The Genuine Beginners YoYo made by Tom Kuhn YoYos Ltd. of San Francisco, California. A fixed axle maple yo-yo made for smaller hands. The Beginner, with its red and black halves, was a nod to the classic and popular Duncan Genuine Beginners yo-yo that was retailed from the early 1930s through the early 1960s.
The center area of the stamped seal on the Kuhn Beginner used a silhouette of the wings motif seen on this gorgeous eight-color Tom Kuhn wing patch. The words UP & DOWN were also incorporated into the diminutive wing design.
The only mention of the Tom Kuhn Genuine Beginner that I could find in their marketing material -- including their postcard announcements that were periodically mailed to customers -- was on page 3 of their 1993 catalog of Tom Kuhn yo-yos:
"For 2 years, Tom Smothers persisted in his request that I perfect a foolproof up-and-down yo-yo for beginners and adult yo-yo phobics. (It was a challenging project). Now here is that yo-yo. Even a 5 year old can feel like a star! Also does loop-the-loop, hop the fence, and forward pass. Slightly smaller with classic red and black painted halves."
Other than the single catalog mention, this yo-yo was basically a non-promoted model.
Of interest... You can see the Tom Kuhn Genuine Beginner YoYo centered on the cover of the 1988 World On A String yo-yo book by Helane Zeiger.
