Herman! Welcome to the forum, and thanks for all your history and comments on the Monarch, and on tops and tips in general! You are absolutely right that I knew pretty much nothing about designing the tops and tips for best trick action. I knew how to spin on the floor, and do a boomerang, and once in a great while I could do the string walker to my other hand. I was a lot more interested in the huge variety of tops - spun in dozens of different ways - made from a wide variety of materials, etc. I was however very committed to making old fashioned "peg tops" as I called them - first in wood, and then in plastic when I ran into Don Winters, Byron Watts, Walter Watts, etc. and their Monarch mold. Even a non top spinner could see the big quality difference from the Duncans. The tip change was for a couple of different reasons. The original mold only created two tips per top, and I wanted there to be replacements available. Even as a novice, I thought the original top tip was too rounded and making the tips from the same plastic as the top made for a short lifespan. I plead guilty on my replacement tip being possibly too sharp. (I pretty much always gave a new one a quick spin on a rough surface) It was just too expensive to change the mold, so they stayed fairly lethal for the duration. The plastic used was a combination of nylon and fiberglass for longer life.
I completely agree that the yellow nylon mason's line that I packaged with them was pretty bad - if not actually terrible? I hunted all over for better string, but was never able to find a good source. To this day I prefer my old Duncan strings - of which I have a small stash - I always soak a "new" one in hot water for a bit to soften it and get out the kinks from 20+ years wound around the button before use.
You are absolutely right that I never made a penny on "peg tops"..... in fact, they cost me a
lot, but for a guy who made tops for a living, it just did not seem right to leave out the top that (outside of the metal pump top) is the classic image everyone thinks of when they think "top".
Don't know if I've covered everything, but thanks for the kind words! I was very excited to meet you low these many years ago, and for all the stuff you shared with me.... including I think, some "video" stuff. You should post some of those videos here for all to see. I remember being amazed when you told me you had worked out a triple string walker. In my next lifetime, I'll consult with you and the others on this forum on the design of my tops, though I don't think I could come up with any consensus.....
