Tell me about Bey Blades

[citymama]

My 7 yr old nephew has asked me to get him something called "Bey Blades." I am terrified by the name itself, but his mom assures me they're not something dangerous. ;)

If your kid likes these, can you tell me what to get for a 7 yr old boy in the $30 range? Bonus points if it's available on amazon.com Prime. Many thanks!

[zoestargrove]

I am not an expert, but I'll offer what little I know.

Beyblades are fancy spinning tops. I think they are made of metal, but could be combination of plastic and metal.

2 players throw their beyblades into an arena to fight and the last top to stay spinning is the winner.

I'm pretty sure there is a cartoon or story to go along with it.

My son used a $25 giftcard to walmart to buy the ones he has. I think that he could get 4 with that amount. But, I think there were fancier beyblades he could have chosen for more than $8. He was going for quantity so that he could play with his brother right away. Each top is named and and on the packaging it will tell you about it's qualities. ( some are long spinning, fast, or have spikes to attack or slow down an opponent, some light up.) We didn't buy the plastic arena that goes with the tops, but you really do need something to contain them when they are "in battle". We used a zhou zhou pet battle arena? and one of those round saucer type plastic sleds successfully. I wonder if a hula hoop on the floor would work?

I'm sure you can find them on amazon prime, but I haven't looked.

[KrisM]

Does he have any? If he doesn't have anything, he'll want a battle stadium.

He'll need at least 2 beys to battle each other. They're just spinning tops that come with a launcher.

The tops are rated either defence, stamina, or attack. My kids have an idea of which they want. They have names like Dark Wolf, Thermal Pegasus, etc. If he has any, you'll want to see if you can get the names and get different ones.

A bit hit here is the string launcher: http://www.amazon.com/Beyblade-Metal-Fusion-Battle-Gear/dp/B003I86BZO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316084668&sr=8-2

They also really like the launcher grip, but I can't find one like we have that's priced reasonably.

If he's new to this, this looks like a good starter set (cheaper at Walmart) http://www.amazon.com/Beyblade-Metal-Masters-Triple-Battle/dp/B004SGS3B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316085007&sr=8-1

Single beys run about $8 and a 2pack is $16. You can get them at TRU, Walmart, Target, Meijer, etc in the boys run near Bakugan.

[crl]

I agree a stadium of some kind and at least two bey blades if he doesn't already have any.

Catherine

[hellokitty]

My kids have a ton of these. Admittedly, it is one of their cooler toys. You NEED The stadium, that is what makes the, 'battles' so cool. Also, we've spoke to other families who have bey blades. It seems like it is not fun if only one kid wants to play. Obviously, my two older boys being close in age play together and that is why they love it. However, DS1 had some classmates who had bey blades and a sibling too young to play, so it wasn't as fun. Even my 2 yr old wants to play though, but he needs help. You lock the top into a launcher and pull a rip cord. You have to teach the kids to hold the top down low over the stadium, for safety reasons (don't want one spinning toward someone's face). My DH bought a lot of bey blade stickers that were from korea or japan off of ebay and the kids love to add them to their tops. It's stuff that you cannot get here in the US (stickers). Oh and yes, there is a show, I think on cartoon netowrk (but it's also on netflix instant view). My DH makes fun of the theme song, it is really corny and the kids yell, "let it RIP" when they pull the ripcord and my DH think that is hilarious (of course, being a guy, he's thinking of rip, as in ripping farts, lol).

[KrisM]

You do need at least 2 people. But, they're really popular. One summer evening, we had 9 kids on my deck all shouting "Let it rip!" and battling. It was really fun to watch them all playing together - age 3 to 9.

My 3 yo can do it, but it took a bit of practice to get him to know how to load it and not drop it off the launcher. He's totally fine now and has his own :)

[wimama]

My DS has just gotten into Bey Blades.

They are very popular at my DS's school in the K5-3rd grade boy crowd (maybe the higher grades also?). In addition to the different blades each having certain properties, there are different stadiums. The Bey Blades perform differently in different stadiums. I talked to DS the other night and he said some of the boys play Bey Blades at recess and after-school care. I may let DS to start bringing one or two tops to school in his backpack. Some of the boys bring their stadiums to school. I haven't noticed any of the kids bringing launchers to school. Most of DS's friends seem to use the rip cords that come with the tops. DS and DH battle Bey Blades fairly often. DS will pick them up and play with them by himself sometimes.

[citymama]

Great, thanks! This is like a whole other language to me. Is there a particular stadium you would recommend?

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Beyblades-Fusion-Beystadium-Stampede-Stadium/dp/B004HDG65O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316105856&sr=8-4

plus a couple of sets?

I believe he is brand new to this, last I heard he has one set.

[Melaine]

That sounds really cool! I like getting good ideas for boy gifts, so thanks!

[crl]

Great, thanks! This is like a whole other language to me. Is there a particular stadium you would recommend?

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Beyblades-Fusion-Beystadium-Stampede-Stadium/dp/B004HDG65O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316105856&sr=8-4

plus a couple of sets?

I believe he is brand new to this, last I heard he has one set.

That looks very similar to what ds has. It seems to work just fine--ds hasn't complained or asked for a different one. The neighborhood boys are all occasionally hunched over it playing. (I think we have the only stadium in the neighborhood--some of the other kids have bey blades and ds has extras too so everyone can play with one.)

Catherine

[wimama]

Great, thanks! This is like a whole other language to me. Is there a particular stadium you would recommend?

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Beyblades-Fusion-Beystadium-Stampede-Stadium/dp/B004HDG65O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316105856&sr=8-4

plus a couple of sets?

I believe he is brand new to this, last I heard he has one set.

That looks like a good stadium, but a bad price. I know we paid $12 or less for DS stadium. DS has the orange stadium. I think Target's price for a stadium is even cheaper.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11364689

[citymama]

That looks like a good stadium, but a bad price. I know we paid $12 or less for DS stadium. DS has the orange stadium. I think Target's price for a stadium is even cheaper.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11364689

Thanks - I'll stop by Target this weekend!

[hellokitty]

Great, thanks! This is like a whole other language to me. Is there a particular stadium you would recommend?

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Beyblades-Fusion-Beystadium-Stampede-Stadium/dp/B004HDG65O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316105856&sr=8-4

plus a couple of sets?

I believe he is brand new to this, last I heard he has one set.

I think they have like 2 or 3 different stadiums. If your nephew doesn't have a stadium yet, just get whatever is cheapest. Different stores have a different selection. We have the black one and it has been fine, and my kids don't realize there are different stadiums (good thing, b/c they take up a lot of space).

[KrisM]

Yeah, that's too much for a stadium. DS got the stadium, plus 2 beyblades for Christmas last year and the whole thing was about $30.

For as thin as the plastic on the stadiums is, it's held up very well.