A rare maple version of the Tom Kuhn Diamond Special.
Dr. Tom Kuhn is a San Francisco dentist who has been making yo-yos since the 1970's. Once a neighborhood Duncan yo-yo champion in 1955, he hadn't played in years when he was given a wooden yo-yo as a gift. When it broke, he set out to create an improved yo-yo, starting a second career which carries on to this day. He is the creator of the No Jive 3-in-1, the first modular yo-yo, the Silver Bullet, the first full-metal yo-yo, and its successor, the Silver Bullet 2 (SB-2), the first metal ball bearing yo-yo. Originally, Tom produced yo-yos in his own San Francisco workshop, but over the years more of his yo-yos have been produced in collaboration with other companies, first Hummingbird, and most prominently What's Next Mfg. where his yo-yos were made starting in 1995.
In 1979, Tom Kuhn created the Big Yo, a working 256-pound scaled-up version of the No Jive 3-in-1. This earned him a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest yo-yo.
In 1984, Tom taught astronaut David Griggs how to yo-yo for NASA's "Toys in Space" experiment (though Griggs had to use a Duncan Imperial since Kuhn's wood yo-yos of the time didn't meet NASA's requirements for fire safety) and in 1992, another astronaut, Jeffrey Hoffman, played with an aluminum SB-2 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (video) .
In 1999, Tom introduced his patented Turbo Discs (a linen response pad system), and began including it with all of his ball bearing yo-yos (with the exception of the SB-4).
However, in recent years, with the yo-yo industry moving away from fixed axle yo-yos to unresponsive ball bearing models, Dr. Kuhn's product line is experiencing a downturn.
Yo-yos Produced[]
Fixed Axle[]
- advertising and souvenir yo-yos
- Big Yo (one of a kind)*
- Champion
- DDS Celebrating 25 Years
- DDS Brush & YO Daily Celebrating 35 Years
- Diamond Special
- Genuine Up & Down Beginners
- Magda 95er Yo
- 1984 Olympics
- No Jive 3-in-1, which was available with many different designs:
- 25 years No-Jive
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- 1984 Olympics
- Aspen
- Diamond Special
- Flying Camel
- Gold Medal Limited Edition
- Infinite Illusions
- Mandala
- Neiman Marcus
- Area 51
- Smothers Brothers Smo Bro
- Smothers Fine Wines
- Think Big No Jive 3 in 1
- No Jive Junior
- No Jive Maple Leaf
- No Jive Woody
- Original
- Pocket Rocket (wood)
- Silver Bullet
- World on a String
*=Not to be confused for the YoYoJam Big Yo
Ball Bearing Axle[]
- Jive
- Pocket Rocket (aluminum)
- Recreational Device 1
- Recreational Device 2
- Redline
- Roller Woody
- Silver Bullet 2
- Silver Bullet 3 (limited production)
- SB-4 (produced in collaboration with CYYC)
- Sleep Machine
- TK60
- TK Mini B
- Tom Cat
- Fat Cat