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English historical names for the yo-yo include bandalore (from French) and quiz. French historical terms include bandalore, incroyable, de Coblenz, emigrette, and joujou de Normandie (joujou meaning little toy). ^[1]

[edit] History

Boy playing terracotta yo-yo, Attic kylix, ca. 440 BCE, Antikensammlung Berlin (F 2549)

The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC and was made using terra cotta skin disks. A Greek vase from this period shows a boy playing yo-yo.^[2][3] Greek records from the period describe toys made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta (clay). The terra cotta disks were used to ceremonially offer the toys of youth to certain gods when a child came of age—discs of other materials were used for actual play. Philippine historical records indicate that 16th century hunters hiding in trees used a rock tied to a cord up to 20 feet in length to throw at wild animals beneath them—the cord enabling retrieval of the rock after missed attempts.^[4]

[edit] Origin of name and the Filipino yo-yo

1791 illustration of a woman playing with an early version of the yo-yo, then known as a "bandalore"

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that the word "yo-yo" probably derives from the northern Philippine Ilokano language word "yóyo".

Many other sources including Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things say that "yo-yo" was a Tagalog word supposedly meaning "come-come" or "return".^[5] It is sometimes asserted that the yo-yo was a weapon in the Philippines.^[6] Others assert this is an urban legend and that stories about how the yo-yo was a Filipino weapon did not originate in the Philippines.^[7] Lucky Meisenheimer, author of "Lucky's Collectors Guide to 20th Century Yo-Yos - History and Values", characterizes this as popular but fabricated.^[8] The allegation was nevertheless used in a Diet Mountain Dew ad from 2008 as part of the drink's "Surprising Facts" ad campaign.^{[9][not in citation given]}

It is also possible - if not probable - that the term comes from the French joujou.

In the Filipino design, one continuous piece of string, double the desired length, is twisted around itself to produce a loop at one end which is fitted around the axle. Also termed a looped slip-string, this seemingly minor modification allows for a far greater variety and sophistication of motion, thanks to increased stability and suspension of movement during free spin.

The principal distinction between the Filipino design and more primitive yo-yos is in the way the yo-yo is strung. In older (and some remaining inexpensive) yo-yo designs, the string is tied to the axle using a knot. With this technique, the yo-yo just goes back-and-forth; it returns easily, but it is impossible to make it sleep.

Surprisingly, this innovation in the string design is useful even for off-string yo-yo play, in which the yo-yo is not attached to the string at all. The looped winding ensures that the free end of the string has no bulges, splices, or other deformities, which can cause the string to jam uncontrollably in off-string play.

[edit] Birth of the modern yo-yo

James L. Haven and Charles Hettrick of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, received the first United States patent on "...an improved construction of the toy, commonly called a bandelore..." in 1866.^[10]

However, the yo-yo would remain in relative obscurity until 1928 when a Filipino American named Pedro Flores opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California.^[11] The business started with a dozen handmade toys; by November 1929, Flores was operating two additional factories in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which altogether employed 600 workers and produced 300,000 units daily.^[11]

[edit] The Duncan era

Shortly thereafter (ca. 1929), an entrepreneur named Donald Duncan recognized the potential of this new fad and purchased the Flores Yo-yo Corporation and all its assets, including the Flores name, which was transferred to the new company in 1932. Duncan's first yo-yo thereafter was the Duncan O-BOY. Duncan is reputed to have paid more than $250,000, a fortune by depression era standards. It turned out to be a sound investment, making many times this amount in the years to follow.

In 1946, the Duncan Toys Company opened a Yo-yo factory in Luck, Wisconsin, prompting the town to dub itself 'Yo-yo Capital of the World'. Ironically, the very sign erected by the town advertising that fact contributed to Duncan losing its trademark^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 1960s resurgence

Declining sales after the Second World War prompted Duncan to launch a comeback campaign for his trademarked "Yo-Yo" in 1962 with a series of television advertisements. The media blitz was met with unprecedented success; thanks in great part to the introduction of the Duncan Butterfly, the yo-yo was more accessible to the beginner than ever.

This success would be short-lived, however, and in a landmark trademark case in 1965, a federal court's appeals ruled in favor of the Royal Tops Company, determining that yo-yo had become a part of common speech and that Duncan no longer had exclusive rights to the term. As a result of the expenses incurred by this legal battle as well as other financial pressures, the Duncan family sold the company name and associated trademarks in 1968 to Flambeau, Inc, who had manufactured Duncan's plastic models since 1955. As of 2009^[update], Flambeau Plastics continues to run the company.

[edit] The 1970s and the rise of the ball bearing

Modern yo-yos.

The 1970s saw a number of innovations in yo-yo technology, primarily dealing with the connection between the string and the axle. In 1978, dentist and yo-yo celebrity Tom Kuhn patented the “No Jive 3-in-1” yo-yo, creating the world's first "take-apart" yo-yo, which enabled yo-yo players to change the axle.

Soon afterward in 1980, Michael Caffrey patented what would later become the Yomega Brain, a yo-yo with a centrifugal clutch transaxle. Designed with a free-spinning plastic sleeve linkage, "The Brain" could spin much longer than previous fixed-axle designs.^[12] In addition, the axle was "clutched" with spring-loaded weights which would pull away from the axle at higher speeds and grab again at lower speeds. The result is an automatic return of the yo-yo when speed drops below a given threshold.

Swedish bearing company SKF briefly manufactured novelty yo-yos with ball bearings in the 1970s.

In all transaxle yo-yos, ball bearings significantly reduce friction when the yo-yo is spinning, enabling longer and more complex tricks. Subsequent yo-yoers used this ability to their advantage, creating new tricks that had not been possible with fixed-axle designs.

[edit] 1990s technological renaissance

The 1990s saw a resurgence of the popularity of the yo-yo and yo-yo culture.

Continued development of yo-yo technology is evident in the widespread sale of the Yomega Brain, based on Michael Caffrey's design, and the Playmaxx Pro-yo, a take-apart fixed axle yo-yo.

In 1990, Tom Kuhn released the SB-2 yo-yo (short for Silver Bullet 2), a high-performance ball bearing transaxle made with aluminum. This marked a major breakthrough for the modern yo-yo, as it was the first ball bearing yo-yo that actually worked. This ensured extremely long spin times and the ability to return as well. This yo-yo, (along with his many other accomplishments in the yo-yo world), eventually brought him the title "Father of the modern yo-yo," receiving the "Donald F. Duncan Family Award for Industry Excellence" in 1998. He was the first to receive this award.

In the late 1990s, Yomega partnered with HPK Marketing and helped fuel the yo-yo boom that spread across the globe. From this partnership, Team High Performance was born, a group of skilled demonstrators that toured the world. In this period, Yomegas were heavily marketed in Japan, where Bandai produced several yo-yos under the Yomega name which were sometimes different from those sold in the US.

At the turn of the century, 1999-2000, Yomega partnered with McDonald's and distributed a large number of Yomega X-Brain and Firestorm yo-yos at outlets throughout the US.

Another development around this time included the use of different materials such as billet machined Aluminum as seen in the ‘Dif-e-Yo’ Range.

[edit] Contemporary yo-yo culture

[edit] Yo-yo contests

John Ando, a 2A (double looping) division finalist at the 2004 US nationals in Chico, California.

A yo-yo competition normally consists of two parts, a set of compulsory tricks and a freestyle, where points are scored for each and the winner is the yo-yoer who scores the most points. Compulsory tricks (also known as a trick ladder) are a set of tricks that have been chosen before the contest, and the competitor must successfully complete each trick on their first or second attempt to score points. The freestyle is when the yo-ist performs a routine to their choice of music in front of a panel of judges, and is judged based on difficulty of the tricks, synchronization with the music and artistic performance.

The World Yo-Yo Contest is held every year in Orlando, Florida, USA, and is hosted by YoYoGuy.com during early August or late July. This contest takes the winners from national yo-yo contests around the world and pits them against each other. Japanese players in particular have risen to the top of the yo-yo world. The eleven-time, double-handed world champion Shinji Saito—considered the best in the world—is Japanese.^[13] Countries such as the United States, Brazil, Japan and the UK hold competitions at the national and regional levels. In addition, national yo-yo contests, without regionals, are held every year by Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Australia.

The International Yo-Yo Open is held every year in August at South Street Seaport in New York City. This contest is hosted by YoYoNation.com and aims to showcase the best yo-yo players in the world. In the inaugural 2007 contest, there were over 8,500 people in attendance and the event received almost 30 million media impressions.

The TV Times world yo-yo championship was held in the United Kingdom in 1974 with heats across the United Kingdom and a final in London in 1975, the championship was sponsored by the Louis Marx toy company with the 'Lumar' brand of yo-yo. The competition was judged by a celebrity panel in each city and also Lumar demonstrator and European yo-yo champion Don Robertson. The winner of the final was Simon Harris (intermediate category). The championship was not repeated.

1A (string tricks) division finalist, Augie Fash, at the 2004 US nationals in Chico, California.

[edit] Contest divisions

Currently there are nine yo-yo divisions to compete in:

• 1A The player uses a long sleeping yo-yo to perform string tricks which usually require the manipulation of the string.
• 2A The player uses two yo-yos simultaneously to perform reciprocating or looping tricks. This tends to be the most visually entertaining style with some players incorporating acrobatics into their routines.
• 3A The player uses two long spinning yo-yos to perform tricks that involve manipulation of the string.
• 4A The player uses an offstring yo-yo, often releasing the yo-yo into the air and attempting to catch it on the string.
• 5A The player uses a yo-yo with a counterweight on the other end of the string rather than having it attached to a finger.
• AP This is Artistic Performance where the yoist uses any type of yo-yo or other prop in order to perform a freestyle.
• CB This is the Combined Division held only at the world competition, where players have to compete and demonstrate skill in multiple styles.
• 1S The player must perform 25 string tricks to the regulation standards and can only miss one trick.
• 2S The player must perform 25 looping tricks to regulation standards and can only miss one.

Competitors usually bring a number of yo-yos to the performance stage with them to allow for mid-routine replacements in the case of knots/jams (common with string tricks), string breakage (common with looping tricks), or drops (common with offstring tricks).

[edit] Yo-yo techniques

[edit] Sleeping

Keeping a yo-yo spinning while remaining at the end of its uncoiled string is known as sleeping. Sleeping is the basis for nearly all yo-yo tricks other than looping, the player first putting the yo-yo in a "sleep" before throwing the yo-yo around using its string. Most modern yo-yos have a transaxle or ball bearing to assist this, but if it is a fixed axle yo-yo, the tension must be loose enough to allow this. The two main ways to do this are (1), allow the yo-yo to sit at the bottom of the string to unwind, or (2) perform lariat or UFO to loosen the tension.

In competition, mastery of sleeping is the basis for the 1A division. Inexpensive yo-yos usually spin between 10–25 seconds, while expensive yo-yos can spin up to 10 or 11 minutes.

[edit] Looping

Looping is a yo-yo technique which emphasizes keeping the body of the yo-yo in constant motion, without sleeping.^[14]

Yo-yos optimized for looping have weight concentrated in their centers so they may easily rotate about the string's axis without their mass contributing to a resistance due to a gyroscopic effect.

In yo-yo competitions, looping plays a strong role in the 2A division.

[edit] Off-string

In the off-string technique, the yo-yo's string is not tied directly to the yo-yo's axle, and the yo-yo is usually launched into the air by performing a "forward pass" to be caught again on the string. However, some players can 'throw down' off-string yo-yos and catch it on the string just as it leaves the end of the string by pivoting the string around a finger as it unwinds, so that the yo-yo is caught on the string. This is exactly the opposite of a 'forward pass', but with the same result.

Yo-yos optimized for off-string tricks have flared designs, like the butterfly shape, which makes it easier to land on the string, and often have soft rubber rings on the edges, so minimum damage is inflicted on the yo-yo, the player, or anyone who happens to be standing nearby, should a trick go wrong.

Yo-yo competitions have the 4A division for off-string tricks.

[edit] Freehand

In freehand(5A) tricks, the yo-yo's string is not tied to the player's hand, instead ending in a counterweight. The counterweight is then thrown from hand to hand and used as an additional element in the trick.

Developed in 1999 by Steve Brown, as of 2008 freehand is considered to be the fastest-growing style of yo-yo play. Steve Brown was awarded a patent on his freehand yo-yo system, which was assigned to Flambeau Products (Duncan's parent company).

In yo-yo competitions, counterweight yo-yos are emphasized in the 5A division.

[edit] Yo-yo shapes

Imperial Yo-Yo Shape

Modified Yo-Yo Shape

Butterfly-shaped yo-yo

Yo-yo bodies come in a number of form factors or "silhouettes," each designed with specific advantages in mind. However, there are three popular configurations.

[edit] Imperial

The Imperial shape is often considered the original yo-yo shape, and is very commonly recognized. It is sometimes called a sculpted design. The shape's design is helpful in performing looping tricks. It was first produced by a man named Pedro Flores who is also the first person to mass-produce yo-yo.^[15] Duncan bought the rights to the design in 1929.

[edit] Modified

The modified shape is a very popular design for looping style tricks. This shape is also known as a flywheel or modern shape. It usually has a hollowed face (sometimes covered with paper or plastic) with extra material left in the rim. The modified shape yo-yo is also used for string tricks because of the long spin times due to its shape.

[edit] Butterfly

Debuting in 1958, the butterfly has a wider string gap to make it easier to catch the yo-yo body on the string. The butterfly looks a bit like the separated halves of a standard yo-yo that have been reconnected back-to-back. Although the butterfly shape is good for 'string tricks,' it is not good for 'looping' tricks, because the winged shape of the body does not allow it to easily flip while looping. This shape is similar to a small Diabolo, sometimes called a Chinese yo-yo.

[edit] Newer Shapes

Introduced to the "yo-yoing community" only within the past few years, many yo-yos are being produced with wide-gaps, H-shapes, and dimples. Wide-gap yo-yos are not exclusive to any one yo-yo manufacturer and as their name suggests, have a wider gap. The wide gap allows more layers of string to be stacked in the yo-yo, and tricks using string slack or lacerations. The drawback for this shape is that the yo-yo does not return to the player's hand unless bound through the use of a front or under mount. H-shaped yo-yos are much like the butterfly-shaped, but the center (toward the bearing/axle) is offset to a smaller diameter to add to circumferential weight and allow for easy "grinding" tricks. Utilizing the technology of a golf ball, dimples are found in Roo-Yo (Italian yo-yo manufacturer) yo-yos and reduce air friction.

[edit] Other Shapes

There are, of course, many other shapes. Other less popular shapes are: Humphrey, Ball, Slimline, Russell Style (Bulge Face), Puck, Satellite, Coaster and Riveted Disk.^[16]

[edit] Weight distribution

Each silhouette may have more weight distributed at either the center of the yo-yo or the rim. More weight towards the rim will make the yo-yo more stable for string tricks; more weight towards the center will make the yo-yo easier to turn and therefore better for looping tricks.

Heavier yo-yos will have more angular momentum when spinning at a given speed, and thus will spin freely for a longer period.

[edit] Yo-yo innovations

[edit] Body

Two high-tech yo-yos, both take-apart models using the "modified" perimeter weighted body. The Veriflex on the left uses a ball bearing transaxle, with rubber O-rings to allow a variable string gap. The Playmaxx Pro-yo uses a replaceable wooden unit that acts as wooden axle and friction pad.

Most modern yo-yos are made from a "take-apart" design, designed to be taken easily apart and reassembled by the player. This design was first created by Tom Kuhn. This enables the replacement of yo-yo components, including the string, renewable friction sources, or even trans-axle components.

In order to increase spin times, extra weight was added to the outermost portion of the yo-yo. The first to do this was Dale Oliver (Spintastics Skill Toys, Inc) with the addition of steel rings when he brought out the Tigershark yo-yo early in 1998.

Some take-apart designs allow the player to reconfigure the yo-yo's halves. In the Tom Kuhn No Jive 3-In-1, the halves may be attached in three different configurations, resulting in a traditional, butterfly, or "pagoda" silhouette. In the Yo-yo Factory FlyMaster, the body has two different "shells" to convert to and from an off-string yo-yo.

Another innovation to the yo-yo is the ability to adjust the gap between the two halves of the yo-yo, in order to increase or decrease response. In most designs, this is accomplished by twisting the yo-yo halves, but some designs (such as the Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet) can be disassembled for adjustment without twisting. This second option eliminates the possibility of the yo-yo coming out of adjustment during play.

• John Jerome McAvoy, Jr. was awarded patents for the gap-adjustable yo-yo: patent #5389029 on February 14, 1995, and #6066024 on May 23, 2000.^[17][18]
• In 1998, HSPIN launched the Handquake series of yo-yos, which sported an adjustable gap by using shims of 0.1-0.5mm thickness. By adding or removing shims, the gap could be widened or shrunk by +/- 1mm.
• Harry Baier (creator of the "Mondial" yo-yo) and the Flambeau Products Company (owner of Duncan) were awarded patent #6162109 on December 19, 2000 for a gap-adjustable yo-yo which has discrete positions for specific gap widths. This patent is now implemented in the Duncan Mondial.^[19]
• YoYoFactory's productline of Speed Dial yo-yo's feature "Fully Adjustable Starburst Technology" which allow the gap to be adjusted using a dial on the yo-yo. This allows for a more discrete response setting that stays the same after the yo-yo is taken apart and put back together.^[20]

[edit] Axle/bearing differentiation

The basic innovation since the 1990s is the transaxle, a system where the string is not directly connected to the axle that connects the two halves of the yo-yo.

• Fixed axle yo-yos are represented by the original yo-yo design popularized in the first half of the 20th century, where the axle is directly connected to the string and halves of the yo-yo body. In order to enable the throwing of a "sleeper", the player must ensure the string is not wound too tightly around the axle, because it must freely spin in order to accomplish this move. Yo-yos designed for "looping" tricks tend to be fixed-axle yo-yos.
  • Some more exotic fixed-axle yo-yos have axles made from low-friction materials such as ceramic alloys—this allows for easier "sleeping," which is essential for string tricks.
• The majority of trick yo-yos sold are Bearing transaxle yo-yos. In these transaxle yo-yos the string is not connected to the axle directly, but rather it is wrapped about a ballrace bearing. The bearing, in turn, surrounds the true axle of the yo-yo. In this way, the body of the yo-yo may spin freely about the string's point of contact.
  • There are transaxle systems which do not use a ball bearing, such as the Duncan ProFire and Yomega Fireball. These use a low-friction metal or plastic collar around the axle.
• The clutch transaxle, innovated by Yomega with the Yomega X-Brain, is a transaxle that can be engaged or disengaged.
  • the Yomega Brain is a centrifugal clutch transaxle-- when spinning at a sufficiently high speed, counterweights inside the yo-yo body disengage the axle, automatically allowing the yo-yo to "sleep." Conversely, when the speed slows below the threshold, the yo-yo will return automatically.
  • Other clutch transaxles feature a manual switch which can engage or disengage the axle.

[edit] Friction sources

With the innovation of the transaxle, the notion of a yo-yo's response has become important to players. The "response" is a qualitative estimate of how easily the yo-yo will exit a "sleep" and return to the hand of the player.

• A starburst is a series of bumps molded into the surface of the plastic of each half of the yo-yo. The bumps form a star pattern, radiating out from the axle. Because the starburst is made of the same material as the yo-yo body, it tends to last the life of the yo-yo, but the yo-yo's responsiveness cannot be adjusted for the same reason.
• An O-ring response system is a rubber ring embedded in a recessed groove in the inside side wall of each half of the yo-yo body, surrounding the axle. Because it is made of a weaker material than the body, it wears down and is designed to be replaceable.
• Silicone, like the O-ring, is a rubber component recessed into the side of the yo-yo around the axle.
• Friction stickers, popularized by Duncan, are O-shaped stickers that affix to the inside wall of each half of the yo-yo body, and are slightly tacky to the touch. They are made to be replaceable. Many brands of friction stickers are now produced. Each give a unique feeling to the yo-yo. They are commonly made out of silicone, rubber, or a cloth material.
• Hybrid, a combination of O-ring and Starburst, O-ring and a friction sticker, starburst and a friction sticker, and so on. This is mostly found in butterfly shaped yo-yos. Mostly used by Yoyojam.

[edit] Side bearing caps

Side bearing caps are when bearings are added to the hub of a yo-yo and covered with some form of side cap to allow it to be held while it spins. With the side cap bearing you can hold the yo-yo in many different planes and perform different styles of tricks, that can't be perform with the conventional yo-yos. Side Bearing Caps are also commonly known as side bearings, bearing caps (Anyyoyo), synergy caps (Yoyojam), jimmy hats (Werrd) and hubstacks (YoYoFactory). One of the problems associated with side bearings is the tendency for the bearings to fall off. YoYoFactory currently has a patent pending design that uses rubber rings to hold the bearing by its seat onto the side hubs, keeping the bearing on the yo-yo.^[21]

[edit] Performance accessories

A number of yo-yo accessories are available as "after-market" modifications—players buy items separately from the yo-yo to augment performance over the original model shipped from the factory.

• Ceramic bearings tend to spin longer and be more durable.
• Dif-E-Yo Konkave bearings are tapered inward on the perimeter, to force the string into the center of the axle to prevent the string from rubbing on the sides of the yo-yo.
• Friction stickers different "grips" other than the ones shipped with the yo-yo, are available as a separate purchase to customize the user's style of play.
• Brake Pads Similar to friction stickers, however they break down quicker and can only be used in specific yo-yos.
• High-tensile, Slick Strings, generally made from polyester and cotton, are added by some players to improve sleep times (thinner string touches less of the yo-yo gap) and for better looping (low friction string performs "faster" and will not break as easily).
• Weight rings are affixed to the yo-yo's rim to increase the weight and percentage of mass at the yo-yo's rim, thus improving sleep time.

[edit] Modifications

Some yo-yoers have their yo-yo modified (or modded) by themselves or by a yo-yo 'Modder'. Some of the most popular mods are:

• Satining, sanding the outside of the yo-yo with high grit sandpaper to improve grinds.
• Beadblasting, usually only done on metal yo-yos, is abrasive blasting the yo-yo with glass beads to slightly pit the surface improving grinds.
• Siliconing, is filling the friction sticker recess with silicone to change the response of the yo-yo.
• Shmooving, cutting small shallow grooves into the face of the yo-yo, where the string rubs, to reduce friction and increase sleep times.
• Dyeing, is exactly what it says, dyeing a plastic yo-yo to change its color or add a design.
• Anodizing, only done on metal yo-yos, changes the color of a metal yo-yo and increases durability slightly.

[edit] Exotic materials

Originally manufacturing yo-yos from wood, yo-yo technology improved in the 1960s when the industry switched to plastic. Benefits of a plastic yo-yo include the uniform weight distribution only possible with plastic, as the natural variations in wood density are undesirable for an even spin.

• new metals - contemporary releases of high-end Yo-yos may be constructed of metal, normally aluminum, steel, titanium, and very rarely, magnesium and tungsten alloys.
• exotic plastics - the "Milk," by manufacturer Born Crucial; the "Silk," by manufacturer Alchemy; and the "Gung Fu," by manufacturer Death by Yo Yo, are made almost entirely from the low-friction plastic Delrin.
• exotic woods - The "jamboo" manufactured by "Yoyojam" is a free-spin, ball-bearing yo-yo made of bamboo.

[edit] Physical mechanism

The operation of a yo-yo comes from rotational inertia causing the string to be wound in the opposite direction returning the yo-yo. When the string is connected to the shaft with a loop, the yo-yo will continue to spin at the end of the string instead of returning, unless the yo-yo is jerked slightly allowing the slack string to bind and allowing return.

Patents have been issued to create more complicated mechanisms to allow tension control and an adjustable mechanism.^[22][23]

[edit] Notes and references