Toy with familiar ring gets jittery makeover

A new generation of what were known as chatter rings a couple of decades ago and which still have firm fans, will be launched by Hawke's Bay's Murray Potts at a chatter rings "reunion" in Hastings this afternoon.
Mr Potts described the unveiling of his newly developed and produced jitter rings as a case of "what goes around comes around".
"There was something of a boom here in Hawke's Bay," he said of the early '90s when some of the chatter rings were home-made.
He liked the idea and went on to make them commercially, working out of Japan.
In 2003 he came back to New Zealand - but the chatter rings (small brass rings threaded on to large steel rings that swirl and "sing" when the large rings are moved about) stayed in his mind.
"There were little pockets of interest still out there about the toy, so I thought I might have another look at it."
So he did - joining forces with a quality toy maker in Taiwan to produce the new-generation "high-performance edition jitter ring".
He said some early stock had arrived and more were on the way, with New Zealand, Hawaii and Taiwan the first to experience the toy.
He said several of the original chatter ring fans, who were high school students in the '90s, were set to join the fun (and games) at today's Hawke's Bay Chatter Ring Reunion 2011.
The event is being staged at Apple Activities Educational Toys between noon and 2pm.
"All old rings and new rings, jitter rings and chatter rings, flat beads and hex beads are all welcome, " Mr Potts said.
Jitter rings would be handed out as prizes in a variety of categories including best performance, oldest verifiable ring, youngest player and oldest player.