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Return to Best Classic Toys - 2001 Back Main Next . . This top can spin on any of its spheres not just one, a breakthrough in new design of a classic toy. The top teaches children the way that nature build with spheres and it comes with trading cards that teach about the structures of the shapes. Your child will be fascinated with this toy, have fun, and learn more about physics and chemistry. |
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No one is sure when or where they were first spun, but toy tops have been found in nearly every culture on the planet. The variety of design is endless, but there is one remarkable similarity to all traditional tops - they all have only one axis of spin. Their fascinating shapes, composed of different arrangements of spheres, do not have a single stem like traditional tops. They have the ability to spin on any of their spheres. And, their unusual designs enhance their spin-ability, making them some of the longest spinning tops around. |
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Przybilla wanted a three dimensional model of some of the building-block shapes Mr. Fuller talks about, like the icosahedron, the octahedron and the tetrahedron. He built them from plastic spheres and while fiddling with the models realized that they could be spun. Well, anyway, spinning them is a nifty way to fritter away time in the office. Four tops, the three shapes above and a cuboctahedron come packed in a see-through plastic tube with a set of trading cards explaining the details of each shape in terms of faces, vertexes, etc. |
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The literature that came with my set of Tetratops is full of enlightening knowledge. The Tetratops are simply marble sized clear plastic balls glued together. When together, the resulting shapes make great tops that spin on any of the spheres. The more spheres in the shape, the more axes of spin. There are many shapes including the tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron and cuboctahedron that came with the set I purchased. |
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