Skill Toys

Kuma Films – Spin Top Tricks w/ Takeshi Kamisato

June 28, 2018 By Steve Brown

Takeshi Kamisato partnered up with the folks at Kuma Films for this new video, and it’s stunning! Spin top tricks generally look pretty magical, but seeing them in exquisite slow motion really highlights how stupidly hard it is to hit the tip of a moving spin top with a ridiculously long and floppy string. It’s ridiculous. Hug a spin top player and let ’em know “Hey, listen, I know it’s hard for you but you are doing GREAT and I think it’s all gonna be ok”.

Spin tops used are modified Duncan Bearing Kings.

IJA Tricks of the Month – Matan Presberg

July 24, 2017 By Steve Brown

The International Juggler's Association has a monthly video series where they feature one juggler and a full video of their best tricks. There's a lot of original stuff mixed with a lot of just crazy technical tricks, and for those of you who are a little interested in both I thought you might enjoy this month's video from Matan Presberg.

The International Juggler’s Association has a monthly video series where they feature one juggler and a full video of their best tricks. There’s a lot of original stuff mixed with a lot of just crazy technical tricks, and for those of you who are a little interested in both I thought you might enjoy this month’s video from Matan Presberg.

Cizrek – Begression

March 21, 2017 By Steve Brown

Begleri are the latest skill toy to get popular with yoyo players (sorry kendama, it was nice while it lasted), and of course that means that quite a few of us (myself included) are now spending way too much time on YouTube checking out begleri videos. Today's digging yielded this gem from long-time skill collector Cizrek with some awesomely shabby homemade begleri that are ratty and weird and actually look super fun and comfy to use! So check out some great tricks, and if you're so inspired you can click here for instructions on how to make your own or click here to pick up a really nice pre-made set from the folks at Monkeyfinger.

Begleri are the latest skill toy to get popular with yoyo players (sorry kendama, it was nice while it lasted), and of course that means that quite a few of us (myself included) are now spending way too much time on YouTube checking out begleri videos. Today’s digging yielded this gem from long-time skill collector Cizrek with some homemade begleri that look super fun! So check out some great tricks, and if you’re so inspired you can click here for instructions on how to make your own or click here to pick up a really nice pre-made set from the folks at Monkeyfinger.

Monkeyfinger KoKonutz Begleri

March 10, 2017 By Steve Brown

Monkeyfinger Design is releasing a new set of begleri beads, and they’ve really outdone themselves with this new design.

The initial idea for Monkeyfinger Kokonutz begleri was to put as much mass as possible low on the bead. This gives the bead a lower center of gravity making it feel heavier on the cords, even though the beads are relatively light. This improves control and tracking through faster combos and makes speedy transitions a breeze!

Kokonutz are also the first Monkeyfinger begleri to come with accessories! You can add on their signature compatible o-rings, Bumperz, to give your begleri a little extra protection and some added grip in play.

They also created Monkey Bars, which are weighted beads you can add to your Kokonutz setup for additional weight in play. Monkey Bars are sold separately for $7/pair.

Available for $40/set, Friday March 10th at 8 pm EST at YoYoExpert.com. Each set comes with:

• 1 set of KoKonutz begleri beads

• 3 color matched Monkey Cords

• Info card about begleri and how to get started.

• 1 set of Bumperz

• 4 stickers

YoYoFactory Elec-trick LED Spin Top ft. Miguel Correa

October 26, 2016 By Steve Brown

Miguel Correa shows off the new YoYoFactory Elec-trick LED Spin Top.

Did you forget that Miguel Correa is also one hell of a good spin top player? Well, here’s a little reminder. And if you haven’t tried YoYoFactory’s new line of spin tops, you are seriously missing out!

Spin top used is the YoYoFactory Elec-Trick LED.

New Tuj Lub Courts in St. Paul, MN

October 6, 2016 By Steve Brown

This is exactly the sort of thing that makes my inner nerd squee with delight!

There is a traditional Hmong sport called tuj lub (pronounced too loo), and it’s sort of like bocce played with big spin tops. And an official tuj lub court just opened in St. Paul, making it only the second regulation court in the United States!

There is a great article in the Star Tribune, and you can visit the Top Spinning forums for this article from 2015 that details the complete rules of the game.

During a 4th of July celebration in St. Paul this year, there was a tuj lub tournament (before the new courts were built), and it’s a hell of a game. Imagine the burliest game of battle tops you’ve ever played, and then throw them a lot harder.

Check out the video below of the July 4th match to see his amazing game in action.

Spin Top Snipers – Amazing Tricks Shots With Tops

April 6, 2016 By Steve Brown

If you’ve ever thrown a spin top, then you are going to be absolutely astounded at how crazy good these guys are! If you’ve never thrown a spin top then just trust me…you should be ASTOUNDED at how good these guys are!!

These amazing top spinners from Taiwan show off perfect aim and control over some up-sized wooden spin tops in this short film by Kuma Films. I’ve watched this four times already, and there will be at least a dozen more…amazing!

Takeshi Kamisato – Spin Top Tricks

August 5, 2015 By Steve Brown

Takeshi Kamisato hooked up with the folks from Kuma Films for this spin top video, and it’s great! We definitely don’t see enough of spin tops these days, and Takeshi has always been one of the best players out there.

Top used is the Duncan Toys Bearing King spin top.

44RPM – The Penny Video

June 16, 2015 By Steve Brown

44RPM has come out of the gate as easily one of the strangest and most creative new companies in the yoyo/skill toy market. The brainchild of Drew Tetz and Hank Freeman, all of their products are laser cut from a single flat piece of wood and you assemble them yourself. And they really work. It’s kinda nuts, really.

Their latest kendama release, the Penny, is a flatpack kendama that uses pennies to add extra weight, and the difference in play from their standard model kendama as the result of adding 7¢ is crazy!

Check out this video from Takeshi Kamisato, showing off what the 44RPM Penny can do in the hands of a bunch of kendama players.

Luis E Celis – Spin Top (New Ideas & Movements)

May 27, 2015 By Steve Brown

Luis E. Celis from Bogota, Colombia sent us this new fixed tip spin top video, and it’s packed with crazy hard stuff. Not many people are crazy enough to specialize in fixed tip but those who do are baller beyond compare. Enjoy!

Energia Spin Tops

May 5, 2015 By Steve Brown

Woo hoo, new spin tops!

That’s not something you hear much about, but thanks to a European market that still loves tops there is now a full line of brand new plastic spin tops available. Produced by a company called Energia (and designed with help from YoYoFactory!!) there are three models; bearing tip, fixed tip, and a light up. These are only available in Europe for the time being, so you’ll have to hit up a store like Slusny to get them, but if you like spin tops it’s worth the extra shipping.

And I love Vashek, but he looks terrifying in this commercial. Like as soon as he finished that trick he’s going to eat your face, ha ha. CALM DOWN, VASHEK.

Yomega Announces New Monkey Knuckles Toy

March 4, 2015 By Steve Brown

Yomega announced a new skill toy being added to their line during the 2015 International Toy Fair in New York City…Monkey Knuckles! Monkey Knuckles are a ball & string toy, slightly similar to AstroJax. Invented and developed by Matthew Hiebert, I remember seeing early prototypes of these during the end of my time working for Duncan, when I first met Matthew. He was still in the early stages of developing the toy and was looking for a licensing and manufacturing partner…looks like he has found one in Yomega! Monkey Knuckles will retail for $14.99, and will hit stores by April 1st, 2015.

Fun fact: I created this yoyo trick based on a Monkey Knuckles trick that Matthew taught me years ago.

Spin Top Made Of Colored Pencils

February 24, 2015 By Steve Brown

Master yoyo modder and wood turner Eric Wolff recently got the idea to make a wooden spin top…out of colored pencils. The results are absolutely amazing! Check out his full explanation of the entire process below, from his post on the TAO Spin Top Forum.

A friend on Facebook posted this video colored pencil ring showing the use of colored pencils, laminated together, for a small turning project (a ring). the visual effect created by turning something out of a “block” of laminated colored pencils is amazing!

So in the video, he makes a ring. a man’s ring, but still only about 1 1/4 ” in diameter……

Those of you that know me know that I can get pretty wacky in pursuing unusual top and yo-yo projects….. ….I went to the local art supply store and bought 80 colored pencils (in a wide variety of colors), and 4 bottles of CA glue (medium viscosity), and a can of CA accellerator. On Saturday I laminated 69 pencils into a 5 high “block” – 6 1/2″ long x 3 1/4″ wide x 1 1/2″ thick. The amount of CA glue necessary to do this, plus all the glue you get on your hands (you can’t use gloves, the CA makes them stick to everything…instantly), makes this a pretty yucky task. At this point I’m questioning the wisdom of what I’ve gotten into…..To give you an idea of the “block”, here’s a photo of a cross section of it:

I figured that I could cut it in half, make two 3 1/4″ x 1 1/5″ round “pucks”, glue the two halves together and end up with a piece 3″ cylinder, 3″ tall. Here’s a picture of a cut off from the rounding:

On Sunday I began to turn it into a top. I had learned from the ring video that laminated pencils would be difficult to turn so I proceeded very slowly, making sure my tools were really sharp and making all my cuts gently. After about an hour, I had the shape roughed out and the top body hollowed….here’s what I had:

A number of voids manifested themselves as I turned; either as a result of the space between the pencils not being completely filled with glue, or as a result of bits of the colored “lead” coming out. So I had to add a fair amount of glue as I went…..more CA glue all over my hands….. I used a piece of cast blue Delrin for the tip section and Maurizio’s second generation tip assembly (which can convert from pure bearing to one-way bearing to fixed). As I got ready to finish the top, I encountered another problem: you can’t sand a block of colored pencils, the “lead” smears all over the piece making it dark and ugly. So I used a very sharp small skew to make as smooth a finishing cut as possible and then some gently applied lathe polish to give it a shine. Here’s the result:

The finished top is about the same size and weight as a Guilia. It was surprisingly balanced on the first throw and only required a few minutes and a small amount of putty to be perfectly balanced. Then son Noah said, “you need to make a button from the pencil cut-offs”…..so, I did:

While the total time of the project was only about 5 hours, I’m not sure if I try it again; it’s really messy…..I’m still peeling glue off of my fingers. -Eric

Chris Neff – Spin Top Routine

September 25, 2014 By Steve Brown

Check out this great spin top performance by Chris Neff! It’s from a recent show at the Jefferson City, Missouri Riverside Park Amphitheater, where Chris performed at a local festival-type show.

We don’t get nearly enough spin top videos here…send us more!