Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 17 May 2017
Fidget spinners, the hit toy that spun out of nowhere

JOSEPH PISANI tinger, who lives in the
AP Business Writer Orlando suburb of Winter
NEW YORK (AP) — Stores Park, Florida, says she is not
can’t keep them in stock. making any money from
Parents are scrambling the craze.
to find them. And some “No one has contacted
schools have banned me. Nobody has sent me
them. a check,” she says. “But
The mania for fidget spin- once a patent expires, it’s
ners — the 3-inch twirling public, so I wouldn’t expect
gadgets taking over class- anything at this point.”
rooms and cubicles — is Despite being marketed
unlike many other toy craz- as a concentration aid,
es. They’re not made by a some teachers say fidget
major company, timed for spinners have become
the holiday season, or pro- a distraction. Rowell, the
moted in TV commercials. sixth-grade teacher, says
They’re more easily found students twirled them too
at gas stations or 7-Eleven fast, banged them against
than at big toy chains. desks or tried to whirl them
“It just took off,” says Rich- on top of each other. She
ard Gottlieb, a consultant lets students bring them
at Global Toy Experts in into the classroom, but
New York. only if they spin them under
Fidget spinners have been In a Tuesday, May 9, 2017, photo, fidget spinner toys are displayed at a 7-Eleven convenience their desks and follow the
store, in Warren, Mich. Stores can’t keep them in stock and parents are going crazy trying to find
around for years, mostly them. rules she hung on the wall:
used by kids with autism or Associated Press “YOU MUST BE LOOKING
attention disorders to help AT THE TEACHER,” ‘’YOU
them concentrate. But when her 7-year-old twins my kids,” she says. the palm of a hand and MUST BE LOOKING AT YOUR
they exploded in popular- demanded she stop at At Funky Monkey Toys, have clickers, wheels and WORK” and “YOU MUST BE
ity this spring. a 7-Eleven to buy them. owner Tom Jones says he switches on the sides. DISCREET.”
Shannan Rowell, a sixth- “I thought it was a drink,” got a phone call about Unlike hot toys at the holi- Some schools have
grade special education says the bank vice presi- the fidget spinners in April. day season, which are of- banned them. A middle
teacher, says that after dent and blogger from Los About 30 minutes later, an- ten made by one compa- school in Williamstown,
a weeklong break in late Angeles. other person called. “I said, ny, manufacturers — most- New Jersey, wrote that
‘Whatever they are, I need ly in China — are making spinners needed to stay
to get them.’” the fidget spinners as fast in backpacks because
Now, the phone has been as they can. Jim Silver, the they were a distraction in
ringing 20 to 30 times a day CEO and editor-in-chief of classrooms, hallways and
with people checking if toy review website TTPM, during lunch periods. An
they’re in stock. His shop in expects the fad to last into elementary school in New
Oxford, Michigan, can sell the summer and then fade York told parents to keep
up to 150 in a day. as more of them flood into the gadgets at home be-
“We run out of them fre- the market. cause they were twirling
quently,” says Jones, who “Demand starts to waver,” into children’s faces.
recently got a shipment of he says. Engineer Cath- It’s not just kids spinning
2,000. erine Hettinger says she them. Gottlieb thinks adults
On Amazon.com, 18 of the came up with a toy that are reaching for spinners
top 20 best-selling toys and was similar but not exactly because they are more
games were fidget spin- the same in the early 1990s, stressed out. “People don’t
ners, ranging from ones but a patent expired more smoke as much, so they
In this Thursday, May 11, 2017, photo, Funky Monkey Toys store that cost just a few dol- than a decade ago after have to figure out a way
owner Tom Jones plays with a fidget spinner in Oxford, Mich. lars to $12 versions touting she stopped paying the to work out their stress,” he
Associated Press stainless steel bearings. maintenance fees. Het- says.q
Five Below, which sells
April more than half of her That store was sold out, items for $5 or less, says on
25 students suddenly had and so were several other its website that customers
one. 7-Eleven locations that can only buy two fidget
“They seem to be tak- she called. The chain says spinners at time.
ing over classrooms,” says spinners have “been flying Toys R Us flew fidget spin-
Rowell, who lives in North off the shelves” since they ners in this month from
Grafton, Massachusetts. went on sale in March. China, rather than wait
Gottlieb thinks it’s likely a Holden’s kids said they for ship transport. It says
kid brought one to a play- needed them before Rubik’s Cubes, yo-yos and
ground and the craze school on Monday so they other toys to occupy rest-
spread from there. Recent could practice spinning less hands have been hot
YouTube videos of people them. So she signed up for sellers since the beginning
spinning them on their nos- Amazon Prime, paid $5.99 of the year. It also started
es, foreheads and shoes for one-day shipping and selling $12.99 fidget cubes
also helped. had two $15 fidget spinners — the items that made In this Wednesday, May 10, 2017, photo, attorney Kim Juszczak
Helen Holden heard about delivered on a Sunday. up the rest of the Amazon uses a fidget spinner while riding the subway in New York.
fidget spinners last month “I totally got suckered by best-sellers — which fit in Associated Press