Battle Beasts 2012

"Fire! Fire burns wood!  Water! Water puts out fire!  Wood! Wood beats water!  Collect all of these incredible creatures who battle for fun!

If you grew up in the 80's and you are a boy, you have to remember the Battle Beasts, released by Hasbro in the U.S. and Takara in Japan.  Over 80 of them were released and they came in packs of 2 or 8.  Personally, I had about 60 of them, being an animal fan.  If you don't remember them well, go look at www.toyarchive.com for some of our furry, scaly or feathery friends.

Each of the Battle Beasts had one of those heat activated rub signs on their chests which revealed one of a fire, water and wood symbol.  Unfortunately, I brought mine in the bathtub with me and the hot water ruined the rub signs.

The game was simple, like rock, paper and scissors.  Fire beats wood because fire burns wood, wood beats water because water floats on wood and water beats fire because water puts fire out.  

Well, welcome to the 2010's.  Takara Tomy has just released a new set of Battle Beasts to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their original release.  Boy have things changed.  First, they are a bit bigger.  Next they are articulated in the legs and arms.  They also come with two weapons now, a sword/spear/trident and a shield.  They also come with a trading card too.  Finally, they have a completely different game where a mechanism in their chest fires a die and the higher roller wins the battle.  More on this after I read the instructions (in Japanese).

I am totally excited about these guys because they look great and were my all-time favorite toys.  They also rekindle some awesome memories from a simpler, happy time.  Yes... the 80's were great.  Hopefully you in the U.S. will get these new Battle Beasts in the near future (without having to import them from Japanese sellers).