Bey Blades? We got 'em.

We got some BeyBlades right after Christmas. It is a typical boy-toy. Designed so that you can't have just one. You are inspired to collect them all; the Rare ones. The Special Defense ones. The Gold Metal. The ones that spin to the right. The ones that spin to the left. The ones that come with a launcher that can either spin right or left. The ones that come with a pull string launcher. The ones that come with a zip line launcher. The ones that have two ball bearings inside. And so on.

These toys were supposedly inspired by the wooden version you met at Takaragaike Park last fall.
To buy more of these, the boys counted up their money (they earn yen for practicing piano, cutting up milk cartons, taking out the recycling, and so on). And we headed to this brand new store near Kyoto Station: Yodobashi Camera.

Don't be fooled. There's more than cameras here.

As is typical in department stores, there are two beautiful, helpful, uniformed ladies who can answer your questions.
I was so mesmerized riding these shiny, new escalators that I got off at the wrong floor.

Move over, Best Buy.

We enjoyed browsing the electronics. This is a counter-top dishwasher.

Solar panels.
Another, larger dishwasher, in action.

There were some familiar brands. What is the Japanese word for "SOCKshun?"

(I think it's ざくしょん (except written in katakana, of course).

Roomba was showing off for a cute little fan...

There was a large bento/thermos section.

And then we finally found the toys!

This is the Lego section...

The boys have critically appraised the cultural authenticity of the new Lego "Ninja-Go" line. They recognize "Sensei Wu" as a Chinese imposter.

This coin op machine gives you one of the six baubles for 200 yen. There were several more machines like this...

See? I think it's an entry drug for Pachinko.

Some more Japanese toys:

And here's our buddy, Ultra Man!

And all of his nemeses: (Or is it nemesi?)

In a dramatic swich, Alek chose to spend his money on two UltraMan foes, rather than BeyBlades....see?

But Max and Hugo picked two BeyBlades each, complete with spin-launchers.

Here, Max demonstrates the offensive advantages of having different kinds of grooves.

Max spent 1900 yen.

The camera battery died, but after this we ate some yummy ramen and browsed the rest of the shops (there is a mall on floors 5 and 6). And then we came home and played BeyBlades on the kotatsu:


And the new villains joined their partners in crime.