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Skip-It

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Skip-It
CompanyTiger Electronics

Skip-It is a children's toy introduced in 1960s, the most popular variants of which were manufactured by Tiger Electronics in the 1980s and 1990s. The Skip-It apparatus was designed to be affixed to the child's ankle via a small plastic hoop and spun around in a 360 degree rotation while continuously skipped by the user.[1]

Early toys similar to the Skip-It included the Jingle Jump,[2] the trademark application for which was filed on December 30, 1963 by Jak-Pak Industries.[3]

In the spring of 1968, Montreal-based plastic company Twinpak released a toy with similar function known as the Footsee, supposedly based on a game Twinpak co-founder Bob Asch saw an Arab child play in Jerusalem.[4] The toy was a tremendous success in Canada, and Reliable Toy Company of Toronto released the Skipit (as the name was then spelled) that same year as a competitor. Twinpak sued Reliable for copying the design of their toy, and secured a temporary injunction prohibiting Reliable from manufacturing the Skipit,[5] but by June 15, 1968 the two companies had reached a settlement allowing Reliable to continue manufacturing Skipits.[6] Both toys were also distributed in the United States at this time. In 1975,[7] the Chemtoy Corporation would release a similar toy called the Lemon Twist, which featured a lemon-shaped ball.[8]

Tiger Electronics acquired the rights to the Skip-It in 1988 from its American rightsholder, the Paul E. Price Company.[9] Tiger Electronics added a mechanical digital counter to the ball, which was patented by Avi Arad and Melvin R. Kennedy in 1990.[10]

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Skip-It apparatus became a commercial success through its advertisements on daytime Nickelodeon broadcasting as well as other children's programming.[11]

A version of the toy was featured in the Hong Kong martial art movie Butterfly and Sword (1993) where the character Miu Siu Siu / Ho Ching is seen playing with it.[12]

In 2011, Time magazine included it in their 100 greatest toys ever.[13] The Skip-It apparatus was designed to be affixed to the child's ankle via a small plastic hoop and spun around in a 360 degree rotation while continuously skipped by the user.[14]

In 2013, a spin-off of the board game Twister was developed, Twister Rave Skip-It.

References

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  1. ^ Marti Anne Maguire, Jaclyn Bissell (2010). 101 Ways to Score Higher on Your Sat Reasoning Test. Atlantic Publishing Company. p. 114. ISBN 9781601382221.
  2. ^ "WOOLWORTH'S Jingle Jump (advertisement)". The Pittsburgh Press. July 8, 1964. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Class 22 - Games, Toys, and Sporting Goods". Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. 830: TM 148. September 20, 1966. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  4. ^ Bieler, Zoe (23 September 1969). "Hey, look Ma — now it's Handsees!". The Montreal Star. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Toymakers must settle own dispute". The Montreal Star. Canadian Press. 1 June 1968. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Reliable Toy back in game with Skipit". National Post. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 15 June 1968. p. 32. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  7. ^ "SN 72,980". Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. 948: TM 188. July 20, 1976. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  8. ^ "A Look At Some Toys We Were Told Were Dangerous But Which We Loved Anyway". StarPulse. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Trademark Assignment Details, Reel/Frame: 0616/0982". Assignments on the Web. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  10. ^ US patent 5083964A, Avi Arad, "Hoop-like toy with counter mechanism", published 1992-01-28, issued 1992-01-28, assigned to Tiger Electronics Inc 
  11. ^ "What ever happened to: Skip-It?". The Spectator (Eau Claire, Wisconsin). September 29, 2008.
  12. ^ Mak, Michael (Director) (January 16, 1993). Butterfly and Sword (Motion picture) (in Cantonese). Hong Kong: Chang-Hong Channel Film & Video Co.[dead YouTube link]
  13. ^ Townsend, Allie (Feb 16, 2011). "ALL-TIME 100 Greatest Toys: Skip-It". Time magazine website. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011.
  14. ^ Marti Anne Maguire, Jaclyn Bissell (2010). 101 Ways to Score Higher on Your Sat Reasoning Test. Atlantic Publishing Company. p. 114. ISBN 9781601382221.