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| Duncan World Class (1979) |
| Exhibit #3516 |
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| Type | Production |
| Shape | H Shape |
| Axle | Fixed |
| Color | Translucent red |
| Packaging | Display Boxed |
| Construction | Composite |
| Response | Starburst |
| Gap | Fixed |
| Condition | Mint |
| Date | 1979 |
| To | 1982 |
| Owner | Rick Brough |
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The unusual Duncan World Class yo-yo was released first in 1979 and made until 1982. (Duncan's Spring 1983 product line catalog no longer pictured the yo-yo.) It was supposedly reproduced in 1990 using the same injection molds. However, it is much more likely that Duncan simply used leftover new, old stock from the early eighties that they wanted to sell off.
The yo-yo was a significant design departure from the traditional line of plastic yo-yos that Duncan had made and sold for more than 20 years (up to that time in 1979). The profile, combined with the use of separate, metal rim-weighting "inertia rings", was unique and about 20 years ahead of its time. Even the axle profile was shaped to keep the string centered on the axle while the yo-yo was spinning (see the Profile image in this exhibit). A string-centering axle reduced string drag on the inner walls of the yo-yo, thereby increasing spin times.
The metal axle on this model was Reslon-coated. Some people refer to this coating as Teflon, but that is incorrect. Reslon was Duncan's own thermal bonded fluorocarbon resin (read: plastic) coating that was applied to metal yo-yo axles. The coating reduced friction between the axle and string, and allowed up to 20% longer spin times (remember, this was about ten years before the release of Tom Kuhn's uber famous Turbo Yo/Silver Bullet 2 that used a ball bearing axle). Around this time period, Reslon axles were used on Duncan's entire product line of yo-yos, except the Junior model. The Reslon trademark, owned by Flambeau at the time, was cancelled December 15, 2000.
This 1979 debut version on Duncan's 50th anniversary came beautifully boxed, and included a 48-page Duncan Yo-Yolympics trick book. It also came with a personal "World Class" ID number printed on two stickers. One sticker was to register the number by mail with both Duncan Toys and Duncan's "Yo-Yo Players International" group; the other sticker you could affix to your yo-yo. It's unknown how registering the yo-yo benefited you.
See the Duncan 1979 product catalog that introduced the World Class yo-yo for the first time!
This same model of yo-yo was used by professional Duncan demonstrator George Humphreys on the cover of The Amazing Yo-Yo by Ross R. Olney from 1980.
Charles A. Lanius of Wisconsin worked for Flambeau Corporation and was the designer behind the Duncan World Class yo-yo. While he held numerous invention patents of his own, the World Class yo-yo did not receive any patents.
See also World Class - 1990 version. | |
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