Tales of a Former B(eyblade)-Boy

It’s a classic story you’ve likely heard before. I was young and a new movement was coming and taking up all of the time and attention of me and all of my friends. While everyone else seemed to get their hands on what they needed to let it rip, I felt like I was behind. I begged and pleaded with my mom, I scraped together some money on my own and was finally able to join the masses. From then on, I’d always be ready. Then came the battles. My homies and I would get all of our stuff together and find some other dudes down with the cause or just practice against each other. Sometimes I’d even be relaxing at home and my cousin would walk in and instantly challenge me just because. That wasn’t a big deal though, because I always came prepared. We’d form a circle, get hype, and do what it do. The important thing was getting the practice in to make sure I was able to land the right spins and hops and gain the right amount of control when I needed to. Wait… you don’t think I’m talking about dancing or anything like that, right? Nah, I wasn’t that kid. I was born a couple decades too late to be a breakdancer anyway. The B in “B-boy” I’m talking about stands for Beyblade.

Back when I was still a young blerd trying to find himself, mainstream anime that was made just to sell trading cards was running rampant. Those were cool and all and I’ve still got a scrapbook full of Yu-Gi-Oh cards I’m looking to sell one day, but the show that had me going to Target and Toys-R-Us on a regular w…