ta0.com forum = iTopSpin.com

THE forum to discuss spintops. Divided into a player/general board and a collecting/modding/turning board. Beginners and experts from all over the world are welcome. 

Foro del Trompo de Pulpowski

Main spintop forum from Spain, created and maintained by Jorge "pulpowski" from Madrid.

yoyoeXpert.com board

This is a spintop board inside the yo-yo forum associated with the yoyoeXpert site and shop.

Trompos Space forum

Spintop forum associated with the Trompos Space brand from Valencia, Spain.

TopSpinning.com

Since the closing of Button-n-String board in October 2006 until the start of the iTopSpin, July 4th 2009, this was the main spinning top board. It is still open and is a great archive but all posters have moved on. It belongs to the Infinite Illusions shop.

Unidentified Flying Tops

A spinning top collector's board (yahoo group). There are hardly any new posts (except spam), but you can still browse the archives or the picture gallery after registering. Hint: spinpole = ta0

Yo-Yo 4 All forum

Forum from Spain (in Spanish) that has a section on tops ("peonzas") managed by a player from Madrid.

Spintastics top videos

More than 50 video clips showing the tricks required to obtain Spintastics award patches as well as most tricks used for compulsories in major contests. There are also some freestyle examples. Featuring Dale Oliver, Valerie Oliver, Dave Bazan, Miguel Correa and others.

Youtube.com

Of course, many videos end up in youtube. The link above (search "spintop") will find you some of the vids; use other searches to find more. The problem with youtube is that it doesn't let you store streamed videos to the hard drive without some tricks or help (e.g. keepvid). Some notable users are komanotaketyan with lots of tricks performed with traditional Japanese tops, DarthJairo with Colombian tops, mondomagic1 with Mexican style play, and also from Mexico, johngleur09 regeneration innovator.

Komaspace

An excellent site by young koma player Yuuya dedicated to promoting the art of performing tricks with a tradional Japanese top or "koma." Now available translated into English.

TopSpinning.com

The original spintop trick site has acquired a new life under André Boulay and the sponsorship of Infinite Illusions. It uses the yoyoing.com video vault, filtered using the spintop tag. However, this has been down for many months. The original videos of the site (featuring Herman Lau, Steve Brown and Lao Alovus) can still be found here.

Nickel-Eye.com

Some spintop videos (including a fire-top) in this site of mainly crazy fire stunts. Featuring 2004 world champion, Matt Ritter.

The Glass Lab

"Official Home of the DXL crew" Its first video clips were spintop tricks by Felix Avellana that can still be found under Trick Videos. There are spintop freestyles under Large Videos plus individual trick inside some of the yoyo videos. The Y-axis lab has remained empty, though, and it has not been updated in well over one year.

Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum of Burlington, Wisconsin

A museum dedicated to spinning tops and now also to yo-yos. It has hands-on presentations and organizes spintop events around the year. Directed by the top lady Judith Schulz.

Koma Museum of Nagoya, Japan

Huge collection of spinning tops from around the world with an emphasis on Japanese tops.

Flickr spintop photo group

Vast and rapidly growing aggregate of beautiful photos from all over the world.

Jochen Schell

An artistic German juggler with a magnificent spinning top routine.

Koma Zuru

Japanese classical spintop performer. His career in the US was launched when Ed Sullivan saw his act in Japan and invited him to appear on his show in 1965.

The Art of Spinning Tops

Lourens Bas is a Dutch collector of antique tops and the author of the wonderful "The Art of Spinning Tops" book. Look for some tops that did not make it to the book.

John Sandstrum

Exhaustive classification of spinning tops. Currently hosted inside Sandstrum's site is the old Brian Lemin's site from down-under, including his translation into English of the Japanese Top Museum.

The spinning top's friends association (Amics de la Baldufa)

Spinning top club from Barcelona, Spain. Baldufa means top in catalan. Content in English, Spanish and Catalan.

Baldufa

A very nice gallery of photos from a collector of the Amics de la Baldufa (Ferran): don´t miss the ceramic tops or his garden sculpture (in Caltalan and Spanish, soon in French and English.)

History of the Top

This page on the history of the spintop, prepared by Val Oliver from Spintastics, is the best online. It includes first-hand knowledge on the recent American spintop history. Yes, the 8 year old girl in the picture is she!

Yophosis

Chris Neff's was the 2011 freestyle champion, ex-Duncan crew (co-star of How to be a Player instructional video) and he is the leader of the Columbia, Missouri, skill toys club. The site has very good spintop advice for beginners and custom tops and string for sale.

Trompopedia

A new site in Spanish that should become an excelent introduction to the sport for new players.

Spinning tops everywhere

A collector from Israel. In English and Hebrew.

Knut Hegna

A collector from Norway (site in English). Spintop in any language, links and bibliography.

Der Kreisel

Site in German from the Institut für Kreiselforschung. Classification, science and culture of the top. Bibliography and many links.

Michael Schoenhoff

"Germany's biggest top collection".

The Top Guy

Jonathan has an extensive collection of tin lithographed plunge tops.

Bob Rule's Archives

Bob, aka Mr. Yo-Yo, was for many years a Duncan demonstrator until its bankruptcy in 1964. This site is a goldmine of memorabilia from that era, including spintops. Look for pictures of the production line while they were making tops.

Mia's Top Collection

Mia Levesque was one of the first to post a top collection on the internet.

Eiji Ohashi's collection of Japanese Tops

600 pictures! In Japanese with some pages translated to English.

Folk Toys of Chile: Trompo

A page in Spanish taken from the Essay "Origen y folclor de los juegos en Chile" by Oreste Plath. Includes pegtop names, games and poems.

International Top Spinner Association

Dead association (never took off) but some pages still live. Founded by Walter Watts and site mantained by his son Byron, also a player.

Toupie et compagnie

A French collector's site. It used to be "Toupie or not Toupie" but with a very different look (its English version still available).

Tupiphilie

A French collector of wooden tops.

Thomi's kreisel site

German collector´s site with pictures and diashows of tops in his collection and around the world (including some sculptures). It even has a forum on finger tops but very little activity.

Gambling Tops

A dice collector page with "put-and-take" tops (teetota).

Thomas' dice top collection (Dice Monster)

Huge collection of dice tops.

Beigoma

A Japanese site dedicated to the Beigoma (ベーゴマ) top, the traditional medallion-shaped throw-top that some consider the forerunner to the modern beyblade.

Chikuzen Hakata Koma

Shuraku Chikushi, a Japanese master of the performing art of top spinning, hakata koma. She is the first female top master in the last 160 years. Here is an interview in English.

Toupie Hollandaise

These antique ornate tables from Benelux and the north of France are larger versions of the game known as Skittles, Toptafel, Table a Toupie, Jue du Roi or Toupie des Indes. More pictures in this (slow) site.

O mundo das buxainas / El mundo de las peonzas

Site from Galicia, Spain. The site has an outdated look but use the menu on the left to expand the information.

Spin Tops Wiki

One of a few attempts at a spintop information site using the collaborative wiki model. This one was started by Chris Neff. There is another one inside yoyowiki.org. Both are part of Wikia.

Unusual and interesting tops

Two amazing tops: Top Secret and Levitron (Caltech)

Description of three magnetic displays, two of which are tops: Top Secret (Perpetual Top) from Andrews Mnfg. and the Levitron from Fascinations. Their record for longest continuous levitation so far: 314 days!

The hidden history of the Levitron

The baffling story of how the levitating spintop was stolen from its true inventor, Roy Harrigan. See also: Levitron: an amazing invention and a patent failure.

Humongous wooden top

Tetratops

The original tetratop site by inventor Kurt Przybilla.

Maxwell's Top

This top is described in Crabtree's book and is a striking demonstration (but not trivial to explain) of precession. See a video I made. A simpler (but adjustable) version is explained here.

LSX/Topnosis Guinness World Record finger top

This finger top can easily be kept going by manipulating the base where it is spinning. Using it, a 15 year old set a Guinness World Record of 2 hours, 52 minutes, 11 seconds in 1998.

The Tippy Top

A nice description of the tippy-top (tippe top, wendekreisel, toupie magic, inverting top), probably the most amazing top ever. Has a good history and bibliography. From a Danish site but translated to English.

Physical Toys by Prof. Christian Ucke

Humming Gourd Top

Instructions on how to build humming top out of a gourd (German and English).

Quark, a high-tech finger top

Aluminum, tungsten and even a gold version.

How to make a Manpei Arai origami top

Video instructions to fold a square piece of paper into a functional finger top. See also this.

Grand Illusions

My absolute favorite odd toys and illusions site includes interesting tops, sometimes for sale (UK).

Spintastics

Dale and Val Oliver have been major supporters of topspinning in the US. First (HP) and largest (QS) aluminum tops. Patch award sytem.

Duncan

Most stable manufacturer. The Bearing King and the Ripcord have been produced since 2000 with practically no changes.

Strummol8

This Italian manufacturer is the new kid in the block but their delrin tops are superb.

Yoyojam

It is starting again the production of the Gates top that for many years was the king of the bearing tops.

Yoyofactory

Produced two high-performance aluminum tops: Throwback and Acrobat. But the limited production ran out.

Trompos Cinco Estrellas / Holotrompo

Largest manufacturer of spintops in Mexico. They have an extensive line of tops, including bearing (Turbo) tops.

Trompos Cometa

Second largest Mexican spintop manufacturer: Orion, Cobra, Diamante, etc. 

Trompos Space

New spintop company from Valencia, Spain. Their models are the Saturno and Saturno Roller.

Trompos Extrem

Mexican spintop manufacturer.

Infinite Illusions

Yoyonation

YoyoeXpert

Yoyostore

Yoyoplay

RSkillZ

Turner Toys

Alan Gray

Alan custom builds the best performance wooden tops, including oversize tops (such as my Figaro)

Watts' Tops

Walter Watts makes the original (solid) big tops for trick play, from 4" to 8". He is also a player (old-school) who learned from Shreiber.

Can-Cels

Important manufacturer of traditional Catalonian throw tops (baldufas) since 1950 from Sant Pere de Torelló, Barcelona, Spain.

Armin Kolb

Artist and master spintop maker from Germany. Some of the most beautiful tops anywhere.

Kreiselparadies

This German site may be the largest top shop in the world but mostly finger tops.

Sterling silver trompo (Mexico)

Itza Orfebres Mexicanos, silver crafts including this pegtop.

Les Trésors d´Agui (France)

Lots of nice crafted tops and top games from this shop (in French).

Channel Craft

Don Olney sold Toycrafter a few years ago and has since closed, but Channel Craft distributes some tops that seem of Toycrafter design.

Roy Campbell

This craftsman from Missouri specializes in tops, mostly throw tops. Besides the exotic woods, he makes clear acrylic pegtops.

Donatien

Fine French craftsman does very nice tops, mostly finger tops.

The Toy Post (UK)

Among many wooden classic toys they offer 14+ models of whip tops.

El taller de Tomaldo

Craftsman from Uruguay making tops from exotic woods, including nested pegtops (in Spanish).

Gyroscopes Online

Online dealer specializing in educational gyroscopes. It also carries related stuff, such as tops, tachometers, and exercise powerballs.

The Color of Life

Unusual finger tops are the main products in this little neat shop.

Maubi & Wood

Mauro Sarti, an artisan from Bologna, Italy, specializes in beautiful miniature finger tops.

Skittles at Berea College Crafts

Since 1929 they have been making these handcraft skittles games out of tulip poplar wood.

Herman Miller

A collection of 3 tops by this stylist furniture designer.

Rouge et Noir

A toy shop from France with many wooden finger tops.

Science Museum of Minnesota

Making finger tops.

Gilbert's Discovery Village (Salem, Oregon)

Rotational Inertial: Tops (teaching guide, part of Physics of Toys)

Earnshaw's Theorem and the Levitron

Spin-stabilized levitation and the Levitron

Dynamics of a Spinning Top