{{Short description|Children's toy}} {{Infobox Toy |name=Skip-It |image=Remember skip-its?! (13064331794).jpg |type= |inventor= |country= |company=Tiger Electronics |from= |to= |materials= |website= |slogan= }} '''Skip-It''' is a children's toy introduced in 1960s, the most popular variants of which were manufactured by Tiger Electronics in the 1980s and 1990s. The Skip-It apparatus was designed to be affixed to the child's ankle via a small plastic hoop and spun around in a 360 degree rotation while continuously skipped by the user.<ref>{{cite book|title=101 Ways to Score Higher on Your Sat Reasoning Test|pages=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wk3FQbwdmVgC&q=skip-it+toy&pg=PA114|author=Marti Anne Maguire, Jaclyn Bissell|year=2010|publisher=Atlantic Publishing Company |isbn=9781601382221}}</ref>
Early toys similar to the Skip-It included the Jingle Jump,<ref>{{cite news |title=WOOLWORTH'S Jingle Jump (advertisement) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-jingle-jump/139091147/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=July 8, 1964}}</ref> the trademark application for which was filed on December 30, 1963 by Jak-Pak Industries.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Class 22 - Games, Toys, and Sporting Goods|journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |date=September 20, 1966 |volume=830 |pages=TM 148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9YbpbaFRq6IC&dq=%22jingle+jump%22+%22jak-pak%22&pg=PA1317-IA87 |access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref>
In the spring of 1968, Montreal-based plastic company Twinpak released a toy with similar function known as the Footsee, supposedly based on a game Twinpak co-founder Bob Asch saw an Arab child play in Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bieler |first1=Zoe |title=Hey, look Ma — now it's Handsees! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-montreal-star-hey-look-ma-now-it/139093277/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=The Montreal Star |date=23 September 1969}}</ref> The toy was a tremendous success in Canada, and Reliable Toy Company of Toronto released the Skipit (as the name was then spelled) that same year as a competitor. Twinpak sued Reliable for copying the design of their toy, and secured a temporary injunction prohibiting Reliable from manufacturing the Skipit,<ref>{{cite news |title=Toymakers must settle own dispute |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-montreal-star-toymakers-must-settle/139093543/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=The Montreal Star |agency=Canadian Press |date=1 June 1968}}</ref> but by June 15, 1968 the two companies had reached a settlement allowing Reliable to continue manufacturing Skipits.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reliable Toy back in game with Skipit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-reliable-toy-back-in-game/139094097/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=National Post |date=15 June 1968 |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=32}}</ref> Both toys were also distributed in the United States at this time. In 1975,<ref>{{cite journal | title=SN 72,980 | journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |date=July 20, 1976 |volume=948 |pages=TM 188 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PbQAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22lemon+twist%22+chemtoy&pg=PA188 |access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref> the Chemtoy Corporation would release a similar toy called the Lemon Twist, which featured a lemon-shaped ball.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Look At Some Toys We Were Told Were Dangerous But Which We Loved Anyway|url=http://www.starpulse.com/news/Danielle_Turchiano/2008/06/17/a_look_at_some_toys_we_were_told_were_da|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713111912/http://www.starpulse.com/news/Danielle_Turchiano/2008/06/17/a_look_at_some_toys_we_were_told_were_da|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 13, 2013|work=StarPulse|accessdate=10 December 2012|date=June 17, 2008}}</ref>
Tiger Electronics acquired the rights to the Skip-It in 1988 from its American rightsholder, the Paul E. Price Company.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trademark Assignment Details, Reel/Frame: 0616/0982 |url=https://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&qt=rf&reel=0616&frame=0982 |website=Assignments on the Web |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office |access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref> Tiger Electronics added a mechanical digital counter to the ball, which was patented by Avi Arad and Melvin R. Kennedy in 1990.<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=5083964A|inventor=Avi Arad|invent1=Melvin R. Kennedy|status=patent|title= Hoop-like toy with counter mechanism |pubdate=1992-01-28|gdate=1992-01-28|fdate=1990-09-19|pridate=1990-09-19|assign1=Tiger Electronics Inc|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5083964A}}</ref>
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Skip-It apparatus became a commercial success through its advertisements on daytime Nickelodeon broadcasting as well as other children's programming.<ref>{{cite news|title=What ever happened to: Skip-It?|url=http://www.spectatornews.com/showcase/2008/09/29/what-ever-happened-to-skip-it/|newspaper=The Spectator (Eau Claire, Wisconsin)|date=September 29, 2008}}</ref>
A version of the toy was featured in the Hong Kong martial art movie ''Butterfly and Sword'' (1993) where the character Miu Siu Siu / Ho Ching is seen playing with it.<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Mak, Michael (Director) | date=January 16, 1993 | title=Butterfly and Sword | medium=Motion picture | language=Cantonese | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11qk_4njW4Q | location=Hong Kong | publisher=Chang-Hong Channel Film & Video Co.}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>
In 2011, ''Time'' magazine included it in their 100 greatest toys ever.<ref name=time>{{cite web|last=Townsend|first=Allie|title=ALL-TIME 100 Greatest Toys: Skip-It|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048660_2049212,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219115058/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048660_2049212,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 19, 2011|work=Time magazine website|date=Feb 16, 2011}}</ref>
In 2013, a spin-off of the board game Twister was developed, Twister Rave Skip-It.
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Physical activity and dexterity toys Category:1980s toys Category:1990s toys
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