Not to be confused with a yo-yo of the same name produced by Duncan.
The Professional, formerly known as the Championship until around the 1970's, is a yo-yo produced by Russell as part of their classic line-up of advertising yo-yos.
Like the Russell Super, it came in either a slimline shape similar to a Duncan Professional, or the familiar bulge-faced shape. The yo-yo also featured a fixed wooden axle complemented with very faint starburst lines. It performs quite well for looping, although the rough wooden axle meant that strings need to be checked frequently for fraying.
The Professional saw wide spread use since the 70's all the way to the 90’s during the yo-yo craze that swept across the globe. During this time, professional Russell yo-yo demonstrators took the craze to 95 countries, to help promote and advertise most of the soft drinks produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
It was also released by Bandai in 1998 as part of the Hyper Yo-Yo line as the Hyper Russell Professional (Japanese: ハイパーラッセルプロ). It was a tie-in with the manga/anime, Supersonic Spinner (a.k.a. Super Yo-Yo), where the yo-yos were used.
Difference between Professional and Super[]
The easiest way to tell the difference between the Professional and the Super is to check the type of plastic used on the body of the yo-yo itself (not the caps).
If the body of the yo-yo is opaque (white or solid color), it's the lightweight version; if the body of the yo-yo is transparent (clear), it's the heavy version.
Note that the model name of the yo-yo is not an indication of its specification, because at some point and in some countries, the names Professional and Super have swapped. You could get a Professional yo-yo that is heavy, or you could get a Professional yo-yo that is lightweight.
Models[]
Championship (1960's to 1970's)[]
The Russell Championship yo-yo was first manufactured and released in Australia in 1961. It was the only Russell-branded yo-yo that can be used for Coca-cola yo-yo tournaments (earlier Coca-cola promotional yo-yos were made by Duncan), as the only other Russell-branded yo-yo was the Russell Beginners yo-yo, which was a tin yo-yo made in Hong Kong. The Beginners model cannot be used for performing the long sleeper.
The Championship yo-yo had a slimline shape, with each sides molded in 2 colors of plastic, with text and graphics for advertisements engraved and painted on. These yo-yos promoted mostly Coca-cola products, although advertisements for other products or companies existed as well during this time.
Professional Slimline (1960's to 1970's)[]
The Championship yo-yo was known in some countries (particularly Latin America) as the Professional yo-yo. Also, when Russell introduced the second yo-yo boom in Japan in 1974, the Championship yo-yo was also labeled as the Professional yo-yo. Eventually, the majority of Russell Championship yo-yos around the world would be released under the "Professional" name.
Professional Bulge-face (since 1980)[]
During the 1980's, the Russell yo-yos were redesigned to have bulged faces. However, the shape was inconsistent throughout the years. Usually the Professional had an extra colored plastic ring around the bulge, to easily differentiate it from the Super which did not have that ring. But sometimes, the Professional yo-yo did not have that ring, and sometimes, both the Professional and Super have rings. There are some models which had wider bulges, such as the Opal Fruits yo-yo.
Swapping of Professional and Super terminology (1990's)[]
It seems that around the 1990's, in most parts of the world, the names of Russell "Professional" and "Super" yo-yos have swapped, meaning the Super refers to the lightweight model while the Professional refers to the heavy model. This is most evident in the Hyper Yo-Yo release in Japan, where the Hyper Russell Professional was explicitly described as having more weight than the Super.
Official Description[]
Hyper Russell Professional (1998)[]
Type A - Standard Type
A wooden axle type Hyper Yo-Yo. The weight was increased from the Super, giving it the Professional specification!! Diameter about 56mm. Weight about 53 grams.
Gallery[]
