A vintage classic one piece maple American Spinner from their prototype Venice Beach series. While the series was never put into full production and sold, many one-of-a-kind test pieces were made. Occasionally these test pieces appeared for sale or came up for auction. See the picture Product photos in the American Spinners Product Sheet exhibit for many more examples of these test pieces.
Originally, the yo-yo came with a white 100% cotton string and packaged in an American Spinner's "Yo-Yo Garage".
News of these prototypes came out in 1990. By the mid 1990s wooden yo-yos began to give way to mass produced plastic and metal yo-yos. By about 2004, the golden age of Tournament-style wooden yo-yos—the staple of yo-yo play since 1928—had all but disappeared.
