Beyblades: A New Spin Puts An Old Toy Back On Top
01.01.70
It's toy season. For boys, one of the hottest items on the make available this year builds on an ancient concept: the spinning top. The tops are called Beyblades, and I discovered them on the playground of my son's clear school, where I saw this pack of boys, huddled around something that looked by any means illicit. I was suspicious, but now I let them do the same thing at home.
They were battling tops. Yes, I certain — kids have been spinning things for fun since there were acorns. But Beyblades have a lot of 21st century extras: Odd colors and styles, a "stadium" in which to compete (ornamented word for a plastic tub, but it keeps the blades off the storey), and names like Gingka and Ryuga. There's even a show on the Cartoon Network.
Derryl DePriest, Badness President for Marketing at Hasbro, says what kids like most about Beyblades is the gift to customize them with interchangeable parts. "Some tops, if they have a very savanna bottom, will launch into the arena, not move very much at all, but kind of spin forever," says DePriest. "Those are called indefatigability tops. Some tops, if you have a little narrow pencil quality at the tip, will launch into the arena and jump all over the place. And those are called charge tops."
Source: NPR (blog)
Chat: Action games for boys and dolls for girls?
01.01.70
Your comments:
"I don't dream up sections should be split. Maybe boys will as a matter of fact like make-up! Maybe girls will truly like Spiderman! I think it's a fair idea. I hope the same happens to the Irish Hamleys."
Louise, 12, Ireland
"I consider it's unfair to say whether toys are for girls or boys. I old to like action figures when I was younger and that doesn't frame me a boy. There are probably loads of girls who feel pressured to buy dolls when they would rather buy something else!"
Poppie, 10, Hertfordshire, England
"I may be a mademoiselle but I hate all the pink, frilly, girly things that everyone expects girls to fun with. I would much prefer something Pirates of the Caribbean or Harry Around related. I think that although lots of girls honey pink things, it is unfair to label things 'for girls' or 'for boys', as if someone is seen in the out of line gender aisle they could be embarrassed."
Source: BBC News