With an
innovative new design, Yomega updates one of the world's oldest toys and
turns it into one of this holiday season's hottest commodities.
Throughout its 2,500-year history, the yo-yo has undergone
few changes. The toy's origins have been traced to ancient Greece and the
Orient, its name derived from the Philippines, where yo-yo means "come
back." The yo-yo was first mass-manufactured in the United States in the
1920s by Philippine immigrant Pedro Flores. After several years in production,
Flores sold the rights to inventor D.F. Duncan, founder of the Duncan Toy Co.,
whose name became synonymous with the product for decades. One notable
enhancement to the toy occurred in the Philippines, where a larger version of
the yo-yo was employed as a weapon. Used to fling at enemies, the device was a
20-foot length of thick rope, equipped with sharp edges and studs at its end.
But even with this one unusual application, the basic yo-yo design has
fluctuated little throughout the centuries: two weighted disks, joined by an
axle, attached to a string.
More than 50 years passed before the yo-yo saw its next
substantial design enhancement. In 1983, inventor Michael Caffrey introduced
the idea of a high-performance yo-yo to attorney Alan Amaral. Caffrey's design
implemented a newly designed axle, featuring two spring-loaded arms that snap
closed on the axle as the spin decreases. The result is a yo-yo that spins
longer than traditional fixed-axle yo-yos and automatically returns to the
player's hand. With this innovation, novice players could more easily master
the tricks associated with yo-yo playing. Caffrey and Amaral patented the new
enhancement in 1984 and founded Yomega Corp.,
a Fall River, Mass., toy manufacturer.
Amaral, now Yomega's CEO, recalls, "I was intrigued by
the idea, sufficiently so that we formed a little company with the idea of
trying to experiment in the area of manufacturing and marketing of a
yo-yo." Investing $300,000 of his own money into the company, Amaral
firmly believed there was room in the toy market for a new, advanced type of
yo-yo. "The old adage, 'If you could build a better mousetrap, the world
will beat a path to your door,' was particularly apropos," he says.
"That's what we had; we had a better yo-yo concept."
Development of The Yo-Yo With a Brain, Yomega's patented
introductory product design, drove the company's beginnings. "We spent two
years in research and development," says Amaral. The design had been
patented but not engineered for mass production. During those first years,
tools were created to manufacture the product while the packaging was designed.
Finally, in 1986 Yomega introduced its Yo-Yo With a Brain at
the International Toy Fair in New York. "As a result of participation in
that trade show, we started to acquire customers," recalls Amaral. This
initial success led to participation in other national fairs, and Yomega
quickly received orders from product distributors selling to small specialty
toy and hobby shops.
Demonstration has always been an important factor in
launching a new toy, and while Amaral chalks up a good portion of the company's
success to its presence at national toy fairs, he maintains that the innovative
product itself and the constant search to enhance that core competency is what
drives the company. Since its first year in production, Yomega has expanded its
line to include more than a dozen products.
A family business the company is co-owned by Amaral, his
sister, Joyce, and his brother, Lenny Yomega won't disclose its revenues.
However, nearly 40 percent of the Yomega's entire business is in sales
overseas, and Amaral has claimed that his company's sales rival that of Duncan
Toys, the longtime yo-yo leader (where Yomega co-founder Caffrey now works as
national sales manager). And a toy industry source reported more than 7 million
Yomega yo-yos were sold last year in Japan alone. "We started our
international business in Switzerland with a small distributor," Amaral
explains. "Now we distribute to 30 countries."
What accounts for the product's broad appeal? Amaral claims
that the simple innovation of the centuries-old product has fueled renewed
interest in the product. "Traditionally yo-yos appealed to junior
high-school kids. With our yo-yos and their high-performance characteristics,
we really started to expand the base to include high school kids, college
students and adults," he says. "We get letters every day from adult
segments of the yo-yo playing population as well as the kids."
Yomega's innovative design has had an effect on yo-yo
playing in general. John Stengel, president of the American Yo-Yo Association
(AYYA), a 425-member players organization, suggests that Yomega's patented
transaxle product serves as a set of training wheels for beginners. "With
the longer spin, they can practice the tricks with less frustration," says
Stengel. "The modern transaxle has definitely increased interest. I can
see that yo-yos will become more of a trendy sport, rather than just a
fad." Stengel reports an increase in AYYA's membership by 40 members a
month.
Amaral concurs, citing Yomega's product development as the
fuel that inspires interest in the hobby, specifically interest in his
company's line. "We spend a good deal of time, effort and finance in the
area of product development to stay on the cutting edge," he says. "I
think we created a market for the high-performance yo-yo. We created a market
that goes beyond what the yo-yo originally was."
That market has proven to be lucrative. Stengel, who
operates as a wholesale distributor to small toy shops, says that he never has
to worry about unsold Yomega products in his inventory. "Store owners have
waiting lists for Yomega yo-yos," he says, "and those customers
always come in to pick up their yo-yos when the stores call them."
Amaral describes the demand for Yomega products as intense.
"Despite our plastic molding company working three shifts seven days a
week, we are still not able to meet demand more than four weeks out," he
says. "In other words, if you placed an order with us today, it would be
four to six weeks before we could reasonably expect to fill that order."
Though it's not a bad situation being in high demand
Amaral recognizes the need to keep his buyers happy. By not keeping up with
demand, Yomega risks losing ground to competing yo-yo manufacturers producing
similarly enhanced products. Since Yomega's introduction of the transaxle
design, other companies have followed the lead, coming up with their own
advanced designs. "Since we have been on the market, a few other yo-yo
companies have evolved not with the same type of yo-yo of course because ours
are all patent protected."
Amaral is constantly looking for new ways to increase
production. The company strives to increase tools, physical plant space and
employees to create increased amounts of product. However, he says, "We're
very much like a battleship. We can change direction and maneuver, but we need
a little bit of time and a little bit of space within which to do that."
Players associations like the AYYA have strictly kept the
transaxle yo-yo out of official competitions. Stengel suggests that the
traditional fixed-axle yo-yo with its looped string offers a more competitive,
more rewarding play. Not one to ignore the yo-yo competition market, Yomega
recently introduced its Panther model, a black lacquered wooden yo-yo with a
traditional fixed-axle design. "There are purists who prefer the
traditional yo-yo," Amaral says, "but all of our yo-yos have unique
designs and characteristics which allow them to perform."
Regardless of the color or shape of Yomega's yo-yos one
model, the Strobe Yo, even has a pulsating light attached, creating fanciful
optical illusions Amaral's toys each employ the same central idea: to make a
better yo-yo. "The commitment and desire is to make yo-yos which will
outperform the traditional yo-yo. You've got to remember, a traditional yo-yo
is simply a string looped on an axle. What we did was design unique axle
systems, and we basically consider that a part of the company's mission: to
develop new, innovative, high-performance type yo-yos," Amaral says.
"And all of our yo-yos are designed with that mission statement in mind.
When a child or player is introduced to a yo-yo, we are hoping that our yo-yos
will remove the frustration that was traditionally associated with [them] and
will enable the player to delight in the performance characteristics that our
[products] provide."
Company: Yomega
URL: www.yomega.com
Founders: Michael Caffrey and Alan Amaral
Industry: Toy manufacturing
Location: Fall River, Mass.
Founded: 1984
Revenues: undisclosed
Copyright © 2000 by Virtual Advisor, Inc. All rights reserved.