it started before monkey knuckles

 

i’ve always liked toys.  i remember when i was a little kid and i first learned what the word mature meant, i equated it with losing interest in toys.  i worried for a little while that i would never get mature because nothing was more interesting than toys and i couldn’t imagine a world where i didn’t like them, just like i couldn’t imagine a world where i would have the patience to sit and watch the news.  as i got older i sort of grew up, but i never lost my interest in toys.  the coolest toys for me were the ones that you could do the most with.  i liked toys that i could find new ways to play with, so naturally i gravitated to skill toys, yo-yos and the like.

 

one day a few years back, i saw a toy i had never seen before.  it was super simple and super cool.  it was astrojax, three balls on a string.  it blew my mind that something so elegant could have escaped invention for so long.  i set to work making me a set, and as always, i was compelled to start messing with things.  i started playing with new configurations and slowly something new evolved.  i realized that by freeing up a second ball to slide on the string, a lot of new possibilities opened up… and monkey knuckles was born.  a solution looking for a problem.

 

monkey knuckles was the first, followed by moknuckle, the one ball version…

 

and then the flood gates opened and out came a rush of new ideas, designs and well garbage too.  rich in means, poor in ends.  but i think there is opportunity.  although my ideas are low tech, the internets have made it possible to connect with interested folks, manufacturers, suppliers, and to start building a little and unprofitable business from this love of toys.