Original TEDCO Gyroscope Nostalgic Spinning Science Toy

He said it was the best on he got for the price, kept him entertained for a couple of days.

Fun and interesting to play with had a lot of fun seeing how fast I could get it spinning

I bought this toy because I saw a video on youtube of a gyroscope never failing to fall. Balancing on a string, on a pen cap, and even put on a string sideways. This toy is a little cheaper than the one on the video I saw. The balancing is not quite as spectacular as the one on the video and it is a little stiff on the rotations. But, for this price it does provide quite a bit of enjoyment. It can balance on a string and a pen cap, but not for a long time as scene on the the video. Sometimes it can correct itself when it is put sideways, but not all the time. Overall, I do like this product for its price and I would recommend it. Enjoy!

I bought it for my six yo nephew, and he loves it

This thing is complete trash. I have seen these work properly and I thought I would get one just to play around with. However, when I received this it had an unwelded gap in the outer frame. After reading in the manual I learned that this was intentional to allow for "balancing". I say that that is a complete lie. The vibrating everyone complains about is caused by this gap. A properly constructed gyroscope should be nearly silent. Also, the vibration is so intense it just falls over. The string I have is nearly broken after 3 wind up and pulls. Yes the gyro spins. No it doesn't do any tricks because it isn't constructed properly (believe me, mind would even stand on the table). It is also very fragile. Drop it once, and the middle piece will probably fall out. Unfortunately, most of the non expensive gyros are this way. I don't recommend you buy this, even for $6.00 (what I spent). The picture only looks similar to the actual gyroscope, the picture has no un welded piece and the middle is properly constructed. If you just want a gyroscope to play around with THIS IS NOT THE GYROSCOPE FOR YOU. If you however are an experienced repair man, I recommend this product as it requires many repairs.

This toy is adequate to demonstrate some of the fundamental physics of gyroscopes, but the quality and performance is disappointing to a person who remembers the gyroscopes of that past that this is supposed to replicate. In the first place, the circular frame is not really rigid. There is a break in it that is intentional, according to the instructions, and is used for "final balancing adjustments." Unfortunately, the unit I received had such a noticeable imbalance, which no amount of adjustment of the frame would correct, that the entire frame vibrated and if placed on the included plastic stand, at any angle other than vertical, the buzzing vibration quickly bounced the entire frame off of the mount. By suspending the gyroscope on a loop at the end of the pull string I was able, for a few seconds, to demonstrate the ability of the gyroscope to "defy gravity" but because of the imbalance and vibration, friction and vibration degrade the speed and operation of the gyroscope within a few seconds. Bottom line, this toy may be worth the price that reflects its poor quality, but it is a very disappointing tool for demonstrating the amazing properties of a quality gyroscope. I haven't tried other "toy" quality gyroscopes, but I would NOT recommend this one.

Although the gyroscope isn't perfectly balanced (vibrates on its axis quite a bit), it's still able to perform all the stunts as seen in the videos. This includes the gravity-defying "hovering" trick where it levitates sideways. Granted, it takes a little practice to get it working right - it works best if you stand it straight up first and "nudge" it sideways. I have found this technique will always work.Getting it to balance on the other hand was tricky, and I was unable to balance it on my finger or any other odd, non-flat surface besides the included stand.

I bought three of these for myself and two of my classmates in engineering physics. Understanding the physics behind gyroscopes is fascinating, but really, they're just fun to play with. This toy gyro is well made and will probably last a generation or more without breaking. The cord is quite strong, but in the event it breaks, it's just a cord and can easily be replaced. The only issue encountered was that one of the gyros had a bit more friction than the others, but that can be remedied with some grease. Many hours of fun for nerds of all ages.