abstract
| - YoYoJam was a popular yo-yo manufacturer in the United States that was run by its founder and owner Dale Bell as a hobby. YoYoJam broke onto the scene in early 2000 with their SpinFaktor yo-yo and has since produced many successful models. The company had a team of players called "Team YoYoJam" with many yo-yoers sponsored by YoYoJam, such as U.S. National Master André Boulay, Rei Iwakura, Ben Conde, etc. YoYoJam was also renowned for approaching members of Team YoYoJam and creating 'signature series' yo-yos to their specifications. This often results in very well designed yo-yos as the players had great ideas of what makes a good yo-yo. Boulay, who is also a U.S. National Yo-Yo Master, was the Captain of Team YoYoJam. YoYoJam used the same size bearings for almost all their yo-yos. This bearing size has become popular with other manufacturers and so many yo-yos come with "YoYoJam-size bearings". This enables yo-yoers to choose bearings that they like or replace old bearings easily as YoYoJam-size bearings were readily available. YoYoJam created a number of innovations, including the o-ring reponse system, a friction-based adjustable gap axle system, annular metal weight rings attached to plastic yo-yos, and the thumb grind ring. Some of these inventions have been patented. For years up until 2007, YoYoJam's yo-yos had seen widespread use in competitions as high up as the U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest and even the World Yo-Yo Contest. With the advent of metal yo-yos, such as the YoYoFactory 888 series, and with new brands entering the market, the company's products gradually became less prominent in competition usage. On December 17th, 2015, YoYoJam had announced on their Facebook page that it would close its doors by the end of 2015, due to Dale Bell suffering from health issues over the last several years. On December 30th, 2015, YoYoJam has officially shut down.
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