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May 9, 2017 11:22 AM   Subscribe

 
WTF!? I got one of these for my daughter the other day never having seen or heard of it before, and suddenly I see em everywhere. And by the way, I can make that baby spin for minutes!
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:24 AM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


I just mentioned this earlier on Twitter: I have been hearing about these things non-stop for months now but I've never actually seen one in the wild. If I see any for sale I'll surely grab one, just to see what the fuss is all about.
posted by bondcliff at 11:30 AM on May 9, 2017


Watch for the NYTimes trend piece about how teenagers are using spinner direction to covertly signal their sex party plans.
posted by srboisvert at 11:32 AM on May 9, 2017 [70 favorites]


I'll say this for Fidget Spinners: They're no Fushigi, that's for damn sure.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:37 AM on May 9, 2017


Dude should be wearing safety glasses though.
posted by srboisvert at 11:39 AM on May 9, 2017 [8 favorites]


"Hettinger held the patent on finger spinners for eight years, but surrendered it in 2005 because she could not afford the $400 renewal fee. “I just didn’t have the money. It’s very simple,” she said."

"Hasbro didn't pick up the spinners, sending her a rejection letter after testing it on consumers. But now, Hasbro sells the fidget spinners — almost 20 years after it denied the original product."
posted by robself at 11:40 AM on May 9, 2017 [10 favorites]


"Taking a thing and spinning it really fast and then putting it in contact with an object" is literally the definition of a power tool. Good on them for using good bearings, though.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:43 AM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


There were a ton of them on sale at C2E2 a few weeks ago - before that, I'd mostly seen them on sale online with spinner rings and other spinner jewelry.

A friend of mine could not wrap her head around why they were so popular and was somewhat affronted by it, and me (who knits whenever she gets a chance) and my husband (who always has a deck of cards on him so he can practice card tricks) were trying to explain the concept of fidgeting to her. It was a really bizarre experience, and the thing that most seemed to mollify her was telling her that the spinner rings were preventing people from clicking their pens over and over again.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:44 AM on May 9, 2017 [4 favorites]


That said, the ones our kids have tend to have bad bearings in them. The central bearing has done OK, but the 3 external seized up or spin very poorly on quick order. (Now, whether that's from internal defects or how the spinners are used .. One seems to be pressed incorrectly, causing it to catch, one spins like there is dirt in the bearings themselves, etc)
posted by k5.user at 11:44 AM on May 9, 2017


Thanks to the Nerdist video guy for narrating; it was helpful to have a video cutout of him saying...

Sometime in the late 90s, Disney "remixed" a bunch of their Goofy shorts to include completely unnecessary narration that just described what is happening on the screen in an Extreme! voice so I'm glad streaming culture or whatever has brought us back to that.
posted by griphus at 11:47 AM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


Well I just had to content myself with spinning a Orage in the palm of my hand until it was really going then tilting the air jet till it levitated the orange. If you get the air at just the right angle the orange will really spin up till it starts to flatten out from the centrifugal force, a little more speed and it frags.

I am waiting for someone to try a spinner this way and have to have the pieces surgically removed.
posted by boilermonster at 11:48 AM on May 9, 2017


mmm so. Things like this have existed for years so that Autistic people like me can stim in public or class and stay covert and focused. We used to call them fidgets. They're also for ADD people as well.
But now that the neurotypicals are doing it, they're being obnoxious with them, and buying ones that break easily and injure people, and they are getting banned for everyone, including those of us who desperately need things like this in order to better fit into a world that is not designed for us.
So once again, a thing designed originally for people like me is getting banned because neurotypicals think its just a toy, and don't know how to use a thing quietly and covertly.
This is really upsetting and sort of a lesson in applied ableism.
These stupid things aren't even good fidgets!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:48 AM on May 9, 2017 [81 favorites]


I like the way it handles like a gyroscope once spun up.
posted by whuppy at 11:51 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


If I saw someone doing this in my peripheral vision I would straight up murder think unkind thoughts.
posted by AFABulous at 11:54 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


These stupid things aren't even good fidgets!

Tool or toy? Why fidget toys may be hurting as many kids as they help

I guess fidget toys are the new gluten-free diets

Also, what's up with destroying a smart phone?
Can they just recycle the damn thing or donate it?
posted by bitteroldman at 11:56 AM on May 9, 2017 [6 favorites]


I got a fidget spinner (plus one of those magnetic sculptures) in a desperate attempt to curb my compulsive nail-biting/picking. I've noticed I've mutilated fewer paper clips at work since I've had a spinner and a sculpture to mess around with instead, but I'm not sure my nails are any better...
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:05 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


When I was a cub scout our next door neighbor worked for an industry trade group that represented ball bearing manufacturers. He was always giving out free bearings to the neighborhood kids, my pinewood derby car was the bomb because of the super high quality bearings he gave me. He was popular with the skateboard kids in the neighborhood because he'd give them better bearings to put in their wheels. He was the first person I ever saw on inline skates before Rollerblades became the big thing.

So when I first saw a fidget spinner, there was a bit of a feeling of childhood nostalgia to see that ball bearing manufacturers are still finding clever ways to get their products in children's hands.
posted by peeedro at 12:10 PM on May 9, 2017 [10 favorites]


I guess fidget toys are the new gluten-free diets

Perfect analogy is perfect.
My cousin has severe celiac. At first the gluten free fad seemed like such a good thing, because suddenly there was gluten free versions of things she'd just resigned herself to never tasting. BUT!
Because these fad gluten free foods were really marketed towards people who weren't really celiac, but people trying to diet, a lot of the time the standards weren't that strict. If a fad dieter has some "gluten free" cereal that has a little bit of gluten in it from cross contamination, they are going to be fine. If my cousin has that same cereal- she'll be sick for days!
So this is a really good analogy, sometimes widening a market without the proper controls in place ends up hurting the original people who need the thing.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 12:15 PM on May 9, 2017 [20 favorites]




I don't know about its use against ADD or compulsive issues our whatever. It's just fun to spin.
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:23 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


When I was in school, Yomega yo-yos were the thing that The Olds were complaining about that would injure us, distract us from our studies, and bring about the end of civilization. As far as I can tell, these casualty estimates were rather inflated.

Kids are going to find some distractions. If it's not these, it'll probably be something worse. Let them play, fellow old people.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:25 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


On one hand I wish they had these readily available when I was younger, but on the other, smoking is pretty cool.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:30 PM on May 9, 2017 [23 favorites]


I wonder how long until bars make you take the fidget spinner outside
posted by griphus at 12:35 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


Watch for the NYTimes trend piece about how teenagers are using spinner direction to covertly signal their sex party plans.

[ice-t]The boys are mounting fidget spinners to their penises and using them to find 440A in band class. They're callin' it Tone-Loc. [/ice-t]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:41 PM on May 9, 2017 [19 favorites]


Clackers were the big thing when I was in grade school. They couldn't exactly be used covertly, though.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:50 PM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


We used to hold an unshielded, dry ball bearing by its inside race and spin up the outside race with a compressed-air gun, then drop it on a concrete floor. When it was done spinning in place with a shower of sparks, it would gain traction and race off across the floor. Unless you held it vertical when you released it, it would land on an edge and gyroscopic effect would keep it in that attitude until it hit something hard. Do not do this with a bearing you plan to use for anything else; it ruins them.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:56 PM on May 9, 2017 [5 favorites]


I was looking to buy some ADHD fidget toys for myself, and when I saw those spinners, I was like "I will probably hit myself in the eye with these."

I bought these instead, and they are quite lovely and virtually indestructible.
posted by yueliang at 1:04 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


clackers, yes.
posted by shockingbluamp at 1:23 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


These stupid things aren't even good fidgets!

Right?!?!?! I tried one recently, with super high hopes, and found that everything about it was exactly wrong for my kind of fidgeting. I guess I could see how people with visual stims might like it, but it almost made me mad it was so opposite what I like, lol.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 1:23 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


Ask Tommy Edison: Blind Man vs. The Fidget Spinner & Fidget Cube. Pure Joy.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:49 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Regarding that NY Times trend piece, it already exists.

Of note: it cites a mother named Catherine Hettinger as having invented fidget spinners in 1993. She went through the trouble of getting a patent, but failed to find a manufacturer or market. Her patent expired in 2005 because she couldn't afford the $400 renewal fee.

In 2016, two brothers in their 20s asked for $15,000 on Kickstarter to fund a "fidget cube" and received $4 million in backing.

I realize that the contexts are very different, but it still pisses me off that the market ignored Hettinger entirely but jumped at the opportunity to fund two young dudes.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 2:36 PM on May 9, 2017 [15 favorites]


I bought one for my son this weekend and instantly became BEST DAD EVER. He is now winding down (heh) after a long day by spinning his spinner on a table then slowly lowering his nose on to the spinning arms.

I may have to return my trophy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:42 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Of note: it cites a mother named Catherine Hettinger as having invented fidget spinners in 1993. She went through the trouble of getting a patent, but failed to find a manufacturer or market. Her patent expired in 2005 because she couldn't afford the $400 renewal fee.

Even if she had renewed the patent it would have expired in 2014 anyway.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:45 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


And even if she had been diligently pursuing them, manufacturers may well have continued to rebuff her up until that date.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 2:46 PM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


The central bearing has done OK, but the 3 external seized up or spin very poorly

Wait what?

Either I'm misunderstanding or I got the el cheapo model. I see three I-hope-they're-not-lead weights, one on each arm, and they sure as hell don't spin.
posted by delfin at 3:18 PM on May 9, 2017


No! This here is the trend I got suckered by the One True Office Toy, and I won't hear of these callow pretenders to the throne.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:30 PM on May 9, 2017


Abilitations, the massive catalog of fidget toys and other sensory support objects. Some of them are hella expensive because they're intended for institutional use, but there are lots and lots that are home-quality (and home priced).
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:58 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


> Do not do this with a bearing you plan to use for anything else; it ruins them.

What a stupid thing to do. I'm just going down to the shed for a bit, don't worry if you hear any loud noises.
posted by nickzoic at 4:21 PM on May 9, 2017 [6 favorites]


Do not do this with a bearing you plan to use for anything else; it ruins them.

Don't do this period, unless you like shrapnel injuries. The outer race can break apart explosively.
posted by Maxwell's demon at 5:08 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anybody watch AvE? I feel like his head must really be hurting having waken up to the entire world of middle school boys talking about 608 bearings all of a sudden.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:34 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


I just got a fidget from Fidgetland and it is great and utterly soothing. It's tactile, not really for visual though. (I'm still kinda regretting not getting a time-turner at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter-- that looked like a great visual one.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 5:46 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


About a year ago my AD/HD self was a bit nervous about taking a job in an open-plan office. It turned out to be pretty ok -- large monitors to block my view and headphones for the ears and everything was fine.

Then we rearranged and I ended up surrounded by people with fidget spinners. All damned day, spin-spin-spin all around me, in my peripheral. And someone drops theirs and it falls into pieces that get everywhere. Spin-spin-spin. All day.

Just about the time I was ready to do something serious about it, they all got bored or something and that was the end of that. Thank gods.

So yeah, one of the really annoying things about this condition is how it rejects the Kantian imperative: things that help my mind hold a thought when I do them are just destructive when others do them. But I prefer silly putty for my own discreet fidgeting.
posted by traveler_ at 5:48 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


The popularity of these things is incredible. My wife was at a surplus / odds and ends store today which had a line out the door of people waiting to purchase one of these fidget toys. My wife asked the shop keeper and they told her they expect to sell through 5000 today alone. This is in a moderate sized city.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:49 PM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Either I'm misunderstanding or I got the el cheapo model. I see three I-hope-they're-not-lead weights, one on each arm, and they sure as hell don't spin.

Yeah, it's a 3-armed version, and the "weights" on the 3 arms are bearings. Google image does show some with solid plastic/metal weights instead of bearings.

I assumed having extra bearings meant the possibility of more tricks, but since they spin so poorly, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by k5.user at 6:39 PM on May 9, 2017


I was working in a lab right after college and noticed the air compressor hose and the head of the lab told me this story:
"One of our technicians got the bright idea of shooting the compressed air at a ball bearing. It built up more and more speed and energy. Then it shot out of its mount and disappeared. We looked all over the lab, and finally noticed a hole in the wall. We went to the next room and noticed another hole in the opposite wall. The bearing shot through two walls like a bullet. They decided not to do that anymore."
posted by eye of newt at 8:04 PM on May 9, 2017 [6 favorites]


I was playing with one of these the other day getting it faster and faster but then the bearing jammed and my entire body flew off.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:18 PM on May 9, 2017 [11 favorites]


If I want to fidget, I got my knitting. (And crochet.)

But hey, nice try, y'all.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:09 PM on May 9, 2017


  The central bearing has done OK, but the 3 external seized up

Yeah, those bearings are there just as weights to add rotational inertia. They might even be useful as spares if your central bearing seizes. It's pretty amazing that 608ZZ bearings (aka skate bearings) are so cheap that they are used as ballast in toys. I just picked up a tube of 10 for $6 (Canadian) from a local ebay seller.

There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of 3D-printable fidget spinners on Thingiverse.
posted by scruss at 6:34 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was squeezing an Artgum eraser for a while, but I got the idea that people found that to be weird.
posted by thelonius at 7:13 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh, sure, you think it's cute your kids are using fidget spinners. It's fine, they don't do any real harm. Little do you know, they are just the first step in a chain of addiction that will lead them to a full-on roller wrist ball habit.
posted by sfenders at 8:11 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I don't know about its use against ADD or compulsive issues our whatever. It's just fun to spin.

I had someone say that to me once about ADHD meds, which they took for funsies on the weekend, but which I needed to function in society. That was a fun conversation about ableism.
posted by palomar at 8:35 AM on May 10, 2017 [9 favorites]


On one hand I wish they had these readily available when I was younger, but on the other, smoking is pretty cool.

Now I'm picturing scenes from old movies, with smoking replaced by spinners. Humphrey Bogart spins away while questioning Sidney Greenstreet. Charles Boyer pulls two spinners from his pocket and suavely offers one to Bette Davis.
posted by Flexagon at 8:54 AM on May 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


"Do you spin after sex?"
"I don't know. I've never looked."
posted by Etrigan at 9:19 AM on May 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


I kind of want/need done if these things so I went to Amazon, and damn if they aren't some of the scummiest products on Amazon full of obviously fake reviews, millions of different brands all the same, fake pictures, etc. I mean I know it's just some cheap gadget, but for fuck's sake Amazon clean up your storefront.
posted by aspo at 10:35 AM on May 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


You can get a $3 one at basically any 7-11 or Walgreens or whatever, at least around here.
posted by griphus at 11:14 AM on May 10, 2017


I got one at the grocery store the other day. I don't love this thing because it's way too obtrusive and nondiscreet and I don't have the coordination to spin it with one hand. But it's made me realize that I would like something like this with me, and maybe one of those spinner rings would do the trick nicely and keep me from gnawing all my nails down and picking at my cuticles endlessly.
posted by aabbbiee at 1:03 PM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I distinctly remember how my high school English teacher, finally fed up with the behavior of certain students who couldn't stop drumming on the table during individual / quiet work times, bought a few things of Play-Doh for people to fuck around with.

They actually were really grateful; they didn't want to be distracting or annoying, they just needed a Thing To Do with their hands while they worked. As someone who didn't have a problem focusing on reading (ha, as if!) but who got easily annoyed by audible distractions, I learned something as well about being judgy.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:55 PM on May 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


If anyone is looking for their own stim/fidget gadget, Stimtastic is a company run by autistic people that sells various kinds of stims/fidgets, including chewables.
posted by epj at 3:14 PM on May 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


So, I was prepared to sneer at this whole 'fidget' thing (excepting those with afflictions for whom these things have proven benefits). As I was reading the story and comments, I picked up one of the six or seven multitools sitting in various places on my desk (this time, a Gerber 600, black) and idly flipped out the pliers, opened them and closed them, switched hands, randomly opened and closed blades, as I thought about how I always like to have one or two with me, whether it's the Leatherman K4 Juice in my knapsack, the Swiss Army (Victorinox) 'Skipper I take boating, the no-name Leatherman knockoff in my bike bag, or simply the venerable Swiss Army (Victorinox) "Officer" that I'll bring just about anywhere.

Ok, mea culpa. But if I'm gonna fidget, at least I can be handy, too.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:30 PM on May 10, 2017


My go to fidget device is an elastic band.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:03 PM on May 10, 2017


a mother named Catherine Hettinger as having invented fidget spinners in 1993. She went through the trouble of getting a patent, but failed to find a manufacturer or market. Her patent expired in 2005 because she couldn't afford the $400 renewal fee.

Catherine Hettinger has a kickstarter campaign up for her classic spinner. I learned that from this amusing Ken Burns style documentary about the fidget spinner.
posted by peeedro at 6:24 PM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


on the other, smoking is pretty cool.

What? They still have smoking? I used to love smoking!
posted by sneebler at 5:46 AM on May 11, 2017 [4 favorites]


Cats play with spinners too.
posted by idiopath at 8:11 PM on May 20, 2017


#3 is hilarious. The cat goes from "oooh, what's that" to "please, get this out of my face now <pushes hand away>" in like forty seconds.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:23 AM on May 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


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