Astrojax Plus

Astrojax is a children's toy consisting of three balls on a string--a ball is fixed at each end of the string, and the center ball is free to slide along the string between the two end balls. Inside each ball is a metal weight. The metal weight lowers the moment of inertia of the center ball so it can rotate rapidly in response to torques applied by the string. This prevents the string from snagging or tangling around the center ball. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Teddy bear A toy is something to play with, for children, adults or both, or pets. ...

Roughly, Astrojax play is a cross between juggling, yo-yo, and lasso. A wide variety of tricks and maneuvers can be performed with it. The basic maneuvers are vertical orbits, horizontal orbits and a figure-eight (butterfly) pattern. There are a number of styles of Astrojax play, including a yo-yo influenced style, a poi (juggling)-influenced style, and NO? style, which was developed by Myc Wyse. Juggling can refer to all forms of artful or skillful object manipulation. ... The yo-yo is a toy consisting of two equally-sized discs of plastic, wood, or metal, connected with an axle, around which a string is wound. ... A lasso is a loop of rope that is designed to be thrown around a target and tighten when pulled. ... Māori Poi dance, by Manutuke School at Hopuhopu 2003 Poi is a form of juggling with balls on ropes, held in the hands and swung in various circular patterns, similar to club-twirling. ...

Astrojax was invented by physicist Larry Shaw in 1987. It first appeared on the market in 1994, when it was sold through The Nature Company. Over the next several years it won a number of toy awards. In 2000 Astrojax was acquired by Active People, a Swiss company specializing in yo-yos, juggling toys and kites. In 2003 corporate chains such as Target, Walmart, KB Toys, and Toys-R-Us started to carry the product. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated like the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ...

Active People sells several different types of Astrojax:

• The Plus is made of a soft foam and, because of the softness of the balls, is the best version for beginners. It is good for rebound tricks but not particularly showy.
• The V-max is made from a durable high-quality plastic. Because of the slickness of the surfaces of the balls, the V-max is good for faster moves.
• The Saturn is made from a durable high-quality plastic and has LED lights inside each ball. The LEDs can be set to be constantly on or strobing, i.e., a "disco" mode. The standard Saturn has a ball with red LEDS, a ball with yellow LEDs, and a ball with green LEDs. There is also a light-up version with super-bright blue LEDs called the Blue Diamond.

Astrojax has been taken into outer space by NASA in their "Toys in Space" program, and there are three Astrojax categories in the Guinness Book of World Records database.

There are many basic tricks to Astrojax skill toys.

Some are the following-

How to start- 1) Hold each end ball in your hands, leaving the middle slack and hanging. 2) Drop one of the end balls.

The start can link into any of the following

Vertical Orbit 1) This is basically timing. After dropping the ball, keep bouncing your hand slightly, trying to keep the rhythm of the bounces. 2) Continue, but make sure the middle ball stays relatively still. Sample: http://www.astrojax.com/images/tricks/basics/vertical.gif

Horizontal orbit 1) After dropping the external ball, Move your hand slightly side to side. 2) This is also timing. Make sure to not pick up speed, or you will be facing a crazy jax. Sample: http://www.astrojax.com/images/tricks/basics/horizontal.gif

Butterfly 1) This is the trickiest. Start with a vertical orbit, and bounce back and forth. This is also called the DNA, but Butterfly is the main name. Sample: http://www.astrojax.com/images/tricks/basics/butterfly.gif

External links

• Official site
• Online pro shop/store
• Tricks and videos
• tricks, pictures, vidéos ...