Ever wonder who started the 1998 Yo-Yo Boom?
Oct 29th, 2007 by Yo-Yo Radio
I just wrote this post over on the YoYoGuy blog (remember that?). Check out this dude who claims he single-handedly created the 1998 yo-yo boom. “I created the yo-yo craze of 1998, taking Yomega Yo-Yos from $8mm to over $110,000,000 in a SINGLE YEAR.” Funny, I’ve never heard of him.
Dick.
I’m always a little suspicious of Zen businessmen. To paraphrase one of my daughters’ kid books, this guy seems to like himself very much.
I thought THP on The Rosie O Donald Show created the boom? He kinda does look like Rosie?
Tell us more about this guy John?
Credit where credit is due. Alan Nagao created the yo-yo boom of the late ’90s, along with his small army of underpaid kid demonstrators.
This guy strikes me as the typical super-motivational-business-ninjas; he gets all his work by making up previous successes, embellishing his part in larger projects, and generally bullshitting everyone into hiring him.
Which is an art in itself, for sure. But it’s hardly laudable.
…it should also be noted that in the process of Nagao creating that boom, he alienated, cheated, swindled, and destroyed his relationship with every single manufacturer in the yo-yo industry.
Executives from distributorships have been known (I’ve seen this myself) to get up and walk out of a meeting when his involvement was suggested.
Hardly a stellar business model.
My comment to the article:
What a blow hard. To take credit for the most recent spike in the cyclical popularity of yo-yoing is arrogant to say the least. Historically the yo-yo peaks in popularity every fifteen to twenty years with booms in the 30s, the mid-50s, the 60s, the 70s and then the late 90s. The popularity of yo-yoing in the late 90s had to do with technological improvements in the design of the yo-yo, making it easier to learn and capable of a wider range of tricks.
Yo-yo builders that innovated in the 80s and early 90s, like Tom Kuhn who developed high-performance bearing yo-yos, were the ones who seeded the late 90s craze. Yo-yo performers like Tommy Smothers nd Team High Performance, who keep the yo-yo in the public eye, also helped to bring attention to the skill toy. People like John Cassidy of Klutz Press, who wrote a how-to book on yo-yos that you can still find in most book stores should receive thanks too.
After reading such boasting I would be hard pressed to hire Dr. Ben Mack because he seems unable to differentiate between taking advantage of a reoccurring phenomenon and the work of others, and his own opinion of his talents.
I expect better of this blog than to publish claptrap like this.
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I doubt they publish that.
WOW, i guess that means that I can start the NEXT yoyo boom MYSELF form a SMALL CABIN in BRITISH COLUMBIA using only a CARRIER PIDGEON!!!!!!!!!!!!
who does this guy think he is? i think i know who he thinks he is, but does he know? wow.
are you guys frickin kidding me? go back and read the damn article. For your information, the whole quote in its proper context is “While in Corporate America I created the yo-yo craze of 1998, taking Yomega Yo-Yos from $8mm to over $110,000,000 in a SINGLE YEAR.”
This is public knowledge including the fact that he won an award for his work with Yomega.
stop talking out your ass, taking quotes out of context and get a life.
big jason, I washed my hands and it flooded in Australia… It must have been mE! YESS.. the world does revolve around me!
Yomega are now one of the least regarded yo-yo brands around. Does old matey want to take credit for that too?
Yea, I’m sure the boom had nothing to do with the efforts others had in yo-yoing at the time - and surely nothing to do with the Yomega Brain yo-yo - oh, wait, perhaps he designed that too?
The quote wasn’t taken out of context, it is as he said it. He conveniently ignores all other factors that led to Yomega’s increase in sales and takes credit for all of it.
We sold lots of Yomegas back then as well - so, I guess it’s just as correct that I take credit for Yomega’s sales boom as well.
Ergo, I am updating my resume today with: “while in retail America, I created the yo-yo craze of 1998.”
And you can quote me on that.
I GUESS YOU ALL THINK THAT STUFF JUST SELLS ON IT OWN! SOMEONE HAS TO PROMOTE IT AND EVIDENTLY THE COMPANY THOUGHT HE DID AN AWESOME JOB PROMOTING. TOO BAD YOU ARE NOT ON HIS SALES TEAM, YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE FIRED!
That’s funny, the company didn’t provide the quote, he did. So, evidently, he thought he did an awesome job, and was happy to share the news. And, if he did such a bang up job, why are they no longer using him to promote their yo-yos?
The caps lock key is on the left of the keyboard.