Back in early '23 I had what I thought was a really straightforward idea to engrave the ring inscription from Lord of the Rings on a bimetal yoyo design that I had been sitting on for a bit. I called up my Dad (a big Tolkien fan and avid reader) to chat about this, and he reminded me of the reality of trademarks - but he also recommended contacting the licensor to ask for permission. Is it really that easy, I thought.
I looked up the best licensing contact for my proposed use and found one for Middle-earth Enterprises. I sent them an email and waited - for many weeks - until I got the response I was hoping for. This was, however, only the beginning of my adventure!
It’s now quite clearly almost 2 years after “early '23” so I’d like to talk about everything that went into this amazing project, the Ring-Bearer.
3d rendered concept art of the Ring-bearer™ yoyo
If you aren’t familiar with the behind-the-scenes of licensed products, there’s a lot that needs to happen. Contracts, insurance, brand assurance, approvals. On top of that, I wanted to make this a big release, with extra colorways, cool box art, a mini-poster - the works. All of this extra stuff will get revealed soon, as I’m waiting for the shipment to arrive.
This will be as far as I can tell the first officially licensed Lord of the Rings yo-yo.
I’d like to also give a huge shout-out to my team & all the other people who helped make this happen, especially Mag who made the packaging artwork and many of the engravings for other colorways.
Specs and more colorways to come soon! There’s a whole lot more to show off.
The Lord of the Rings™ and the characters, items, events, and places therein are trademarks of Middle-Earth Enterprises, LLC used under license by Mk1 Yoyos LLC. All rights reserved.