Yomega marketing director John Marcantonio shows his yo-yo handiwork at the company's Fall River facility. Yomega signed a distribution contract with Hasbro.
Fall River yo-yo maker inks Hasbro deal
Yomega, a Fall River-based yo-yo maker, is going around the world with a toy powerhouse.
The company has inked a distribution agreement with Pawtucket-based Hasbro that will bring its “Power Brain” yo-yo to the mass markets in the United States, South America, Central America and Asia through the end of 2006.
“In our 21-year history, we have hit a lot of home runs, but this alliance with Hasbro represents a series-winning grand slam,” said Alan Amaral, president and CEO of Yomega.
Currently, the Yomega yo-yos’ reach is to specialty toy, hobby and gift shops, sporting goods stores and catalogs. The company sells to some specialized national retail chains as well.
Hasbro partnered with Yomega because it was interested in its technology, Hasbro spokeswoman Gail Carvelli said.
Amaral and his siblings, Joyce and Lenny, innovated the auto-return clutch system “yo-yo with a brain” in 1983, which has been updated over the years.
The “brain” of Yomega’s yo-yo is a four-way clutch system, which opens to prolong the spin time for up to one full minute and then tightens to bring the toy back to your hand automatically. The extended spin, or “sleep,” time gives the user more time to “walk the dog,” do “around the world” or “rock the baby” tricks.
Under the Hasbro agreement negotiated over just a couple of months, Yomega altered some minor artwork, instructional wording and added the Hasbro brand name to the packaging. The product itself was not changed.
The privately held company has partnered with other larger companies in the past to make its products more widely distributed, including McDonald’s. The company designed six exclusive yo-yos for McDonald’s, which sold for $1.99 with a purchase for about one month during 2000.
“Yomega is certainly proud to be associated with, and to be working with Hasbro. We feel that the opportunity to marry our product innovations with their marketing and distribution capability is a winning situation for both companies,” said Yomega marketing director John Marcantonio.
Hasbro already manufactures and distributes a different yo-yo, the F.A.S.T. 201 Series Yo-Yo – (Fully Active Starburst Technology). The toy can be set for quick response return to the hand or adjusted for long, smooth spins for tricks. It is already available in stores.
“Yo-yos experience a surge in popularity about every six years,” said Kevin Fortey, vice president of Hasbro’s Big Kids group. “Through (this) agreement with Yomega, we are partnering with a proven brand with products relevant to today’s kids.”
Yomega lead the yo-yo craze of the late 1990s, when the company’s yo-yos were one of the best-selling toys in the world.
Toy analyst Jim Silver said yo-yos aren’t big right now, but having a huge toy company like Hasbro marketing the yo-yos could make it a popular toy once again.
“It’s all about promotion and timing. If Hasbro comes out with a great new yo-yo and does some grassroots marketing in schools to get kids really excited about them, yo-yos can make a comeback,” Silver said.
The yo-yos will be sold for about $10 starting in March.
Yomega manufactures and distributes more than 30 products in 35 countries. It sells various types of yo-yos with names like Crossfire, Saber Raider, Fireball and Metallic Missile, and other toys that put a new spin on the traditional, like the Smart Top – a top that spins extra long and bounces, a new version of a Frisbee called the Flyte Deck, and a new type of juggling game called Sphereplay.
Yomega employs 2,300 people in its three manufacturing facilities in China and has a staff of 85 salespeople and 15 office staff in Fall River, where custom yo-yos are made. The customized yo-yos are often used as promotional items because they can be designed with corporate colors and logos.
Yomega started in the Amarals’ home and has since outgrown two facilities in Fall River. Yomega is preparing to relocate from the mill it leases on Quequechan Street to a new building being constructed in the Airport Industrial Park on Airport Road in Fall River.
