New Toy Obsession: Bakugan Battle Brawlers

By Jacy Wojcik in News on Jun 4, 2008 7:10PM

Move over Pokemon, with your boring trading cards: this game has exploding balls. Bakugan, the latest Japanese toy craze to hit the U.S., is leaving Chicago kids whining at empty shelves and their parents paying double for the toys on eBay. Bakugan is a collectible strategic card game -but so much more exciting- because since Bakugan means "exploding sphere" in Japanese, this game has gumball-sized balls that explode into creatures when you throw them. Spin Master, the manufacturer, expects to sell over 40 million "ball and card" games this year.

"The appeal is battling, collecting and hoarding," said company spokesman Dale Gago.
And with over 100 creature balls to collect, there is a lot of hoarding to be done. Our favorites include:

• Tentaclear: a Bakugan with one eye and six tentacles
• Tuskor: an elephant Bakugan with large tusks
• Gargonoid: a gargoyle Bakugan

Our most favorite, though, is Bakugan Box, a giant cardboard box for parents to store the toys in when their children get tired of them in three weeks. [S-T, RUETERS]