# Help looking for 2 specific toys. (Brazilians, please look.)



## ElectricDoodie (Jan 21, 2011)

I've recently remembered 2 toys I loved as a kid, and wanted to try to find them again, and buy them.

I grew up in Brazil, so I don't know what they were called or how famous they were in the US, and other countries. I'm gonna try to make the best description I can, along with pictures to help.


*Toy #1*

Here's a picture of what it looked like. Except the one I had was not a transparent plastic, like this one. 


Spoiler











The first toy is known by many, many different names. I knew them as Clique-Claque in Portuguese, but I think Clackers is what's most common in the US.

They were 2 large balls, made of plastic, connected by a string. The center of the string had a metal ring, which you held. You then would try to get the balls to bounce off each other, and once you became better, you would make them bounce off each other under and over your hand.

While researching it, I found out that the US banned them, because the acrylic that was used in the US, had a probability of shattering, when the balls came into contact, since they move at a very high speed. Another reason for the ban was that if you weren't good at it enough, the balls would go flying at your wrists, and give you large welts and bruises.

But later, the US allowed them back, but in a different form. Much smaller, and this time, they did not have strings on them. They were set into a fixed position, so that there was no more challenge to them. The balls would hit each other, without you even needing to try or learning to do it. And now, they could not hit your wrists. 

Americans usually see it in party mix bags, like the one here:


Spoiler










Basically, I just want to know if anyone else knows of this toy, and if I could find it anywhere. Maybe there's a trustworthy/known website up, that still sells the old kind, since I can't find it in any stores in the US.




*Toy #2*

This is a picture of the second toy:


Spoiler










It's pretty much just a wooden top, so I don't think there's any special name for it in the US. In Portuguese, it's known as Pião or Roda Pião.

It's a pretty heavy wooden top. You wrap a thick string around it, and throw it as hard as you can, while pulling the string back to make it spin, like a top. Once it's spinning, it stays spinning for a very long time, and you can do tricks with it, such as picking it up while it's spinning, and having it spin on top of the string, without it falling off.

Looking for the same thing here, which is maybe a website that sells a good quality wooden top. 




I have almost no hope that this will work, but I wanted to try it out, since I've got nothing to lose. Thanks for any help.


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## flan (Jan 21, 2011)

edit im an idiot


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## Cool Frog (Jan 21, 2011)

I know the second one, my grandmother got me one when she went on a trip to columbia. (She said all the kids did it there even when she was a kid)
I have never seen them in the United States though.


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## Walter Souza (Jan 21, 2011)

I used to play with (and get hurt by) these toys in the early 90s.

The first one is know as "bate-bate". The one I had was made of hard plastic and looked like this. It's pretty much extinct by now.

"Pião" and its accompanying string "fieira" aren't as popular as they used to be, but still can be found in craft fairs.


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## ElectricDoodie (Jan 21, 2011)

Walter Souza said:


> I used to play with (and get hurt by) these toys in the early 90s.
> 
> The first one is know as "bate-bate". The one I had was made of hard plastic and looked like this. It's pretty much extinct by now.
> 
> "Pião" and its accompanying string "fieira" aren't as popular as they used to be, but still can be found in craft fairs.


 
That is _exactly_ what I had!
My parents called it a "Bate-Bate" when they gave it to me. And we're from Sao Paulo, also.
I guess you're right about them being extinct. Maybe a Camelô has one, and I can ask a family member to buy it, if they ever see it. I used to play with them in the mid-90s.


And about the "Pião," the only chance I have then, is to find it in some vintage store, or vintage toy site.
Oh, well. Thanks for the help.


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## FatBoyXPC (Jan 21, 2011)

For the Click-Clacks that you mentioned, your second picture is what I remember as a child. You can find them at most Dollar Stores or Big Lots in the Toys section. 

For the second toy, you can get something similar from Cracker Barrel. They sell a metal gyroscope where you wrap a string around it, pull it, and you can spin it on your finger, on the string, etc. It's not a top by any means, but it's the same basic idea (a top is a gyroscope). This is what it looks like.


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## ElectricDoodie (Jan 21, 2011)

fatboyxpc said:


> For the Click-Clacks that you mentioned, your second picture is what I remember as a child. You can find them at most Dollar Stores or Big Lots in the Toys section.
> 
> For the second toy, you can get something similar from Cracker Barrel. They sell a metal gyroscope where you wrap a string around it, pull it, and you can spin it on your finger, on the string, etc. It's not a top by any means, but it's the same basic idea (a top is a gyroscope). This is what it looks like.


 

Thanks for your help, but that's actually the problem.
Both of the 2 versions of the toys you've suggested are easy and take no effort to use. I've played with both of them, as they are both fairly common.

The Clackers nowadays are not fun at all. They're in fixed position, the balls collide without you needing to try. The older ones made you actually have to learn how to use it, or it would punish you by leaving bruises and welts on your wrists and forearms.

They gyroscope stands on its own, and does not require skill to pick it up, while leaving it spinning, since it's a gyroscope, and that's what it does.

I enjoy the challenge of the original versions of these toys, which is why I wanted to try to play with them again.


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## FatBoyXPC (Jan 21, 2011)

Well I don't know if I've seen the clackers you mentioned, but if you can find any sort of craft fair or pioneer fair in your area, that would be the best bet for both of these toys. The gyroscope doesn't stand until it's spinning, the same with the top.


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## ElectricDoodie (Jan 21, 2011)

fatboyxpc said:


> Well I don't know if I've seen the clackers you mentioned, but if you can find any sort of craft fair or pioneer fair in your area, that would be the best bet for both of these toys.


 Thanks. I'll look online, and see if I can find anything in my area. Never been to or seen one of these before.







fatboyxpc said:


> The gyroscope doesn't stand until it's spinning, the same with the top.


Yes, but the gyroscope can continue to stand, no matter how you move it. You can just pick it up, and put it on the tip of you chin, shoe, finger, etc... and it's supposed to not fall. It's designed so that it stays upright and spinning, without being as hard as a regular top.

The top will fall, if it stops spinning (which is easy to do if you're trying to put it somewhere else), or if you put it in too much of an angle. This forces you to be able to move the top around, without letting it fall over.


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## FatBoyXPC (Jan 21, 2011)

The gyroscope will not stand if it's not spinning. A top _is_ a gyroscope, just like a bicycle wheel when moving. Sure while you are riding a bike you can lean over too far, but for the most part it does want to stay up on its own (for a better example of this, look at motorcycles).


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## ElectricDoodie (Jan 21, 2011)

fatboyxpc said:


> The gyroscope will not stand if it's not spinning. A top _is_ a gyroscope.


 
Yes, I said that too. But you're not seeing my point. 
It is _much_ easier to move a gyroscope around and put it where you want, while keeping it spinning, than a top.
Like I said, I want the challenge, and moving a gyroscope around without stopping it from spinning has little challenge in it, unlike a top. You can put it in much more angled positions, than you can with a top, also.


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## FatBoyXPC (Jan 21, 2011)

Oh, well yes I'd agree it's easier to move around (but that's due to how there is that stem). The angle of which you can move them though depend on their build, as obviously the cg will matter.


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## Maniac (Jan 21, 2011)

My family and I go to Brazil every summer and I have a pião in Brazil. I could probably get you one. The funny thing is I live in Florida too. I've never seen the other toy though, but I assume you could get it somewhere here.


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## Flipper (Jan 22, 2011)

In the UK the first toy were called Clackers and were massive in the early 70's. They gained a bad press for the amount of impact wrist injuries they caused and then there reports of them shattering and causing eye injuries (which only made us try to get the highest speeds to see if they would). They were then banned in all schools and shops stopped selling them. For original Clackers try http://www.timewarptoys.com/clackers.htm


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## ElectricDoodie (Jan 22, 2011)

Flipper said:


> In the UK the first toy were called Clackers and were massive in the early 70's. They gained a bad press for the amount of impact wrist injuries they caused and then there reports of them shattering and causing eye injuries (which only made us try to get the highest speeds to see if they would). They were then banned in all schools and shops stopped selling them. For original Clackers try http://www.timewarptoys.com/clackers.htm


 Thanks for that site. For some reason, every site I find is just a homemade one like that...
But, that's one of the better looking ones I've seen. I'll be getting in contact with them, thanks.


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## TiLiMayor (Jan 22, 2011)

Im Colombian and I grew along this toys as well so the first one we call it 'tronadoras' and the second one we call it 'trompo'.


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