Spinner is a wonderful gift at any age, which will not only please the eye with its design, but also, in some cases, will help deal with stressful situations in the life of its owner.

The rapidly growing fidget spinner market can offer you both fakes and completely non-functional products. Let's figure it out how to choose the right spinner.

What types of spinners are there?

We previously wrote about the types of spinners in the article -

But we will repeat again:

• Cheap- plastic or metal spinners with steel bearings
• Expensive- a spinner made of any material, but always with a ceramic bearing
• The best— hybrid spinners, namely, the bearing in it must have a metal housing + ceramic balls.

Also, spinners differ in the material of the product body. For example, spinners made from a plastic frame made on a 3D printer are very popular. Why are these spinners popular? Because it's cheap. Turntables made of metal, brass and copper will cost you more. For those who love unique designs, there are a large number of wooden spinners on the market. And most of all, spinners differ in shape, design, speed and duration of rotation.

Why do you need a spinner?

We will tell you about several tips when choosing a spinner, such as the purpose of buying it.

• Hand spinner? Any spinner with any bearing and *drum roll* made of any material will do. If you just need to keep your hands busy, then pay attention not to speed, design, etc., but to ease of wearing and using - this is the main thing.
• A spinner for a gift? More than a thousand designer turntables can be bought and ordered from China. There are no comrades according to taste, but we suggest reading our article -.
• Do you want to do tricks with a spinner? If we are talking about professional spinners and any competitions, then you should choose a spinner according to several parameters:
  1. Spinner weight: It should be minimal, but the most important thing is that you should feel it.
  2. Spinner dimensions: Choose a spinner that fits perfectly and fits in your hand! What tricks can there be if you are not comfortable holding the spinner?
  3. Bearings: Ceramic or hybrid only, preferably R188 or 608.
  4. Material: We recommend copper to everyone, because... it is softer, but also more susceptible to scratches and chips.

Which spinner is suitable for children?

1. Use heavy metal spinners.
2. Spinners with sharp edges
3. Expensive turntables that may be stolen or lost

We recommend buying your child a classic-shaped spinner with 3 blades, preferably plastic, and always with rounded edges. There are cases of injuries to children who carelessly played with their spinner. Cuts on the palms of the hands, swallowing of small parts and bruises due to heavy pinwheels are the most common injuries in children.

What to look for when choosing a spinner

1. Housing material. Remember, a metal spinner cannot cost 100 rubles! Most likely they are deceiving you and selling you a plastic spinner with a metal design and coloring.
2. Packaging and Warranties. Conscientious sellers always guarantee the return of the spinner or money if you don’t like it. Pay attention to the packaging of your purchase - this is the first sign of a counterfeit spinner.
3. Spinner bearing. When purchasing, you must immediately look and verify that the bearing is exactly the same as was indicated when describing the spinner. New users will not be able to distinguish ceramics from steel, or an r188 bearing from a 608. That’s why we wrote an article -
4. Spinner cost. Remember: plastic - from 100 to 500 rubles, metal - from 500 rubles. Everything that is more expensive is either a unique design and original work, or the usual cheating and deception. Be careful, there are a lot of identical spinners for sale on AliExpress, choose by price, reviews and shipping costs yourself.
5. Accessories. Many quality and professional spinners can be repaired with their own branded set of screwdrivers and spare parts that will come in the box with the spinner. Check this with the seller or when studying the product description.

Fidget spinner, fidget spinner or hand spinner (from the English fidget spinner or hand spinner) is a popular anti-stress toy. It consists of weighted blades, and in the center there is a bearing. The spinner rotates like a top. It is customary to rotate it in your hands, pressing the bearing with your fingers.
The toy was developed to help people with impaired concentration due to anxiety or autism syndromes. The spinner develops fine motor skills, relieves anxiety, calms and has a beneficial effect on brain development.

The toy was invented back in the 1990s. For a long time, no one was interested in her. But in April 2017, spinners began to rapidly gain popularity. And in just a couple of months they became the most popular toy of 2017.

Those who like to twirl something in their hands while thinking liked this gadget. Therefore, the spinner quickly won the attention of office workers. And teenagers love to play with this fashionable gadget, inventing and performing all sorts of tricks. Therefore, the spinner penetrated into educational institutions and became an integral attribute of every schoolchild.

Is a spinner useful? How can he harm?

There is an opinion that a fidget spinner helps with studying because it allows you to concentrate. But many teachers, not without reason, believe that the fidget spinner distracts from classes.

In fact, this toy can be both useful and harmful for the student. The fact is that children often use it incorrectly. Instead of spinning the spinner in the background while concentrating on their studies, students give their full attention to the toy. Therefore, in order for the spinner to help, a person should not play with it, doing all sorts of difficult tricks. Therefore, many schools already prohibit bringing fidget spinners to classes.

How to choose a spinner?

Many people ask the question: which spinner is better? How to choose a good spinner? After all, the market offers us a huge variety of options for this toy. They can be both expensive - up to $100 per model - and very cheap.

Spinners differ in shape: with three or two blades, with additional bearings on the sides, round or shuriken-shaped. They are made from various materials: plastic, metal or wood. Some spinners can glow in the dark.

For small children, spinners in the form of a wheel or plastic models with rounded edges are suitable. Teenagers are interested in luminous spinners, which create spectacular circles of light while spinning.

Adults love shuriken designs with different shapes. Or, conversely, minimalistic and compact options with two blades.

Classic triangular spinners with three blades are suitable for tricks. Better made of metal– they are heavier, more reliable and spin longer.

A good spinner should rotate easily and softly, so the main important parameter when choosing a spinner is - bearing quality.

The longer the spinner spins, the better it is considered. Fidget spinners with ceramic bearings spin the longest. But they are the noisiest. Semi-ceramic ones are less noisy and are the best option. The most common version of spinners is with metal bearings.

A spinner is a great toy that helps relieve stress and entertain yourself or others. This is a wonderful gift for young and active people.

But due to the frantic demand for turntables, the market is flooded with a whole bunch of hastily made, low-quality goods. I'll tell you how to choose a good spinner and choose it for your needs.

I wrote more about the types and differences of spinners in. In short, they come in the following types according to filling:

• With metal bearing. Budgetary, but quite reliable.
• With ceramic bearing. They rotate longer, but make more noise.
• Combined. Golden mean, little noise.

According to the material, turntables are usually made from:

• Tree. For aesthetes and connoisseurs of natural materials:) Usually the most beautiful and rare. Mostly handmade.
• Plastic. The most budget option, lightweight.
• Various metals and alloys. Heavy, reliable, brutal, expensive.

There are so many of them in terms of shapes, sizes and additional bells and whistles that it is useless to list them.

For what purposes do we choose a spinner?

If you don’t know which spinner is best to choose, then first decide on your goals - what do you need it for?

Something to do with your hands?

Any cheapest turntable will do; they all spin well if the bearing is not defective. Made of plastic, metal bearing.

Do you want to stand out or are you choosing a spinner as a gift?

Take original designer models, with wood carvings, in the shape of a shuriken, a skull or a Batman boomerang, for example. The most delicious thing is to order an individual design from a master, or do it yourself if your arms grow from your shoulders.

Do you want to do tricks?

If you are going to throw a spinner and land it on your head, then you should not take a heavy metal one or with sharp blades, this can lead to injuries. A high-quality plastic one with a ceramic or combined bearing is better.

You can talk about what tricks you can do with a spinner

Which spinner is suitable for children?

No metal toys, no sharp edges. For children, it is best to take a classic plastic toy with 3 smooth blades. They come with bright colors and LED backlighting. In this case, the plastic and paints must be non-toxic; check this point with the seller.

Plastic spinner painted metal

What to look for when choosing a spinner

If you want to choose a good spinner, then before purchasing you should carefully study its characteristics. We pay attention first of all to:

• Turntable material. Sometimes sellers deceive the buyer by declaring that the spinner is metal. In fact, this is plastic, which is painted in the color of metal; be careful, a metal spinner will not cost 100 rubles at retail.
• Bearing material and bearing itself. It should be well lubricated if it is metal or hybrid. Ceramics also have lubrication, but much less is needed.
• We look at the ABEC marking of the bearing— the higher the number, the higher quality the bearing is considered. This affects the speed and duration of rotation, and the price. The average rotation duration is from 1 to 5 minutes. Read more about ABEC on Wikipedia.
• For the price. The normal price for a spinner made of plastic is around 100-500 rubles, for a spinner made of metal around 500-1000 rubles. If the price is much higher, then either this is a predatory markup from the seller, or some kind of unique design and handmade work.
  In any case, almost everything that is sold here is made in China. Spinners from the USA cost an order of magnitude more, although they are not much different from good Chinese ones.
• For availability of components. This rarely happens, but it’s always a plus when the kit comes with spare bearings. If there is also a container with oil for lubrication, then it’s absolutely gorgeous. Backlit models require batteries.
• For packaging, documentation and warranty. A cheap, hastily assembled spinner is packaged carelessly, there is either no additional documentation at all, or it is printed on cheap cardboard; there is no need to talk about the warranty. Most likely, the quality of such a spit will not please you.

The video clearly shows and clearly explains how and how the spinners differ:

Check with the seller in advance for all the information you need. If you buy a hand spinner in a store, be sure to ask to unpack it. Inspect it for defects and cracks. Twist and check how well the bearing works.

Where is the best place to buy a spinner?

For now, I definitely don’t recommend buying it in offline stores - there is a markup of up to 1000% ( in all seriousness), the cheapest Chinese models can sell for 500-1000 rubles and more. And the choice is very limited, and finding a store in your city that sells spinners can be quite a quest.

The market is just beginning to fill up, but the demand is huge and they are making money from it. It is best to order from online stores. This method also has its disadvantages, of course:

1. Long wait. Sometimes for several months, but you can find stores that deliver within 1-2 weeks.
2. Delivery costs. Again, you can find them with free shipping, but as a rule, the costs for this are already included in the price tag.
3. There is no way to touch it with your own hands and examine it with your own eyes. Perhaps the most important disadvantage of online shopping.
4. You may run into scammers. But everything is quite simple here - buy only in trusted stores, where there are plenty of reviews, a good reputation and a guarantee.

Despite these disadvantages, it is still better to only buy online for the next six months if you do not want to overpay tenfold.

I recommend https://spinnersell.ru as a platform, this is an online store for spinners. Delivery comes from a warehouse in Russia, so it will take much less time than from China, plus defects are eliminated there immediately.

More interesting articles.

Spinners. They are everywhere. On the street, in a cafe, in a store - these things are played everywhere. This year’s trends are in no way inferior to last year’s vapes and Pokemon GO.

They are sold on every corner from 200 to several thousand rubles. But is there any real difference? Why overpay?

I compared the cheapest spinner for 200 rubles and the more expensive one for 1000. This is what happened.

First difference: quality of materials

First of all, the shapes and materials differ. The one for 200 rubles is made of cheap plastic, familiar from any Chinese counterfeits. It's slippery, squeaky, and painted in bright, acidic colors. Most likely, the paint is toxic, so it is better not to give this toy to small children.

The more expensive model is round and made of metal. It cools your hand, and the spinner is pleasant to spin and twirl.

But I didn't have the best option yet. I saw a model made of titanium alloy with a ceramic bearing for 5,000 rubles.

It looks expensive and rich, but 5000 rubles for a spinner! This world has gone crazy.

Second difference: bearing quality

The main thing in a spinner is rotation. The longer it spins, the happier people become. This is how it works somehow.

The rotation speed and time depend on the bearing. The cheapest model gets the simplest one, the expensive one gets the most sophisticated one. This one spins quickly and quietly for several minutes.

I compared both models - the cheap one stopped after 10 seconds. The expensive spinner rotated for about 3 minutes, and was absolutely silent.

There is also a noticeable difference in calibration. If you spin a 200 ruble spinner on your finger, it will wobble and eventually fall off. For 1000 rubles it spins in exactly one place.

Third difference: case strength

If a cheap spinner falls on the floor or asphalt several times, it will be finished. The housing will crack, the bearing will become loose or stop rotating altogether.

Expensive models are made from high-quality and durable materials, so they are not afraid of falling.

Having dropped mine on the tile a couple of times, I didn’t notice any changes. Everything also spins for a long time and quietly. Some models include a screwdriver so that you can repair or lubricate it for better rotation.

Do you need a road?

The expensive model is better in everything. It has better quality materials and better bearings. This spinner spins quieter and longer. But is it worth overpaying?

Of course not, why do you need this garbage for the price of Nokia 3310? It’s better to buy a book or go to a movie at the laser IMAX. The fashion for this trinket will soon pass, and it will go to gather dust on the shelf.

And if you want to get stuck, cheap stuff is enough. You can buy it at any stall or order from AliExpress.

The principle of the mechanism is the same in each model. In the center there is a bearing around which the spinner rotates. The shape will not affect the speed of rotation and tactile sensations in the hand. Everyone chooses a spinner to suit their preferences and style.

Types of spinner bearings

It is this detail that most influences the duration of rotation of the toy. There are 3 types of spinner bearings:

• Metal;
• Ceramic;
• Hybrid.

Advantage of metal bearing– low price. A spinner with such a detail costs 5-10 times less. The disadvantage of this type is the low rotation speed. Also, with high humidity, the part will begin to rust.

Ceramic bearing allows the spinner to spin 4 times longer. Some models spin for up to 5 minutes. This part creates a lower coefficient of friction and a pleasant tactile sensation. Another important plus is that the bearing does not rust if it gets into water. The disadvantage of such a detail is its high cost. Also, the spinner with a ceramic bearing rustles loudly when rotating. Many people even like this sound, and some users note this as a big drawback.

Hybrid bearing type consists of a metal rim and ceramic balls. This detail combines the characteristics of the previous two types. A spinner with such a bearing spins faster than with a metal one. The toy does not create noise, rotates smoothly and does not vibrate in the hand. In terms of price, a hybrid bearing is cheaper than a ceramic bearing, but more expensive than a metal one. This is an ideal cost option for those who want to get acquainted with the spinner, understand the technology and tricks.

Note that in inexpensive models the metal bearing is often glued. It is quite difficult to remove it if it breaks. Remember that if a part is fixed with glue, it can no longer be replaced with another one. To experiment with different types of bearings, buy spinners with ceramic and hybrid parts.

Types of spinner by material

You can buy the following types of toys in stores:

1. Plastic spinner;
2. Wooden model;

Each type has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

Plastic spinner

The plastic look is created on a special 3D printer. LEDs are often added to the toy's blades, which allow the model to glow in the dark. The advantage of such a spinner is its low cost. The toy is light in weight and ideal for the first acquaintance with the rotation mechanism. The downside of this material is its fragility.

The wooden spinner is produced on computer cutting machines. Models are obtained exactly according to the intended shape. Some craftsmen create custom-made wooden spinners by hand and create original designs. The disadvantage of this model is its high cost. The advantages of the material are strength, durability and environmental friendliness. Another important advantage is the originality of the model, which can be created to order.

To produce a metal spinner, stainless steel is used. More expensive models are made of titanium, copper and aluminum. A spinner can even be made to order from gold. The disadvantage of this type is the high price for the material. Advantages: pleasant feeling in the hand and high rotation speed.

Types of spinners by purpose

Before purchasing, you need to decide what you will use the spinner for. The choice of model will depend on this. They are divided into the following types:

Anti-stress spinner for every day

If you just want to relieve stress and rotate the toy in your free time, choose a plastic model with a metal bearing. This inexpensive option is perfect for daily use.

Spinner as a gift

If you want to give a spinner to a friend, choose a high-quality model with an original design. You can order a wooden toy with personal initials. Often an original form is chosen as a gift - a spinner in the form of a Batman or shuriken.

Stylish expensive spinner - a great gift

Stunt model

To perform complex tricks, you need to buy a model made of dense metal with low weight. The body must have smooth corners. A toy with a ceramic or hybrid bearing is ideal.

Spinner for children

You need to choose a safe spinner for your child. There should be no sharp corners. The paint on the body of the toy should not contain harmful substances. You should not choose a metal spinner, as it will be too heavy for your baby. Give preference to bright colors that will attract the child's attention.

Different types of spinners differ in shape, quality of parts, material and purpose. From a huge variety of models, you can choose a toy to suit your taste. If you are buying a spinner for the first time, choose a simple type made from inexpensive material. After getting acquainted with the mechanism of the toy, you can purchase a high-quality model with an individual, unique design.