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[SpinQueen]

I had coffee with my best friend in S.F. this morning afterward we went to his store where he sells high end collectables and antiques.  Inside his shop he pulled out this bowl full of tops that he had been collecting for me over the last three months.  What a lucky girl I am!

Here is a link to more photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796601@N03/

[ta0]

Wow!  I want a friend like that! That is a treasure trove?

Do you want to trade the Planters Peanuts whip top? 

[SpinQueen]

I was waiting for you to notice that one Ta0    Nope sorry, that's one of my favs.  Wish I had the original whip stick that went with it.

[ta0]

Sorry, I could not find a picture of the whip, just the instructions:



I have seen them go for $150+ (those Planters Peanuts collectors . . .  )

[the Earl of Whirl]

I am jealous, SpinQueen, and wish to get my hands on your new collection!  On the other hand, since you are on the opposite coast and I can't get my hands on your spinners I will just have to be happy for you.

Congratulations on having such good friends!

[SpinQueen]

Wow Ta0 that's great!  I used to save a lot of photos back when I was e-baying a lot.  It's such a great resource.  Have you seen tops like these?



I wasn't sure they were even tops because of the hollowed tops.  All the whip tops I've seen have had solid flat tops.  I found one similar to these in Goulds book that was from Germany but it didn't show the crown.

[poptop]

Maybe they're plumbing tools

Congrats!  Those are super sweet.  I've got a little wicker basket that I've filled with a few well worn peg tops.  Long lost relatives perhaps?  They do make a lovely display...

[ta0]

Those are definitely whip tops. I don't think pipe flaring tools would have the metal tip, nor would a finial.

I do have a different hollowed whip top. I guess at some point in time somebody realized they spun better like that.

[SpinQueen]

Here's a collection of whipping tops from Germany on e-bay.  Several do have concave tops.  I'm thinking that it would be easier to start a top this way by putting a finger in the divot rather than having it slip off of a flat surface.

LOT-OF-22-VINTAGE-WOODEN-GERMAN-SPINNING-TOPS

[ta0]

My hollowed whip top looks just like one of those bullet type, even with the same color scheme as the red-white-green (2nd row from top, 1st column from right). But the upper part is different (the hole goes down most of the length of the top):



All those whip tops look production tops, I doubt they were made by one guy as described in the listing. The most interesting to me is the double pointed. It looks like one of those that if you start it spinning around horizontally (that is, around the short axle) they will stand up by themselves and spin around the long axle (similar principle as a tippy top).

[the Earl of Whirl]

Congrats, again, on your wondrous gift.  Congrats, also, on your 300th post!

[SpinQueen]

Hey thanks Mike, I didn't even notice that.

[gunhawk7]

I have one that's similar to the red, natural and blue one in the center of the photo.  It's smaller though.  Anybody have any idea when it would have been manufactured?  I never saw one like that, without the extended top that allows the string to be looped around and secured, in the 1950's.  The tops that I saw in play always looked like either the blue, yellow or red with yellow stripe that are to the right of it.

Ed