Forum Introduction
My name is Joe and while working at Yomega Yoyos in Fall River, Mass., I developed an aluminum roller bearing yoyo that weighed no more than a plastic Yomega Raider, but you could almost (I’m not sure you couldn’t) run over it with a car and not affect performance. When I joined this forum,I told a little of my story. A couple of people expressed an interest in pictures of them. Unfortunately I was in the process of moving cross country and they were all packed. I have since reached my destination, but have yet to find all my yoyos, though I have most. It was a frantic move and pack when we escaped Masshole, and 6 months later I still don’t know where everything is. However, pictures ensue for what I do have.
To recap:
The story begins with me, an absolute yoyo illiterate, getting a job with Yomega Yoyos in Fall River, Mass. I was not a yoyo guy, even when I worked there. I had interest in their history and workings/design much more than playing with one, but the bottom line was,it was a job in a long dead city. I was working to support my family and didn’t have the time to dedicate to being a master with one. I was there from the time Yomega was in an old fire barn, until they sold their soul (and sold out their employees) to Bandai Toy Co. In Japan.
I worked in shipping and knew Chris Ciosek, the public liason/demonstrator and Brett (his last name escapes me) who did the same. They entered championship contests representing Yomega and did shows for kids, very good players.
One day about mid 1997 or so, Chris came into the shipping Dept. playing with the then new Yomega Metallic Missle. This yoyo was the pride of Yomega, from what I was told it was the culmination of years in development and thousands in cost. It was to retail at $100.00
Chris had just put a new string on it and in the course of one of the tricks,it hit the cement shipping floor. The string was a little long! Well, I’m here to tell you, that Metallic Missle did not fare well. It was bent out of balance, beyond repair.
Two thoughts immediately came to mind:
1st) Holy Toledo! There goes a hundred bucks!
2nd) I can make a better yoyo than that.
A few days later, I went to the local recycle yard and bought a bunch of aluminum round stock. I used an old belt driven South Bend lathe that I had access to and a drill press to make my prototypes. I went through a few different designs, utilizing the roller bearing systems bought from Yomega. I soon came to the conclusion, that it was a flawed system (see pictured below) and got an idea of my own (also pictured below). The obvious and simple answer was overlooked by the engineers and designers. Being a vet, I go by the KISS principal. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
My Bearing System
Now my intention from the start was to give the completed idea to Yomega for a small royalty on each sold or something like that. It was also to build a yoyo that had bulletproof durability, stylish looks,good performance and cost half of what most aluminum yoyos at the time sold for.
As I developed prototypes, friends and strangers all wanted to buy one, after they saw them and played them, but I could not sell them at the time as I was waiting for an answer to my patent application. Yomega was all in on the Metallic Missle,needed to recoup what it cost to develop and did everything to discourage me from continuing (maybe viewing it as a threat to their market share?).
Now frustrated, I sought the help of friends. I brought them working samples of my designs and proposed a 50/50 split when it hit the market, after manufacturing cost were deducted. I knew it would take thousands to get to production to market. I had no financial contribution to put in to this effort and my friends covered it all but by the time we got to the clamshell packaging and found out that was another $1,700.00 that none of us had, the wheels of progress ground to a halt.
We had paid a CNC shop to make the yoyo halves for us. He charged me $27.00 a half. When I later took them to a local shop for anodizing, he told me he would have charged me $9.00 a half, including the anodizing. Big mistake going to that first highbinder, probably could have afforded packaging if he hadn’t bent us over a barrel.
Anyway, the project had kind of floundered for a couple of months due to deaths in my family. Needless to say, yoyos were far from my mind for some time.
A few months later, I received an inheritance, at which point I paid back every investor with interest and took sole possesion of all yoyos,strings,parts, the whole ball of wax.
Sometime later, while in Boston, I saw a fellow named John Higby do a show of yoyo tricks on the plaza near Fanueil Hall. I spoke with him and arranged to bring some to show him on a later trip to Boston. He actually bought the first one I sold. John was kind enough to offer help in promoting it, but life kind of got in the way and they have been languishing in my closets since then. The total cost to buyout my friends was $10,000.00, but there is no way I will ever recoup my expenses.
For that amount, I ended up with a grand total of one hundred yoyos and 10,000 fine quality Mexican yoyo strings. Oh, I also got the molded rubber rings we had a test run of.Those were costly, (I thought) hideous looking, and too wide, allowing the string to rub them and slow rotation. I suggested simple black rubber O-Rings, again , cheap to replace at industrial suppliers.
My partners (the money) prevailed and it was another costly barrel bending experience ending in failure.
Black Rubber O Ring on the JOYO
#2 of 100 CNC produced production.
Anyway, I gave some away as gifts, sold some to friends and family over the years and inventory taken before my move showed 80 yoyos completed, some requiring the O Rings.
They are pretty rare, unique, and work pretty well. Out of the 80 left, between style (solid, 4 hole,8 hole) and color, some are ultra rare, 1 or 2 in existence rare.
Thanks for listening.
Here are the pictures as promised, enjoy.
All non anodized yoyos are prototypes , I made them on the South Bend at night after work. ( except Production #1 & #2.)
JOYO #1 of 100 CNC Production
![The infamous rubber edge protector rings|649x500]
The infamous rubber rings
(upload://zk54AZK5rmiHKA9fAtzc7Cy0bma.jpeg)
Thats all I can find at this time, but there are Black,Red,Gold and Blue colors in each style.
Thanks, Joe