Fidget Spinners

bnt · 01-05-2017 08:52PM #1

Apparently these are the must-have gadget for 2017, though I only heard about them last week, fashion-unconscious as I are. There are a few types, but the most common seem to be the trilobal types, three blades with a bearing in the middle. I did a bit of searching and there are cheap ones, super-expensive ones, YouTube channels that review them and discuss the merits of ceramic vs standard bearings, and contests to see who can spin them the longest.

https://twitter.com/fingerlabzcom/status/856585180277899264

So I was in Dundrum Centre today, remembered that there is a gadget shop there, and thought I might try one and see what they cost. Nope: signs stuck to the counter saying "sold out till Thursday". Oh well. I wonder what it would cost me to ship a box of them from Alibaba in China, so I could resell them on eBay?

Nah. By the time they get here, the trend will be over, and it will be on to the next thing. Yo-yos are due for a comeback. The whole Fidget Spinner thing has blown up so fast that even with-it teenagers are going "wot?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzWgno-HZBk

Arghus · 01-05-2017 08:54PM

Seems like an enormous waste of time, but each to their own!

Noveight · 01-05-2017 08:57PM

By the time you have them through your letter box the young 'uns will have already moved on to the next fad :pac:

Ken. · 01-05-2017 08:59PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV0wTtiJygY

The_Valeyard · 01-05-2017 08:59PM

I dont get it?

Beasty · 01-05-2017 09:02PM

The_Valeyard wrote: »

I dont get it?

I don't either but the youngest kid's obsessed already - just had to do an order with Amazon. They are cheap (and presumably cheerful) though

Insect Overlord · 01-05-2017 09:08PM

Noveight wrote: »

By the time you have them through your letter box the young 'uns will have already moved on to the next fad :pac:

You'd think that, but 12-14 year olds in the Midlands are still obsessed with bottle-flipping. That should have reached its peak a year ago. They're f*cking tragic.

Erik Shin · 01-05-2017 09:10PM

What a waste of a perfectly good **** hand

01-05-2017 09:11PM

I can't watch that video she's bizarre
I've heard of them but haven't seen how you fidget them or whatever

Erik Shin · 01-05-2017 09:12PM

bluewolf wrote: »

I can't watch that video she's bizarre
I've heard of them but haven't seen how you fidget them or whatever

You could try looking at the video above it

The_Valeyard · 01-05-2017 09:12PM

I honestly thought this was going to be a thread about people who click pens and flip the pen between fingers.

Noveight · 01-05-2017 09:16PM

An File wrote: »

You'd think that, but 12-14 year olds in the Midlands are still obsessed with bottle-flipping. That should have reached its peak a year ago. They're f*cking tragic.

Reports say they're still planking out on the Aran Islands. Bless 'em.

Stigura · 01-05-2017 09:56PM

What were those balls that time? I think the idea was to shake them in ye hands

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 01-05-2017 09:58PM

Why?

Just... why?

MilesMorales1 · 01-05-2017 09:58PM

As with most of these fad things, absolute ****e.

Beyondgone · 01-05-2017 09:58PM

New take on worry beads. I don't see the harm. I spin my phone in my hand when I'm stressed. Each to their own.

James Bond Junior · 01-05-2017 10:00PM

I tried one out in one of the souks in Dubai 2 weeks ago. They look like 100 times more fun than they actually are. Left it behind me, waste of money.

ArchXStanton · 01-05-2017 10:06PM

These have taken off in the vaping community for the last few months,something to do with your hands or something or other

IvyTheTerrible · 01-05-2017 10:09PM

These things are spreading like fungus at school. I suppose if it stops the kids trying to look at their phones in class it's not too bad!

Stigura · 01-05-2017 10:52PM

Stigura wrote: »

What were those balls that time? I think the idea was to shake them in ye hands

Oh, yeah .....

FFS .....

mahamageehad · 01-05-2017 10:54PM

I have a fidget cube and I love it. Gives me something to do with my hands while I'm thinking at work, without the death stares from my colleagues for clicking my pen!

nullzero · 01-05-2017 11:10PM

A product that is a ludicrous as it's name would suggest, much like the yo yo before it.

01-05-2017 11:41PM

Mohamed Careful Jeans wrote: »

Why?

Just... why?

They tend to appeal with people who are slightly anxious, perhaps a little hyperactive, and I think they're used therapeutically by some people on the autism spectrum as a self-comforting aid when they might feel overwhelmed by giving them something to focus that stress on.

They seem to fill the same sort of gap as perhaps prayer or rosary beads might do, the action becomes ritualistic and soothing and can be used to calm oneself in the same way as the prayer beads do, without spiritual significance.

I think they're harmless and if they're at all effective then it's probably not a bad fad, as fads go.

Muir · 01-05-2017 11:51PM

They were originally designed for children with ADHD and autism to use in the classroom because it helps their concentration. I assume other children seen them then & wanted them too and that's how it took off.

gizmo81 · 01-05-2017 11:53PM

I thought the fellas on Henry Street were asking me did I want a finger spinner.

They are all the rage on Henry Street.

Peregrine · 01-05-2017 11:54PM

I'm very fidgety but I don't think I'd like that. I had a fidget cube for a while and that was pretty good.

r93kaey5p2izun · 01-05-2017 11:54PM

Muir wrote: »

They were originally designed for children with ADHD and autism to use in the classroom because it helps their concentration. I assume other children seen them then & wanted them too and that's how it took off.

Very poor design for a classroom. They're incredibly noisy and regularly spin out of control. The cubes are a little better but not much. I find it hard to believe they originate in any sort of sound research on ADHD or ASD - seems more like somebody in China saw a marketing opportunity.

andekwarhola · 02-05-2017 07:29AM

My son is pestering me every waking hour for one. Sold out until Thursday won't really cut the musard when Fatherly Omnipotence is presumed as a given.

9or10 · 02-05-2017 07:33AM

bluewolf wrote: »

I can't watch that video she's bizarre
I've heard of them but haven't seen how you fidget them or whatever

Me neither. Now I'm kicking myself for giving her yet another view

Samaris · 02-05-2017 08:12AM

I keep seeing ads recently for metallic spinning tops too, on various sites. Wonder if that resurfacing has anything to do with these things?

The shape might change slightly (like roller-skates to rollerblades), but traditional toys keep making resurgences.

GBX · 02-05-2017 11:14AM

These are being knocked by a lot of people that they are a waste of time. At the end of the day, we all had fads that passed the time when we were younger that other people laughed at as being useless but we were still content with it.

Fidget Spinners

Comments