{"id":703897,"date":"2026-05-30T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/703897\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T14:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:35:13","slug":"beyblades-are-back-in-a-big-way-in-b-c-as-childhood-craze-gets-another-spin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/703897\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyblades are back in a big way in B.C., as childhood craze gets another spin"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Imperial Hobbies in Richmond, B.C., the air is filled with the sounds of battle.<\/p>\n

“Three, two, one \u2014 shoot!”<\/p>\n

The combatants unleash their weapons, setting off high-pitched whirring, and clashes of plastic and metal.<\/p>\n

Beyblades \u2014 the spinning battle-top craze that whirled through playgrounds around the world in the early 2000s \u2014 are back. <\/p>\n

This time, it’s not just kids \u2014 adults, including millennials who grew up with Beyblades a quarter-century ago, are at the forefront of the new fandom, as they attempt to master the physics at the core of the toys.<\/p>\n

\"AImperial Hobbies in Richmond, B.C., played host to a Beyblade tournament on May 3. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Justin Tan, a FedEx courier, was among about 40 competitors at a\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0tournament hosted by Imperial Hobbies on a recent Sunday, all male, ranging in age from teens to over 60.<\/p>\n

“For me, this is actually a good stress remover. You know, working hard every day, Monday to Saturday, and you’re just so tired,” said Tan, 35, who has joined almost 100 tournaments over the last two years.<\/p>\n

He placed a set of three Beyblades in front of him before gently selecting one, and striking a ninja pose. <\/p>\n

At the command of the judge, he and his opponent pulled their rip cords to launch their Beyblades into the Beystadium, the bowl-shaped mini arena where tops crash into each other until the winner is decided by stopping, ejecting or even destroying their opponent. <\/p>\n

\"SpinningA collection of Beyblades is seen at the tournament. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)First launched in 1999<\/p>\n

Launched in Japan in 1999 by Takara Tomy, the first wave of Beyblades inspired a manga, anime series and a movie. <\/p>\n

Hasbro licenses the toys in North America, and Hasbro Canada spokesperson Marisa Pedetella said they were experiencing a resurgence “driven largely by nostalgia and innovation.”<\/p>\n

Pedetella said Beyblades have always been a “cyclical, wave-driven brand,” with new generations launching roughly every four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The latest relaunch began in 2023 with\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0X, and we are now in year three, historically the biggest year in any given cycle,” said Pedetella.<\/p>\n

\"ASome participants at the Beyblade tournaments say nostalgia and satisfying their inner child are major factors in the hobby’s recent popularity. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Thirty-year-old Colton Derycke from Cumberland on Vancouver Island puts his fandom in more wistful terms.<\/p>\n

He described walking though a Walmart with his young son a few years ago and being struck by a “crazy core memory” of seeing Beyblades, a childhood obsession in the “O.G.\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0days.”<\/p>\n

“Whoa,\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0is back? This is insane,” he recalled thinking.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Pokemon card collecting also in vogue:\"\"<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon leagues are growing fast in Edmonton<\/p>\n

While many people have collected Pok\u00e9mon cards for the past two decades, the popularity of playing the competitive card game is on the rise. CBC Edmonton\u2019s Emily Fitzpatrick paid a visit to a local game shop to learn about the growing community of Pok\u00e9mon players in the city.<\/p>\n

Derycke went on to start the Vancouver Island\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0League about two years ago. It now has 120 members. <\/p>\n

He likened the enduring appeal of Beyblades to Pokemon cards. “They’re capturing some of that nostalgia as well,\u201d said Derycke.<\/p>\n

“We’ve caught a bunch of people just like, randomly meeting up at a park and playing Beyblades.\u2026 Just letting it rip. It’s so nostalgic.”<\/p>\n

Pedetella would not reveal\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0sales data, but said the toys have “strong representation” across Canada, with fan communities organizing tournaments “driven purely by passion and competitive spirit.”<\/p>\n

Hasbro’s 2025 annual report lists Beyblades sales growth as a highlight, while the latest earnings report for investors says that growth has continued in the first quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

Popularity exploding<\/p>\n

Vancouver-born Jack Lee started hosting competitions in Metro Vancouver in 2022, initially renting out space at Lougheed Mall in Burnaby with friends. He’s watched the popularity of Beyblades explode recently.<\/p>\n

“We used to have 100 events a year in North America, and now it’s like, across North America we have 100 events a month,” said Lee, who frequently travels to Asia for tournaments.<\/p>\n

He said many players in B.C. used to play with Beyblades in Hong Kong and the Philippines, retaining their childhood hobby after moving to Canada. <\/p>\n

“I remember talking with Hong Kong friends, like, when our parents play mah-jong on the weekend \u2014 this is our mah-jong,” chuckled Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also attributed the spike in popularity to the latest iteration of the\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0franchise, known as\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0X, which has fan-pleasing features such as a new mechanism in the Beystadium that propels tops to “xtreme” speeds.<\/p>\n

\"TwoThe latest iteration of the Beyblade franchise is Beyblade X. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Hanson Ho, 22, has been hosting tournaments almost weekly in Metro Vancouver for about a year. He moved from Hong Kong to Vancouver at 10, bringing his love for Beyblades, an obsession since he was five.<\/p>\n

“When I was little, I asked my parents to host a mini tournament for me, inviting all my friends, and some other people who just lived near my place, so we could rent a room and then just play for one day. It was very nice,” said Ho. “I thought it was a big community thing.”<\/p>\n

Ho, who goes by nickname “Pulled Pork” in Metro Vancouver’s\u00a0Beyblade\u00a0community, said the scene in Hong Kong is huge, and he travelled there about a year ago to join a tournament.<\/p>\n

\"TwoParticipants at a recent Beyblade tournament said the toys are very popular in East Asia, where tournaments are a regular feature. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Back at Imperial Hobbies, Simon Supronimo from Seattle stood out with his pink-dyed hair and two broken Beyblades hanging as pendants on a necklace. <\/p>\n

He has been attending tournaments in Metro Vancouver for the past couple of years, where the prominence of Beyblades was like seeing a childhood dream come true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I remember as a kid, I would watch the anime, and I was like, man, these people are going out battling each other in tournaments \u2014 I wish that were a real thing. And then it became a real thing when I was an adult,” said Supronimo.<\/p>\n

“I was like, I have to do this. This is my calling. My inner child was like, ‘Go out there,’ and I was like, ‘Yes, I will.'”<\/p>\n

\"ADiego Gonzalez, left, and Paul Stouse pose for a picture before the tournament at Imperial Hobbies. (Ethan Cairns\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Paul Stouse, 66, from Coquitlam, B.C., said he was “probably the oldest one” at the Imperial Hobbies tournament. He started getting into Beyblades about two months ago, thanks to his partner, Diego Gonzalez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s nice to meet the community and meet new people. So, that makes it fun,” said Stouse.<\/p>\n

Derycke said he sometimes brings his four-year-old son Rogan to the tournaments he organizes on Vancouver Island, and has been passing on his love for Beyblades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a good way to get energy out,” said Derycke. “It’s better than the iPad.”\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Imperial Hobbies in Richmond, B.C., the air is filled with the sounds of battle. “Three, two, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-703897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}