Hi all, I just wanted to start a new thread about the father of the modern yo-yo. I don’t see much about Tom here and it makes me sad. I mean didn’t he start it all. Take apart design check. Adjustable gap check. First to use a ball bearing check. First to use all aluminum design check. First to use a response system check. Without all these major inovations where would we be today? Now that is a tough question to answer but I just wanted to throw it out there. I still have all my original Tom Kun yo-yo’s and I still enjoy them to this day. My collection is as follows. Let me know what you guys all have as well.
SB2
SB1
No-Jive 3 in 1
Mandella 1
Mandella 3 Butterfly
Flying Camel
Diamond Special (maple)
15th Aniversary Woody
RD1
RD2
Roller Woody
Pocket Rocket wood and Aluminum
Smothers Brothers No-Jive
Maple Leaf Woody
yup. while dr. yo has an unassailable influence in the development of the modern yo-yo, there were a couple stretches of the truth in there (notably 1st ball bearing yo-yo, 1st response system).
anyway, i’m ed. and yeah, this thread is chum for me. i suppose it could be said that i’m kind of a tom kuhn fan. i guess strictly speaking, i’m mainly a fan of the no jive 3-in-1, but tom is a friend and an awesome guy, and i like his other yo-yo’s fine too. i have 50 or 60 no jives (not including the one tattooed on my shoulder). plenty of modern yo-yo’s have surpassed the no jive in what’s come to be known as ‘performance’ (and i like modern metals ok too - btw, note the graphics on my signature flying v ;)), but the little wooden 3-in-1 remains, for me, the ultimate challenge in yo-yoing. i will literally keep playing that yo-yo until i die, and yet cannot possibly hope to unlock all of the mysteries it guards.
anyway, my yo-yo blog is full of kuhn stuff. and here are a couple no jive videos (bunch more on my vimeo). cheers!
Hi Ed, sweet vids with the no-jive very inspiring stuff. I will have to admit I did not my research regarding the firsts I wrote about earlier. I do now realize that Tom did not use the fist response system but I did not see any other yoyo previous to the SB2 with a ball bearing in it. Can anyone let me know of one? Thanks!!
there was a swedish company named skf? sfk? that made ball bearing yo-yo’s in the mid 80’s. they weren’t great players though. granted, neither were the sb-2’s until turbo discs in the late 90’s. i think it’s neat that in bill alton’s ‘the noble disk’, the sb-2 is pretty much laughed at as a ridiculous novelty. all the legit players still rocked wood, not because it was ‘cool’, but because until the mid-90’s it was seen as the most consistent/versatile option.
The yo-yo I designated in red, is direct reference to your picture, I have one that is VERY similar to that, only it is made by Apollo and it says No. 29 on it. Kinda cool, I might have a knock-off Tom Kuhn! Ed or mgiroux77 or jhb8426, any of you know about Apollo as a yo-yo company?
EDIT: I think my yoyo was actually named the BC Apollo, which may or may not have been a collab project of Tom Kuhn and Brad Countryman. I got this info from http://freespace.virgin.net/h.ruprai/More_Reviews.htm
my yo-yo is the exact same one pictured under BC Apollo. Kinda sad though, the axle is a bit loose so it has some wiggle to it as if it was attempted to be unscrewed… -.- I prolly did it when I was younger
yup. apollo is just the butterfly version of the bc lightning, which you also see in the pic. brad countryman was making laminated wood yo-yo’s like that since his old hummingbird ‘tricksters’ in the 80’s.
anyway, i’m ed. and yeah, this thread is chum for me. i suppose it could be said that i’m kind of a tom kuhn fan. i guess strictly speaking, i’m mainly a fan of the no jive 3-in-1, but tom is a friend and an awesome guy, and i like his other yo-yo’s fine too. i have 50 or 60 no jives (not including the one tattooed on my shoulder). plenty of modern yo-yo’s have surpassed the no jive in what’s come to be known as ‘performance’ (and i like modern metals ok too - btw, note the graphics on my signature flying v ;)), but the little wooden 3-in-1 remains, for me, the ultimate challenge in yo-yoing. i will literally keep playing that yo-yo until i die, and yet cannot possibly hope to unlock all of the mysteries it guards.
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That’s awesome that you have a No Jive tattoo. My very first tattoo (god, has it really been 15 years now?!?) was a Roller Woody. My first metal yoyo was a SBII. I’ve owned soooo many Tom Kuhn’s over the years, and I try to pick them up whenever I see them. Some of the classics are pretty expensive now though. I just saw a really nice collection go on ebay for around $300 I believe. It was beyond my budget at the time, but well worth it. I’ve probably given away at least 30 Kuhn yoyo’s over the years, in an effort to encourage people to either learn to yoyo or learn to love wood.
gotta pay to play.
actually, i guess some people would say ‘no you don’t’… but i guess i do.
the thing is, you do it right… you don’t get busted. just gotta do it right!
[quote=“ShaunC,post:12,topic:18845”]
it’s kinda harder to do now, but all the more relevant and important for that.
I don’t know much about Tom Kuhn, you learned me something 
