Chatter ring

A chatter ring (also known as gyro ring, 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]

Chatter ring
A boy playing with a ring
Other namesGyro Ring, Jitter ring
CountryNew Zealand
Availability1990s–present
Materialsmetal ring, beads

2011 revival

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, recognized 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 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]

References
  1. Chatter rings: The fad that needs to die
  2. Jitter Ring Vs. chatter ring – what is the difference? Archived April 13, 2013, at Archive.today
  3. Children talk chatter rings (subscription required)
  4. Putting a Face to a Name: The Jitter Ring on Facebook
  5. Chatter Rings return to Hawke's Bay
  6. Hawkes Bay Chatter Ring Reunion 2011
  7. World No. 1 chatter ring player visiting New Zealand May 5~17 Archived February 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Southern film-makers shoot to success in 48-hour production
  9. Toy with familiar ring gets jittery makeover
  10. What Now - Kyle Chen's Jitter Ring tricks
  11. Jitter Ring Demonstration
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