Also Tops are VERY demonstration oriented. When you see first hand what can be done, and get just a bit of coaching it is quite different than seeing a top in a store.
I think most skill toys are demonstration oriented. Some things, like juggling and diabolo, are often highlighted in ways that bring a lot of attention to it, in addition to these items being able to attract a lot of of attention. Juggling often goes along with magic stuff, and magic/illusion has a very large viewing audience. Diabolo is a lot more circus-oritented. Then again, so is juggling, but it's sort of a secondary feature. I am finding both diabolo and juggling can be learned on one's own without needing much help. At least, that's how it is for me, as I'm trying to learn both. Juggling is giving me some grief but I'll eventually get a 3-ball cascade to be an easy thing to do.
Yoyo has the advantage of being able to visually take up large amounts of space thanks to the string and the swing, but it condenses down quickly and often stays that way quite a bit of the time. I do agree with the spintops really needing coaching. It's a lot of fun and once you get over certain milestones(scoop to handspin, them boomerang to handspin), you have time to set things up, making it a bit more relaxing. But as far as being a big-stage feature, tops kinda fall flat unless you're into skill toys and/or tops specifically.
Right now, I'm noticing a trend that we've all seen with skill toys: get in, but then bail when some challenge arises and prevents forward progress. At my kids' school, they do these NED shows, and within a week, I see the yoyo population grow, but then dwindle down to near zero even before the 2-week fundraiser yoyo sales end. I know some break. Kendama rose, now is falling, with only the "hardcore" staying on. My kids are trying skill toys, but one they hit a barrier, I can't motivate them to keep at it. With that in mind, it's just hard to get people to stick with skill toys. I will say tops has been one of the more difficult ones I've tried to get into. I will say it's taken me less time to boomerang than it has to really get anywhere with juggling though.
If Spintop Worlds is going to really take off, it needs to orient itself where the spintop players are. Worlds for yoyo isn't doing that. I'm confident the interest is there, just the contests aren't going to where the players are, or can afford to travel to it.
