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 Sponsors and Curators
The Museum of Yo-Yo History is a labor of love, and we would not be able to stay up-to-date with exhibits without the support of our sponsors and curators. Big thanks go to One Drop Design and Duncan for supplying us with their latest models, YoYoExpert for their help and support, and to Cody Orr, TotalArtist and YoYoBrothers™ for allowing us to use their collections!
If you're a manufacturer, or just a big collector and you want to help support the Museum drop me at line at chimera@yoyomuseum.com
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| Yomega Outrageous Yo (debut) - 1989 (Fireball) |
| Exhibit #3922 |
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| Type | Production |
| Shape | Standard (-) |
| Axle | Transaxle - Plastic |
| Packaging | Bubble Carded |
| Construction | Multi-piece plastic |
| Response | Starburst |
| Gap | Fixed |
| Condition | Mint in Package |
| Date | 1989 |
| Owner | Rick Brough |
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The famous Outrageous Yo, released in 1989, was Yomega's flagship yo-yo model that featured the debut of their innovative -- still patent pending at the time -- plastic transaxle bearing system. The following year, the system was officially patented in the US:
US patent 4,895,547 -- The initial patent application was filed January 27, 1989 by Leonard R Amaral for "A high-performance yo-yo displays extended spinning time and is easy to use even by a beginner. The yo-yo includes two yo-yo halves connected by the axle. A spool formed from low friction polymeric material is mounted for free rotation on the axle and the yo-yo string is attached to the spool. When the yo-yo spins, the axle rotates freely within the spool. The axial play of the spool on the axle and the space between the yo-yo halves adjacent the spool are subject to certain critical values which provide the yo-yo with its desirable operating characteristics."
The patent application was ultimately granted January 23, 1990. Today, the status of the patent is Expired - Lifetime.
While the design of the yo-yo has changed little in more than 30 years, one noticeable difference was the use of four internal cross-ribs, clearly seen in the images in this exhibit. Early Yomega transaxle yo-yos are easily identified by the use of these ribs. Yomega eventually eliminated the cross-ribs from their molds sometime in the mid 1990s.
This Yomega model is scarce and difficult to find now, especially in its original packaging. In terms of collecting and historical gravity in the yo-yoing world, it is among the most valuable in Yomega's entire product line from 1984 to today.
What the wooden Duncan Tournament was to kids in the 50s and 60s, the Yomega Outrageous Yo (aka the Fireball) was to kids in the 1990s and early twenty aughts. And, just like the famous Tom Kuhn Turbo Yo aluminum ball bearing yo-yo from 1990, the Outrageous Yo transaxle yo-yo is also historically significant. More than any other yo-yo at the time, this affordable transaxle model played a momentous role in helping introduce -- and reintroduce -- yo-yoing to adults and children around the world. In turn, it helped propel the yo-yo boom of the late 1990s in a significant way, and influenced young competitors, particularly from Japan.
What's in a yo-yo name?
In the early 1960s, Dell Plastics Company out of Brooklyn, New York, produced a line of yo-yos that included a glow in the dark, satellite-shaped model known as Dell's Big "D" Fireball. The Fireball name was a trademark that originally belonged to Dell. The trademark eventually expired, likely in the mid to late 60s, after Dell ceased all yo-yo production about 1965 after being sued by Duncan. (A trademark remains persistent only if the owner -- in this case, Dell -- continues to use the trademark in commerce.) Yomega eventually took over the trademark sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. And, they promptly renamed the Outrageous Yo seen in this exhibit to the Fireball all within a year or two following the Outrageous Yo's release. The rest is history, as they say. Yomega continues to sell the Fireball model to this day. The term Fireball became a registered trademark (read: legally protected) of Yomega in 1997.
See some of the first versions of the newly renamed Yomega Fireball model yo-yos from more than 30 years ago!
• (hex) Yomega Fireball with red and gold cap - 1991
• (html code) Yomega Fireball with black and gold cap - 1991
• Yomega Fireball with black and gold cap - 1992
• Yomega Fireball with black and gold cap - 1994 | |
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