WhaleWave 5-80E (ホエールウェーブ5-80E, HoēruUēbu Faibu Eitī Erebēto; WhaleWave Five Eighty Elevate) is a Balance Type Beyblade released by Takara Tomy. It was released in Japan on September 14th, 2024 for 1400円 as the prize Beyblade in Random Booster WhaleWave Select. It later debuted in western countries as Tide Whale 5-80E in a Booster Pack released by Hasbro for USD$7.99 in the United States.
Blade - WhaleWave
- Main article: Blade - WhaleWave
WhaleWave is a wide, five-sided Balance Type Blade designed to resemble the water waves made by whales.[1] The Gear Chip features a whale making water waves. The whale design has a mix of features from different kinds of whales, including distinctive ventral grooves of baleen whales and the tusk (horn) of a narwhal.
Originally labeled as an Attack Type by Takara Tomy, WhaleWave was relabeled as a Balance Type following the mold changes to the Elevate (E) Bit.
Ratchet - 5-80
- Main article: Ratchet - 5-80
The 5-80 Ratchet features 5 identical protrusions at a 8.0 millimeter height. Compared to previous Ratchets, the protrusions of 5-80 are wider.
Bit - Elevate
- Main article: Bit - Elevate
Elevate or E is a Balance Type Bit that features a flat tip with a bump protruding in the center, and a large disc surrounding it. The wide ring is intended to 'elevate' the Bit above the Stadium floor during an Xtreme Dash, preventing Stamina loss. The elevated Bit also allows an Elevate combo to more easily do Smash Attacks with an Xtreme Dash. The smooth perimeter of the ring also provides Life-After-Death (LAD) potential. This LAD allows an Elevate combo to roll on the disc when tilted or swaying at the end of a battle. Elevate has a weak Burst Lock (low Burst Resistance) to balance its performance.[2]
Upon release, Elevate quickly became prominently used with the CobaltDragoon Blade that had been released 2 months earlier. At the time Cobalt Dragoon had not yet become prominent in the metagame, with Bladers experimenting with Bits such as Glide (G) to achieve mixed results in Opposite-Spin Stamina matchups. With Elevate, the combo CobaltDragoon 5-60E became a popular counterpick to the popular WizardRod 3-60B combo, which had been frequently used in tournaments. Unlike previous Cobalt Dragoon combos, combos utilizing Elevate were able to destabilize the opponent's WizardRod 3-60B combo when launched correctly. The combo was also recommended by Takara Tomy in several publications, including the CoroCoro Comic magazine and the inserts included with the Random Booster WhaleWave Select. This combo also saw usage during the Asia Championship 2024 and the qualification tournaments preceding it.
Gallery
Toyline
Takara Tomy
.png "WhaleWave 5-80E (Angled View).png (732 KB)")
.png "WhaleWave Prototype (Angled View).png (307 KB)")
Hasbro
Anime
Control Art
Manga
Videos
Trivia
- WhaleWave appears to have originally been intended as an Attack Type rather than a Balance Type.
- The original design of the Elevate Bit had a decagonal guard instead of a disk, and no bump protruding from the bottom, creating a wide flat tip.
- The wave-shaped blades on WhaleWave are advertised as Attack Type features.
- The above change appears to also have happened late in development, as renders of the original design were posted on official Takara Tomy social media accounts prior to release.
- When WhaleWave debuted in the October 2024 issue of CoroCoro Comic, Multi refers to it as an Attack Type. It also retained the original Elevate design.
- The tankōbon edition of volume 5 later changed Multi's dialogue, along with the Elevate design, to match the actual product specifications.
- There are 3 versions of the Elevate Bit:
- The original Attack Type design.
- The second Balance Type design with a hemispherical bump. This design was used in the anime and official renders.
- The third and final revision, with a wide cylindrical protrusion, used in the actual final product. The revised tankōbon edition uses this design as well.