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[AgentFlynn]

Welp, I got the tip fixed. Now on with the remainder of my journey.

- Brett a.k.a. AgentFlynn

[the Earl of Whirl]

Sorry you got one of those with a lose tip.  You can put some tissue paper in there to hold it in place or Mr. Neff likes to use part of a plastic bag.  There are some tops that have too large of a hole for the tip and you will have to do something to fix it.  Some glues could be used (Alan Gray loves Gorilla Glue) but usually some other items to make the tip housing a little larger work out great.......like paper or plastic or anything like that.
 

[AgentFlynn]

Hmmm, welp, that's slightly annoying. I'm glad to see that it may be able to be fixed as easily as putting a bit of plastic bag on the tip. I hope that I can fix it because I don't have the money to replace it at the moment.

Thanks for the help, I'm gonna go try it now, I'll post the results.

Modified: Just tried the plastic bag fixed and it worked. Thanks for the help Mike...
Now I've just gotta figure out how to properly throw the dang thing 

[the Earl of Whirl]

Glad the plastic bag worked.  Usually there are plenty of other people on here with ideas.  Everyone must be busy tonight......anyway, welcome to the forum.

Here's what I tell all the kids learning to throw tops around these parts.  Keep your
arm straight.  Don't pull back.  Keep the point up.  It's just one simple little motion.  Don't try to throw too hard at first.  You can throw harder later once you get the feel of it.  Do you know how to wind it?  If not, check that out at spintastics.com or topspinning.com

[Neff]

The bearing is missing!!!  Call Spintatsics and tell them what you received, or offer to send them a picture.

[Neff]

Ah, so the bearing is still in the top (some pm's were exhanged).  Isn't the bearing supposed to stay on the tip guys?

[poptop]

I could never get the bearing off!  I think superglue, carefully applied, may be a good solution.

[Mark Magyar]

The point/tip doesn't have a notch to keep the O-ring in place to keep the point from falling out? The ball bearing does stay in the top since they're glued in. 8/
But I would like for those long stem points to come back for the Blizzard. I hear a new model for the Blizzard is in effect...

[kevinm]

i can fix that top for 25 bucks.
probably not what you want to hear, but i have got a couple blizzards that were essentially broken
in the package. if it was my time and effort, i would just glue the tip in and play it as a fixed tip,
and order takeshi's last bearing top in the 'what you have, what you want' forum, for $25.  then you would have a fixed tip and a much better bearing top.
plus i think i heard that he fills the tops with gummy bears and chocolates.

[Neff]

I would say that you should order a fixed tip for it, because it is much better as a fixed tip top, but as Mark said Spintastics has started gluing the bearings in... don't know if you can get it out or not.  The Trompo Bearing that Spintastics makes is a descent bearing top, so are modified Bearing Kings like Takeshi's.  If you didn't get one of those, I have a few (with hole in the lid, custom weight ring, and Neffy mojo).  And of course, there are the Strommol8 tops, the Giulia.  I have some of those to sell too, but it's at a different price point - $75.  I need to start a store...

[Mark Magyar]

I would say that you should order a fixed tip for it, because it is much better as a fixed tip top, but as Mark said Spintastics has started gluing the bearings in... don't know if you can get it out or not. 

I did happen to change my Blizzard to a fixed tip as well. To get the ball bearing out I put a dowel rod on the bearing and tapped it out with a hammer. The bearing was simple enough to get out since there really wasn't a whole lot of glue keeping it in place. I was thinking about getting a Trompo Grande bearing but after getting a Salvador custom point/tip I can do all of the same tricks that I could do with a Blizzard. and then once you figure out regenerations...
I'm thinking for some reason the earlier Blizzards did spin longer than what's available know. But when you go to Spintastics shop the Blizzards are now out of stock. Hopefully there will be some sort of improvement with the newer stock.?...

[the Earl of Whirl]

Dear AgentFlynn,

Are you getting any action with your top?  Got some spinners?  Doing any tricks?

[AgentFlynn]

Hello everyone, First I'd like to say sorry for not being on here in a good while (Classes are really keeping me tied down now a days) And second, Thank you everyone who has helped me out with this predicament.

As stated earlier, the plastic bag trick worked and now the tip is pretty securely in the top. And I do not think that the bearing is glued into this Blizzard because on occasion when the top lands strangely the tip will pop out with the bearing attached (Not sure if that's bad, but it doesn't seem to mess with the top much).

As for the doing tricks and such, I'm still trying to figure out how to throw the thing. I'm gonna try keeping my arm straight and see if that helps (I bend my arm at the elbow, habit from yoyoing) I also discovered that for some reason I can only get the top to spin upright when I throw it onto a hard smooth surface such as a wood floor (I had been mostly throwing over carpet (Really thin stuff, not shag or anything), and that's only after it spins for about 10 seconds and corrects its self. And I have yet to learn any tricks (Due to the lack of throwing ability), I'm gonna blame the lack of being able to throw the thing on the fact that I left it at my brothers roughly 300 miles away a few weeks ago when I went to visit him, and just got it back tonight. I also found my old wooden top that my grandfather gave to me about 12 years ago, I used to be pretty decent with the thing, it seems that the only thing I retained is the ability to properly wind the string around a top. but I guess not doing something for over a decade will impede your ability slightly.

Well, I'll keep you posted on my progress (Well, maybe not, We'll have to see how busy I am over the next few months) and I have a feeling that this forum will be an invaluable resource in my journey to becoming an adequate spin top player.     

p.s. I am currently in the market for a decent fixed tip top and a 'better' bearing top. So if you have some that you'd be willing to part with, let me know.

p.p.s. I'd also like to pre-thank everyone that I'm sure will give me helpful advice in the future.

p.p.p.s. If there are any spinners in the Memphis, TN area that want to meet up and teach a new guy some basics, by all means send me a PM.

- Brett  A.K.A. AgentFlynn

[Neff]

It is a shame that the Blizzard is giving you so many problems.  I recommend ordering a fixed tip for it, it works much better that way.

To throw a top and have it land perfectly upright is no easy task.  Not many of us practice it, because after you get boomerang and balancing it in your hand, there's not much reason to throw it on the ground any more - except battle tops, of course.  So what I'm saying is don't get too obsessed with having it land perfectly.

On a wood floor the top will scoot around a bit, and it is that scooting that allows it to correct itself.  Soft stuff like carpet - even the thinnest stuff - will hold a bearing tip in place, prohibiting the top from correcting itself like normal.

Glad you're still on it - use us if you run into a jam - or if you don't!

[AgentFlynn]

Thanks for the advice, I honestly don't mind that it's giving me trouble, The way I figure it, I'm just learning hoe to fix stuff early on instead of figuring it out later. And I'm gonna order a fixed tip for it tonight, seeing as so many people have said that it's a better fixed tip than bearing tip top. And yeah, I've pretty much just been trying Boomerang a LOT lately and can catch it in my hand, but can't quite get it to straighten up. I've been watching some videos and noticed that people will sort of 'bounce' it in their hand, so I'm guessing that's to get it to correct its self.
I'm sure it'll come to me in time.

Anywho, I'm still having a blast just trying to get the basics down, so I'm ecstatic to see how much fun it becomes once I can actually properly use the thing. 

Wish me luck!