Chatter ring | |
Othernames: | Gyro Ring, Jitter ring |
Country: | New Zealand |
From: | 1990s |
To: | present |
Materials: | metal ring, beads |
A chatter ring (also known as a gyro ring or jitter ring) is a New Zealand toy ring of thick metal wire with several beads. The toy is used by swiping the beads to get them spinning, while keeping the ring turning.[1] Around fifty thousand rings were purchased in New Zealand at department stores, street markets and dairies in 1996,[2] and was a popular Christmas gift for children that year.[3] During this time, there were several mentions of chatter rings on both radio and television.[4]
The toys were originally popular in the 1990s, and had a revival in 2011 when Apple Activities Educational Toys hosted the Hawke's Bay Chatter Ring Reunion in Hastings.[5] Prizes were awarded in a lucky dip as well as for winners of a number of categories such as best performance, oldest verifiable ring, youngest player and oldest player.[6]
Toshiaki Sasaki, recognised as the world's number one chatter ring player, visited New Zealand for a twelve-day tour to support and promote the re-release of the rings.[7] The chatter ring has been played with by the former Mayor of Invercargill Tim Shadbolt.[8]
A new generation of chatter rings was launched by Murray Potts who described the unveiling of his newly developed and produced jitter rings as a case of "what goes around comes around". Potts had previously made them commercially, working out of Japan. He later worked with a toy maker in Taiwan to produce the new jitter rings and along with Hawaii, both New Zealand and Taiwan became the first locations to experience the toy.[9]
Chatter ring performances were included on an episode of New Zealand children's television series What Now [10] and at department store Farmers.[11]