With the recent reveal of Takara’s new B-Daman products, one of my childhood memories resurfaced once again. After the fifth Bakugaiden series, Takara decided to transform B-Daman into something closer to an over-the-top competitive sport, similar in spirit to series such as Beyblade and Crush Gear. The result was Super B-Daman, a series that combined the expressive design elements of B-Daman with elaborate mechanical designs, turning a simple marble-shooting toy into something much more ambitious.
One of the many products I happened to own as a child was Battle Phoenix, which appears to be an upgraded variant of Fighting Phoenix. This particular model was first released in March 1998 with a price tag of 780 yen. However, the one I owned was most likely a counterfeit version, which was quite common in Indonesia at the time.
One feature that allows me to remember this former collection even after more than 20 years is the distinctive orange shoulder armor with its spring-coil suspension mechanism. This design detail left a strong impression on me and became one of those small memories that remained despite the passage of time.
The spring-loaded shoulder armor was supposedly designed to enhance the gripping power of the B-Daman, allowing Battle Phoenix to achieve stronger shooting power. While the concept was certainly gimmicky, it was also part of what made Super B-Daman so memorable, the attempt to turn every mechanical detail into a meaningful feature within the fantasy of competitive battles.
Coincidentally, I also owned Battle Phoenix’s rival unit, which will become the subject of a future discussion.
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