These toys were introduced by either Mattel or Kenner in the 1970's. Basically, they were a racquetball sized gyroscope/top. They featured a stem that protruded from a ball and a rubber compound hemisphere that was used to get the top going. You grasped the ball, put the side of the hemisphere on the ground and moved your arm in a 1/4 turn to the left or right. This would spin the motor up and allow it to rotate and do the neat tricks that all gyroscopes can do. The Whizzers came with a trick stand and one or two accessory stems that would plug into the "top" of the toy, and let it balance on a string or the stand. Some folks remember mean little boys and girls who would get them started and put the spinning tip into the hair of anyone who stood too close. I understand it was painful, but never experienced it myself. You could spin two up and battle each other if placed in a concave lid. A neat carrying case, shaped like the Panasonic RQ-830S TNT Plunger 8-track player was available. It was made of orange plastic and opened in half, like the Hot-Wheels and Star Wars carrying cases. Visit Ebay to see the 8-track player. This carrying case opened in half and featured a battle arena inside one lid half, and top storage for six tops (I could be wrong...it's been a while) in the other half, via the hole in the upper half of the top. In the late 1990's, the tops were re-released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the toys. The ones I found at Toys-R-Us were manufactured and marketed by Duncan, the yo-yo manufacturer. I bought as many as I could, and think my carrying case was thrown out in the 1980's. If you have one for sale, please contact me @ thorm19d@att.net. Thanks! Thor

This was my favorite toy, and yeah I remember winding it up and sticking it in peoples hair.