When the original Duncan company went bankrupt in the early 1960's, Strombecker toys bought the equipment from Duncan, but NOT the Duncan name, and began producing their own line of yo-yos under the Medalist name. A BIG business mistake to not buy the Duncan name at the same time. Their line of yo-yos was not successful, and medalist disappeared after only a few short years.
That was the history as most of us knew it. I recently spoke with a member of the Stombeck family and they tell the story differently. It turns out that they were personal, long term friends with the the Duncan family. The Strombecks purchased the yo-yos and machines from Duncan as a favor to the Duncan's, to help them through the bankruptcy of Duncan Toys. They would try the yo-yo line, but really did not plan to replace Duncan in the industry. The Medalist line was just another product for Strombecker Toys.
Pictured here is a Red and White Fade Trickmaster with Gold Impressed Logo, the one piece tournament from Medalist. The logo looks out of focus on many of these. It seems Stombecker had difficulty producing a high quality stamp when they started production. But not on this one !
The logo is nice and clear, although the very bottom of the imprint did not adhere to the wood. So the logo is not 100% intact. But near perfect paint though ...
