine it's REAL, right? 

Of course there's always some kid who takes it too far. This is not funny, but someone told me last week that some kid put actual razor blades in his top where the "attack disk" goes and he ended up cutting his leg to pieces when he spun it and it went "out of control"... I mean, I say it's not funny, but still I kind of smile at it... 

And I remember two days ago I was walking near our school and saw this kid over by the sidewalk on the edge of a construction site. He was squatting down in front of his "stadium" practicing his "battle throw" when he kind of stopped, and then just sat there looking at it. I kept trying to decide what he was thinking... Was he imagining his Beyblade as a huge robot that he controlled, and that there were people down there in that stadium, and his almighty robot was spinning and shooting out smoke and lasers and rockets and the blades were cutting up everybody, and everyone was screaming, and everything was a mess of blood and explosions?!? OR, was he thinking, "Dang! I just spent $15 on this piece of crap plastic bowl!"?!?

(I'm betting on the blood and explosions)...

This article was first posted: 1 June 2002

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