We started our last  day with a news spot in Hartford Connecticut on local news Fox 61. After our last news spot of the tour, we got to spend some of our day with the Yo-Yo People!

If you aren’t familiar with the Yo-Yo People, they are world renowned entertainers John and Rebecca Higby. And the newest addition to the yo-yo people, Theodore Rocket Higby!

John and Rebecca have traveled the globe entertaining and bringing the world of yo-yo to kids and grownups alike. They are also 2008 Guinness World Record Holders, and the winners of the artistic performance division of the  2008 World Yo-Yo Contest! Did I mention that John has his own special edition FH Zero? I could go on all day about how awesome John, Rebecca, and Theodore Rocket are.

Getting to spend some of our last day on tour with them was not only a treat, it was an honor.

Thanks for having us guys!

Last Duncan Tour Stop from John Higby on Vimeo.

After hundreds of demos, news spots, new friends, new yo-yo players, new experiences, and more..the tour comes down to this last demo.

We had the honor of making our last stop at The Toy Room in Bethel Connecticut. We had such a great audience filled with grown ups and kids alike ready to learn about the history of the Duncan yo-yo, and learn how to play yo-yo like the pros. It was one of my favorite stops on tour so far. The staff of The Toy Room, and the locals that came to watch and hang out were some of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. It could be that this was our last stop, but something about this stop made me feel like a kid again.. But I’m going to credit it to the fine folks at The Toy Room. Hopefully we’ll get to stop in again soon!

After the demo we were able to visit A2Z Toys in Northampton Massachusetts where Duncan Pro Nate Sutter learned most of his fancy yo-yo moves. A2Z is owned and operated by Jack Finn who has ran the A2Z yo-yo club for over 11 years now. After spending some time at A2Z we had dinner with National Yo-Yo Master Andre Boulay and his awesome wife Dev. They run the instructional website YoYoExpert.com which is also a retailer of Duncan yo-yos!

Tomorrow we have our final news spot, and the journey back home begins.

Our demo at Stellabella Toys in Dedham Massachusetts today was way fun. Not only did we have several seasoned yo-yo players show up, but Jeff Coons joined us as well! The parents were full of Duncan love today too! One dad brought his Imperial that he had as a child and when he started throwing the smiles were endless. It’s always great to see the parents who loved yo-yoing as a child helping get their kids into it. My grandfather taught me some of the basics when I was young with his green Imperial, so to see it happening with another father and son takes me back.

What has a ferris wheel, three floors of toys, a life size T-Rex, and Santa’s Duncan Elves?

Give up? Answer: Times Square Toys R Us on Black Friday!

Thats right, its the day after Thanksgiving which means its officially the Holiday season. Today was a blast, being in New York City for the busiest shopping day of the year may sound scary, but it was super fun! Toys R Us was slammed with people scratching  off their holiday shopping list 1 Duncan yo-yo at a time and the Duncan elves were on hand  explaining the difference between Speed Beetles, Pulses, Dragonflys, Butterflys, Imperials, and Freehands.

After the demo we did a little NYC Christmas shopping ourselves, then it was back to Boston where we picked up Jeff Coons!

Today we’ll be at Toys R Us in Times Square showing off some yo-yo tricks and giving advice as to what yo-yo gift buyers should purchase this holiday season. And being the busiest shopping day of the year its going to be quite an adventure. As this location is one of the, if not THE busiest location in the country.

For today’s second demo we stopped in at the Village Toyshop in Canton Massachusetts. When we arrived the shop was packed with people ready to yo-yo, and learn how to yo-yo. We did some demos, and had a good time with the yo-yo players of Canton today. Not only were we teaching, but they were teaching each other as well! Since there was such a good turnout of yo-yo players, the Village Toy Shop is going to going to start their very own yo-yo club so that the local yo-yo players will have a place to have club meetings. Who knows, maybe we’ll see some of these guys at the National, or World Yo-Yo Contest next year!

We started today with a demo at the Framingham Massachusetts Toys R Us. When we arrived we were greeted by a few local yo-yo players. Which always makes the demo tons of fun. Getting to exchange tricks, stories, and try out new yo-yos always brings joy to a yo-yo players day. But before we knew it, it was time to head to our next stop. Canton Massachusetts, here we come!

Eureka!

Jeff Coons joined Seth, Nate and I for or our second part of day 93 on tour. We had a tour stop in Brookline, Ma at Eureka Puzzles! But this was no ordinary tour stop. Eureka Puzzles had done a VERY good job of promoting our demo. Such a good job, that they had to book the Marriot across the street to hold the crowd! Once we arrived there were over 120 people in attendance ready to see what the Duncan Crew was bringin’. We performed demos and gave a seminar on yo-yo play, equipment, and competition. And after the educational experience, we taught the new players how to use their new Duncan yo-yos. We had a great time being with so many people ready to learn, and experience what yo-yoing is about.

Today we had tour stops in Narragansett, RI and Brookline, MA.
The first demo was at Brainwaves Toy Shop and it was tons of fun. The folks at Brainwaves were treated with yo-yo, spin top, and juggling demos! And the little ones even got to learn some new tricks!

Today we had a demo in Cohassett Massachusetts!

Buttonwood Books and Toys celebrated their 20th anniversary with us today! And we celebrated our 80th with them! Lots of local’s came out to check out what the Duncan Crew was all about, and we showed em’! They even had special 20th anniversary Duncan yo-yos made to give away to their visitors. And everyone made sure to grab one.

I think towards the end of the tour we’re starting to get better and better parking spaces, check out the one we got at Buttonwood!