The Special Spin, also known as the Long Spin / Lang Tol (in South Africa), is a yo-yo produced by Russell as part of their classic line-up of advertising yo-yos. It was sold as a top-of-the-line yo-yo by Russell, as it features a design unique among Russell yo-yos that made it spin "two and a half times longer than the conventional models" of the time.
Introduced in 1979 in Japan, its design wouldn't be finalized until 1981, when it was sold in various countries outside Japan as well. It saw use during the yo-yo craze of the 1980's, when professional Russell yo-yo demonstrators took the craze to 95 countries across the globe, to help promote and advertise most of the soft drinks produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
The Special Spin model was produced until as late as 1992, when Russell yo-yos were used as a tie-in to the Barcelona Olympics of the same year. During this time, more advanced yo-yos that used transaxle or ball bearing systems from other yo-yo companies were becoming more popular, and the Special Spin was quietly discontinued.
Design[]
The prototype that would lead to the design of this yo-yo was designed and patented by Thomas Ennis in 1978.
The body had a tournament shape on the outside, but internally it was rim-weighted to increase the centrifugal force, providing more stable spins.
The gap inside the yo-yo was parallel in the middle, but slightly angled toward the outside of the yo-yo. This design was meant to help avoid letting the string rub against the inside walls during an imperfect throw, which results in shorter spins.
The two halves of the yo-yo are joined by a metal axle with a concave groove in the middle, which is completely different from the typical wooden axle of other Russell yo-yo models. The concave groove ensured that the string loop on the axle is always centered, again preventing the string from rubbing against the inside walls during an imperfect throw.
The above three features allow the yo-yo to spin longer, giving sleep times about half as long as plastic transaxle yo-yos.
The prototype featured tiny spikes around the axle as its response system, but in the final product this was changed to starburst lines thicker than those found in the Super and Professional models.
Model Variations[]
1st Version: Bulgeless (1979 Japan)[]
It was introduced in Japan in 1979 alongside the Challenge and Super, to promote Japan's participation in the then upcoming 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, which they ultimately boycotted.
Its shape and color was similar to the Challenge yo-yo, but with a very narrow V-shaped gap instead of a straight gap. The starburst lines response system from the Challenge yo-yo was also still used. It had a steel axle with a concave center, which kept the string in the middle of the gap.
There was a tagline printed on the face of the yo-yo, which reads "Come on in. Coke". The other side of the yo-yo had the Japanese Olympic Committee logo printed on it.
2nd Version: Bulgeless remodel - Wider V-gap (1980 Japan)[]
The yo-yo was quickly redesigned in 1980. It retained the shape of the first version, but this time the V-shaped gap has been made wider, to facilitate catching the yo-yo with the string. Also, the yo-yo halves were made of two colors of plastic: opaque color for the body, and white for the inner part of the half. It still had the starburst lines and steel axle found on the 1979 version.
This version of the yo-yo makes string tricks a little bit easier, but makes looping tricks very difficult.
The earliest releases of this yo-yo had a tagline printed on the face of the yo-yo, which reads "Come on in. Coke". Yo-yos made after the boycott have the Japanese Olympic Committee logo removed on the back side of the yo-yo, and replaced with the same print on the front side.
3rd Version: Bulge-face (1981 International)[]
Beginning in 1978, most Russell yo-yos were redesigned to have bulged faces. In line with this, the Special Spin was redesigned yet again in 1981. It retained the Tournament shape, but this time it had a bulged face at the center, and transparent colored plastic for the body, which had inner ridges around the circumference of the yo-yo half, making it resemble the ProYo a little. The inner part of the half is still made of white plastic, but the V-shape gap has been made slightly narrower than the 1980 version (but not as narrow as the 1979 version), and either has red plastic rings each with a set of starburst lines, or rubber response pads (making it one of the first uses of friction stickers in yo-yos). The steel axle has been replaced with a brass one, but retained the shape of the original axle.
In this form, the Special Spin was released internationally, and it would be released again in Japan in 1983, this time, to promote the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.