Hidden Spirits

Also called the Bakuten Henkei Series in Japan, this line arrived in October 2000 built on the Spin Gear System and centres on tops that transform into mythical-beast, mostly dragon, forms. Small poles serve as attachment points for the transformative pieces, though Takara places them on the Blade Base while Hasbro moves them onto the Attack Ring, leaving the two regional releases visibly different from each other. Every top in the line skips the Spin Gear on its Blade Base except Griffolyon and Salamalyon, and battling with any of them means stripping the transformative parts off first; Takara's ruling allows the remaining, non-transformative parts back into competition, though on Hayate only the Attack Ring clears that bar. Beyond the two exceptions above, most of the line is easy to find today and better suited to display than to serious tournament use.