The Christmas clock is ticking and things are getting ugly at the Kay-Bee Toy store in the Nugget Mall.
Last week, two customers actually fought over the last Ultimate Yo-yo, said Kay-Bee salesman Mike Helms. The age-old yo-yo is one of the season's hottest sellers and Juneau toy stores can't keep them on the shelves.
"I actually had somebody get violent the other day," Helms said. One man punched another, sending his glasses flying to the back of the store, he said.
Mall security had to resolve the situation. Helms said he can't remember who got the toy – "probably the guy that got punched."
While most customers don't get quite that intense, the yo-yo is back with a vengeance, topping kids' Christmas lists and overwhelming manufacturers nationwide.
Yo-yos, ranging from the classic Duncan Toys wood-and- string model to the high-tech X-Brain, which does its own tricks, cost anywhere from $3.99 to $12.99 at Kay-Bee.
These thing are almost as bad as Furbies," Helms said, referring to the furry, bug-eyed electronic creature that's caused stampedes in several stores across the country this year.
Helms estimated the Juneau store has sold 500 to 600 yo-yos this season. "We keep them behind the counter because we've had thefts."
The store's stock is currently depleted, but Kay-Bee may get more before Christmas, he said. Desperate parents can check this afternoon, after the freight comes in.
No one's fought in Hearthside's Toy Corner, Said manager Mary Cogswell, but the Nugget Mall toy store hasn't had any better luck keeping yo-yos on the shelf.
"I just got (60) yesterday and today they're pretty much gone," Cogswell said Saturday afternoon. Duncan Toys is back-ordered past the holidays, she said. "But it's possible we could get another brand before Christmas."
Yo-yo collector Michael Orelove said nostalgic baby boomers may have passed the craze on to their children.
But maybe it's just the simplicity of the toy, the variety of models and the way it feels in your hand when you "walk the dog," "rock the baby in the cradle," or go "around the world."
"For basic regular yo-yoing the Duncan standard yo-yo is still one of the best," Orelove said. "They're still fun, just like a slinky.">
Orelove has a collection of about 40 yo-yos. He has a yo-yo resembling a soccer ball, one that looks like Earth, yo-yos with pictures on them, a clear plastic yo-yo with candies inside, a light, up yo-yo, wooden yo-yos, small yo-yos, large yo-yos and a stainless steel model with ball bearings inside.
"It sleeps a long time," he said.
Sometimes friends join him for spontaneous yo-yo parties.
"I'm 56. I'm one of those baby-boomer types," Orelove said. "I'm old enough to say, 'when I was young we 'didn't have all these computer games.'"
This year, even kids with access to video games, responsive toys, robots and a plethora of entertainment and educational computer software are asking for the toy introduced to the United States in the late 1920s by a Filipino toymaker named Pedro Flores.
The toy was a favorite in early Greece, ancient China and possibly ancient Egypt, 16th century Philippines and 18th century France, according to the American Yo-yo Association Web page.
In the U.S., the yo-yo even played a role in social protest, reported Val Krantz, in "History of the Yo-Yo."
In 1968, activist Abbie Hoffman was cited for contempt of Congress for "walking the dog" in a failed attempt to amuse the House Sub-Committee on Un-American Activities, which was investigating him.
With such a lengthy history, even nostalgia for the yo-yo can't be new.
"It's a fun thing at any age," Orelove said. "It just feels good."
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