ASSOCIATED PRESS Japanese children are on to the next big thing, doing battle in mini stadiums with tops called Beyblades. The aim is to knock other tops out of the arena until yours is the last standing.

Can’t top this

Japan's spinning-top fad, Beyblade,
has landed in U.S. toy stores

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By Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press

All over Japan, children are gathering around "stadiums" no bigger than a serving platter to shoot spinning, battling tops of plastic and metal enchanted by the spirits of monsters and dragons.

The tops are called Beyblade, and are the latest rage in the nation that brought the world Pokemon, PlayStation and the Power Rangers. Now they are spinning into toy stores in the United States.

"Beyblade is nerve-racking, heart-pounding excitement that really appeals to the instinct of the little kid," said Osamu Mashimo, a Takara Co. director who developed the toy.

Twenty million of the tops have been sold in Japan, and they went on sale this month in Chicago and Los Angeles. (They are also selling for $12.95 and up at Toys n' Joys.)

Beyblade will expand to the rest of the United States next year, said U.S. toy maker Hasbro , which is selling themunder an agreement with Tokyo-based Takara.

Hasbro is counting on American youngsters going for Beyblade just like the Japanese. Like Pokemon, Beyblade has grown into a brand here, with Beyblade candy, notebooks, video games, even shampoo.

The game is simple: The top that keeps spinning the longest without getting knocked off the stadium wins.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Beyblades in action in a Tokyo toy store.

Beyblade consists of several parts that can be assembled in mix-and-match combinations to make them spin a long time for a strategy of endurance or go on the offensive by moving around a lot and banging into rival Beyblades.

Players also need a shooting machine that has a plastic cord that they tug sharply to send tops spinning into the stadium.

Beyblade is based on Japanese tops called "bei-goma," popular in the 1950s and 1960s, which required more skill to spin because ropes had to be wrapped tightly around them and then pulled in just the right way.

A recent nationwide championship sponsored by Takara attracted more than 6,000 youngsters.

"We think Beyblade has all the ingredients for success," said Brian Goldner, president of Hasbro's U.S. toy group. "Beyblade is a fun activity we think will revolutionize top-playing the same way Rollerblades revolutionized skating."

Beyblade, which went on sale in Japan in July 1999, got off to a gradual start. The craze caught on after a nationally televised cartoon about a young Beyblade champion began airing this year.

Each top has magical spirits dwelling in it, the story goes, and a tiny circular part that snaps on the tops has colorful pictures of the creatures. The tops favored by the TV show's star turn into coveted products.

The TV show as well as Beyblade battle events are expected to start in the United States next year, Hasbro said.

Beyblade has become such a phenomenon that the tops are hard to find in Japanese stores. They are expected to earn $95 million in revenue for Takara for the fiscal year ending in March, making up more than a fifth of the company's sales.

Hasbro is confident it will be able to keep up with demand in America because tops for the U.S. market will be made in Chinese assembly lines separate from those for Japan.

Pricing is a big appeal for Beyblade, which has no expensive computer parts. The tops and launchers start at $7 each in Japan, with Beystadiums going for about $9.

"It's affordable," said Sachiyo Miura, whose 6-year-old son carries his Beyblades around in a toy toolbox and even takes them to bed. "And he's happy."

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