Fake Beyblades seem to be an easy way out. The common arguments are:
- You’re tight on budget
- You want to have a Beyblade collection in cheap
- You don’t care about quality or performance
- Originals cost way too much, while fakes give the same product for much cheaper
- Midfakes are as good as originals (even better sometimes)
It’s truly baffling how folks preach about buying fakes religiously, like it’s the best idea ever. Additionally, to them, sellers (especially resellers) are scam artists overcharging for a hobby; and lead content in fake Beyblades is a hoax/not important at all.
Well, if you read this guide until the very end, you’ll know precisely why these arguments are hollow. Everything is summarised as answers to the common arguments, claims, and myths that people in the Beyblade community seem to have.
1. I’m Tight on Budget, Cannot Afford Originals
If you want to buy fakes because your budget is low, buying fakes might not be the best way out.
- Fake Beyblades break too easily. Original Takara Tomy and Hasbro Beyblades are durable and will last you years and countless battles.
- Buyers of fake Beyblades spiral into a habit. Those small expenses pile up over time. You’re basically wasting money on subpar stuff. It’s best to have one OG than to have 10 fake, inaccurate Beyblades.
- Beyblades were released a long time ago (except late Burst and Beyblade X, of course). They are not in production anymore. Getting NIB or mint-condition Beys is rare (and therefore, expensive). We’re not telling you that OGs are always cheap. We’re telling you that any proper hobby tends to get expensive by design.
2. I Want to Have a Beyblade Collection in Cheap
Of course. There’s nothing better than having an excellent Beyblade collection of all your favourite combos, parts, and stock Beyblades!
- Fakes are likely to be inaccurate in colour, design, or parts (non-stock). Is it really a “collection” if it’s not true to Beyblade’s spirit?
- Used/second-hand Beyblades are a great way to get the OG stuff in cheap. DIY restoration and new stickers can do wonders for worn-out Beyblades. This can be a game-changer for you if you do it right. Once you do DIY on used Beys for cheap, you’ll never go back to fakes.
- Be a part of your regional Beyblade community. Over time, you’ll be able to grab discounted or combo deals for your favourite Beys. When low on budget, patience is the name of the game.
If you want to have a collection, there’s only one right way to do it. There’s a reason why people don’t play with fake Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards. But playing aside (which is more prominent in Beyblade than cards), a collection is only a collection if it’s the real thing. There’s no such thing as a collection of fakes.
Fakes and midfakes also have zero resale value because they are not collectables, and there’s no guarantee that the items are not dangerous or defective.
I’d suggest sticking to the latest generation of Beyblade (Beyblade X) to make a collection for cheap. Even though not directly present in India, these Beys can be purchased for cheap, starting from ₹800-1000 in many cases. They have killer performance and are 100% authentic. You could also import lots, but that has its own set of complications.
3. Quality & Battle Performance Are Not Important for Me
Fake manufacturers have zero quality control. They want to manufacture and ship ASAP. If you’re buying from them, you are supporting a culture of not doing the due diligence or basic testing for products. You’re funnelling money into shady businesses.
No lab tests, no standard for quality or accuracy, no true spirit to build a good replica. That’s why here at SpiralForge, we have done the R&D to create products you could be proud of owning as replicas. The same can be said for BenchBlade and Jawas Junkyard. Those folks love what they do. Fake and midfake manufacturers do not.
But the point stands. You could be buying for collection, not battling. A lot of us do. And to be honest, it can be fine for the most part. But keep these in mind:
- Quality/durability isn’t just about battles. Fake Beys will have their plastics yellowed. A simple drop could break them. They simply won’t last you. If you want to be a collector of all your favourite Beys, it makes sense to go slow and collect OGs instead of going on fake Beyblade buying sprees.
- Wouldn’t it be just nice to battle once in a while? A midfake Diablo Nemesis weighs 48-49g. An original weighs 61-62g. The plastic and metal on the mid is cheaper. The OG Nemesis is a force of relentless destruction. The mid can be defeated by a plastic gen Beyblade with the proper parts. The OG Diablo Nemesis will destroy any 4D MFB in an attack-type stadium like BB10. The difference is huge. Even if you’re just a collector, it makes sense to care for quality and performance.
- Do you want a Beyblade that will have tons of scratches, will wear out, will most likely break, and crack on its own due to age?
- Launchers that come with fake Beys are of even poorer quality (relatively) than the Beys. They wear out or break too easily. Many string launchers break in the first few spins. That being said, for many 4D Beys, the midfake launchers are actually better than Hasbro launchers. Classic Hasbro stuff.
- Even a simple spin test vs. an OG will tell you how inferior fakes are. They simply won’t be able to perform the same way in RPM, speed, spin duration, and gimmicks (such as spin equalisation/stealing, 4D mechanics, engine gear, etc.).
- Rubber will be harder in fakes. Plastic will be cheaper/lighter. Metal will be hollowed out and weaker. Moulds could also be inaccurate or inconsistent between different batches of production. Colours will be more faded and details less prominent.
You just want to have fun battling fakes or collecting them. What’s so wrong with that? Well, not much, really. If you do not appreciate authenticity, then you’ve avoided a hobby that would otherwise be quite expensive down the line. That’s where it’s actually sensible to collect midfakes.
4. Original Beys are Way Too Expensive
100% true. Some sellers are predatory on purpose. Others can’t help it—the items have just become too rare. Yet others might have a customer base that fuels their ego by continuously buying marked-up items. All of this happens. But at the same time, there are also reasonable sellers, those who give discounts from time to time, and those who have higher standards and ethics.
If you want to buy something released in 2002 in very limited quantities, of course, it will be expensive. Original, older Beyblades are expensive. It is how it is, and nobody can dispute that.
But there’s a strategy. Ask any collector who’s been buying (not selling) for several years, and they’ll tell you something similar:
- It all begins with getting deeper inside the regional Beyblade community. You see more deals, you can do price checks, you can learn about known scammers, you can find better sellers, and so on.
- Have a budget and stick to it. Wait for deals. Over time, you’re likely to run into excellent deals on Beyblades that you want to collect. Collections don’t finish overnight.
With control and patience, you can have a collection of original Beys without it feeling super expensive.
That being said, some items are incredibly inflated. Apollon was a random booster item—no way you can grab it in cheap if you want an NIB or mint. Dragren in a pristine box is extremely rare. For these, it makes sense to go with mids (but not fakes) if you really want these designs. If you do, go with known brands.
Still, I’d suggest, for the most part (such as common MFBs), to save up and buy 1 OG Takara Tomy Bey rather than 5 fake Beys that have wrong colours, parts, materials, and are generally of cheap quality.
5. Midfakes Are Good Enough, I Only Buy Mids
This is a better argument. Fakes are trash and you know it. Mids can perform really well (sometimes better than originals if the manufacturer so wishes). Some mids are cast from moulds that are surprisingly accurate, if not 1-to-1 replicas of actual Takara Tomy moulds/dies that were in China during production years.
If you only buy midfakes, you’re not doing anything wrong. Just make sure that you’re sticking to known, reputable companies.
That being said, you do need to keep in mind that some mids still have lead content (shiny metallic parts, for example). Some are weak and will break easily. And yet others come with inaccurate parts (most notably tips in MFB and weight discs in Bakuten Shoot) or parts in different colours. It’s kind of like a lottery. But hey, you can buy multiple Phantom Orion mids for the amount it will take you to grab a new, original one, so go crazy.
Wrapping Up
There are two more points—the argument that resellers are scammers and that lead content isn’t that important to be concerned about. Those are wholly different articles that you can read here:
But apart from that, that’s pretty much it. Yes, Beyblades can be an expensive hobby. But you’ve not seen Hot Wheels, Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and anime action figure markets yet. If you had, you’d know how easy we have it in Beyblade.
Ultimately, whether you buy fakes or not is completely up to you. But anyone who has started collecting OGs after buying a bunch of fakes never goes back to fakes. There simply is no value in them.
Also, if you want to battle with them, have a proper collection, need items with resale value, care for quality standards, don’t want brain damage, etc., you have to stick to authentic Takara Tomy or Hasbro Beyblades. If it’s too expensive, try to buy lots from auction sites and import.
