Thanks, my 2 young sons love my childhood Tomy Battlers. I had 2 sets but recall the hinge cracked on the boxes and I seem to have lost one of the battlers and winders but that's still enough parts to have a 3 player battle on the plastic lid from a tub of celebrations. My memory of them being in the UK was 1986 based on my school year at the time and mine still have the original Tomy Battlers stickers - never heard of Spinjas. It's amazing to see your video clips as I never saw that footage before they were just toys that I loved.
It does seem to be a less 'mainstream' retro toy, as it's not often mentioned in the same way Rubiks Cubes and such are. Must have been relatively short-lived on our shop shelves.
Thanks for this, Steve - my sister and I were recently discussing the toys and games we could remember having as kids but I'd totally forgotten about this, or, rather, _Battling Tops_ , which was the one we had - possibly picked up at a jumble sale as a quick squizz at eBay suggests that ours was the 1968 edition, substantially older than either of us. With its string wrapped around the top and the top released by pulling a ring with your finger it was definitely lower tech than _Spinjas_ , but no less fun - the humming of the top spinning around the bowl arena and the joy of one top sending the other flying out has come flooding back. It did beat your one, though, in having as many as four tops battling at a time. Such tops, many fun!
Jumble sales were always a treasure trove of new toys and games back then. A lot of stuff I've forgotten now, but I know I had quite a few old toys, like you, that were way before my time. Dirt cheap too, at jumble sale prices, so it didn't matter too much if they didn't quite work properly.
2:55 I'm in the UK, and never heard the name "Spinjas" till just now; I didn't _collect_ them, but somewhere I do still have one set, and they're Battlers. Seems your later hypothesis is a good shout; that they may have been rebranded as Spinjas later.
This post is mostly just a test as UA-cam has now silently deleted two of my comments on this video (and I only have a guess as to why), but for anyone else watching this video and wondering, like Steve, about the slot in the top, it was for a powered winding accessory called a supercharger (looking on the US version of a well-known auction site for "Tomy Spinjas Supercharger" returns several examples) that gave it more power and a longer spin. Interestingly, the Japanese version of this toy also calls it (on the product in English) neither "Battlers" nor "Spinjas", but "Super Spin Battle Shooter", and then a Google translation of the Japanese instruction booklet for the Battle Arena set calls it "Wandering Warrior" 😆 A wonderfully confusingly-named product. 😁
Hmmm. I left another comment under this video answering your query about the purpose of the slot on the top, Steve. I wonder if I wrote something UA-cam took issue with? (If so, I wish they'd tell you what.) Though it was quite a long comment - did you just get bored trying to read it and delete it? 🤣 If so, my apologies 😛😂
@@RetroSpectives Very strange. Perhaps it's been put into "Held for Review" for some reason? Anyway, it wasn't a theory as I was fortunately able to answer the issue conclusively for you - there was an accessory available for it called a supercharger, which fitted into the slots on the top to wind it and which was able to give it more energy to make it spin for longer (it was battery-powered, presumably). Less fun than helicopter rotors, alas.
That's amazing! I'll have to look that up further. Thanks. Re: your comment .. there's nothing in the Held For Review section, so I'm not sure what could have happened. The only comments I delete manually are the blatantly racist ones, (happens semi-regularly on the advert compilations.)
Thanks, my 2 young sons love my childhood Tomy Battlers. I had 2 sets but recall the hinge cracked on the boxes and I seem to have lost one of the battlers and winders but that's still enough parts to have a 3 player battle on the plastic lid from a tub of celebrations. My memory of them being in the UK was 1986 based on my school year at the time and mine still have the original Tomy Battlers stickers - never heard of Spinjas. It's amazing to see your video clips as I never saw that footage before they were just toys that I loved.
It does seem to be a less 'mainstream' retro toy, as it's not often mentioned in the same way Rubiks Cubes and such are. Must have been relatively short-lived on our shop shelves.
Thanks for this, Steve - my sister and I were recently discussing the toys and games we could remember having as kids but I'd totally forgotten about this, or, rather, _Battling Tops_ , which was the one we had - possibly picked up at a jumble sale as a quick squizz at eBay suggests that ours was the 1968 edition, substantially older than either of us. With its string wrapped around the top and the top released by pulling a ring with your finger it was definitely lower tech than _Spinjas_ , but no less fun - the humming of the top spinning around the bowl arena and the joy of one top sending the other flying out has come flooding back. It did beat your one, though, in having as many as four tops battling at a time. Such tops, many fun!
Jumble sales were always a treasure trove of new toys and games back then. A lot of stuff I've forgotten now, but I know I had quite a few old toys, like you, that were way before my time. Dirt cheap too, at jumble sale prices, so it didn't matter too much if they didn't quite work properly.
2:55 I'm in the UK, and never heard the name "Spinjas" till just now; I didn't _collect_ them, but somewhere I do still have one set, and they're Battlers. Seems your later hypothesis is a good shout; that they may have been rebranded as Spinjas later.
Just guesswork really. I can't find any solid info.
This post is mostly just a test as UA-cam has now silently deleted two of my comments on this video (and I only have a guess as to why), but for anyone else watching this video and wondering, like Steve, about the slot in the top, it was for a powered winding accessory called a supercharger (looking on the US version of a well-known auction site for "Tomy Spinjas Supercharger" returns several examples) that gave it more power and a longer spin. Interestingly, the Japanese version of this toy also calls it (on the product in English) neither "Battlers" nor "Spinjas", but "Super Spin Battle Shooter", and then a Google translation of the Japanese instruction booklet for the Battle Arena set calls it "Wandering Warrior" 😆 A wonderfully confusingly-named product. 😁
Thanks again. Looks like mystery solved.
Love the t-shirt, where did u get it?
I forget. It was quite a few years ago. I did a quick search and they're still available from various online outlets.
@@RetroSpectives thanks, it cool
Hmmm. I left another comment under this video answering your query about the purpose of the slot on the top, Steve. I wonder if I wrote something UA-cam took issue with? (If so, I wish they'd tell you what.) Though it was quite a long comment - did you just get bored trying to read it and delete it? 🤣 If so, my apologies 😛😂
I read and replied to your comment about Battling Tops, but there's been no sign of your comment about the slots. What was your theory?
@@RetroSpectives Very strange. Perhaps it's been put into "Held for Review" for some reason? Anyway, it wasn't a theory as I was fortunately able to answer the issue conclusively for you - there was an accessory available for it called a supercharger, which fitted into the slots on the top to wind it and which was able to give it more energy to make it spin for longer (it was battery-powered, presumably). Less fun than helicopter rotors, alas.
That's amazing! I'll have to look that up further. Thanks.
Re: your comment .. there's nothing in the Held For Review section, so I'm not sure what could have happened. The only comments I delete manually are the blatantly racist ones, (happens semi-regularly on the advert compilations.)