Let ‘er rip!

St. James-Assiniboia

West End

Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/05/2025 (367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Let ‘er rip” — a tagline many toy fans of the early 2000s to late 2010s know very well. And despite many of Gen Z reaching adulthood, Beyblade is still going strong — even on a local level.

Fans of the Japanese tabletop game have created a local community out of a volunteer-operated hobby store at 160-1395 Ellice Ave.

Let’s Go Hobby Shop, which specializes in Japanese hobbies such as Beyblade and Tamiya, is the hub of a thriving tournament environment, which brings in people from all ends of the city for regular events every Sunday.

Certain tournaments can rack up to over 80 participants depending on the prize. The most recent was a battle for a new ‘Beyblade X’ model, only available in Japan, worth $200.

Beyblade is a two-player game. Each player is fitted with their own top, which differ depending on their preference, and launching device that shoots the top into a miniature battle stadium. The tops are then propelled against each other until one loses its footing or is sent catapulting off of the battleground. Matches are fast-paced, ranging from 30 seconds to two.

Despite its extreme nature, it is, at its core a tabletop game similar to trading cards, explained Kristopher Ginther, a volunteer and event organizer at the shop. People win based on strategy, and everything — from how your top is customized to your stance — can affect the end result.

“There are just different ways that people even stand,” Ginther said, adding that he gets really tight while others will bounce around, and so on. “When they’re playing the game … Because, there are purposes for even small muscle memory and technical things … there’s so many little things that really do accumulate between understanding of the game and understanding your body, which is really interesting.”

During tournaments, people shuffle around and are placed in A and B brackets based on their success. However, the winner of each bracket face each other for the final match so everyone has a chance at victory.

“It’s kind of all over the place,” Ginther said. “It starts off very tense … some people are very analytic, but there are constantly moments of a lot of excitement because of small happenings that occur. You just start to hear screaming in one corner, and then people rush over to see what’s going on. And you see the people playing, and they’re just shaking sometimes.”

“There’s a lot of people too, that come in super quiet,” said a volunteer and stock organizer who preferred to go by Pau L. “And then mid-event, you’re saying, ‘Oh, wow, that guy’s actually so energetic.’ They come out of their shell because they feel comfortable with everyone.”

However, with the competitiveness in mind, the core of the weekly meetings is the community.

“Honestly, sometimes I forget that I come here to play Beyblade,” Pau, who has been interested in the game since his youth, said. “I honestly feel like I come here to see people and hang out with them. It’s kind of been a Sunday hangout, rather than a tournament, for me. So it doesn’t really matter if I win or not — well, it does sometimes. But I feel like I’m mostly here for the community now.”

“I’ve definitely made some really, really good friends through the community,” Ginther said. “I also find that it’s a really good way to express critical thinking and on some degree, self expression. I think it just encourages you to think on different levels than most people would typically consider, especially with a children’s game like this, right? I think that’s my biggest drive for it, is the constant ability to improve on myself through it.”

Let’s Go Hobby Shop hosts tournaments every Sunday at 6 p.m., as well as practice nights every Wednesday evening. You can also pre-order Beyblades on its website, letsgohobbyshop.ca

To keep track of the shop and events, visit @letsgohobbyshop on Instagram or Facebook.