** Note: There are a few Western Pegs (S521) that can be alternately launched with a teeth strip. You can give these pegs the class S821, or assign a secondary number: S521(S800) or S521(S821). It depends on whether or not you want to keep all your pegs in the 520 class.

*** Note: I’ve never seen a water powered top. A sprinkler or paddle wheel comes to mind.

(Note: The “S” beginning each Top Classification Number stands for “Spinning Top”.)

Rule 1 :

Attach a secondary number enclosed by ( ) or [ ] to the primary number in order to represent a secondary top type. In the case of supported tops, the primary number should represent the supported top.

Explanation: Some tops, mostly supported, consist of multiple top types, e.g. Supported Tippe Top. In such cases, the Supported Classification should be used first, followed by a secondary top classification number enclosed in ( ) or [ ].

Examples:

S510(130) (Supported Classic Tippe) (The number is pronounced “five ten, one thirty”)

S521(510) (Western Peg Crowned, which can be launched with horizontal bracket)

S611(145) (Supported Mechanical Detachable Teetotum Dreidel)

S611(521) (Supported Mechanical Detachable Western Peg )

S810(521) (Supported Mechanical Teeth Strip Launched Western Peg Crowned)

S1100(525) (Supported Plunger or Pump Western Peg Uncrowned)

Rule 2 :

Attach a Letter from the Shape Table to the Top Classification number, preceded by a dash, to represent various shapes.

Shape Table

* Letters to add according to Shape

A Animal

C Cube

CN Cone

CY Cylinder

DC Disc

F Fruit

P Polygon (General)

FOV Flat Oval

FTR Flat Triangle

FSQ Flat Square

FPN Flat Pentagonal

FHX Flat Hexagonal

FHP Flat Heptagonal

FOC Flat Octagonal

H Human

HX Hexagonal

IR Inorganic

OR Organic (Other than Fruit)

OV Oval

PY Pyramid

SP Spherical

4T,5T, etc. (4 sideded Teetotum, 5 sided, etc.) Note: Not needed for Dreidel and Dice Teetotums.

Examples:

S110-H (Twirler Finger Human Shaped Top) (Number is pronounced “one ten dash H”)

S110-A (Twirler Finger Animal Shaped)

S110-F (Twirler Finger Fruit Shaped)

S110-IR (Twirler Finger Inorganic Shaped)

S510-F (Supported Classic Fruit Shaped)

S511-DC (Supported Detachable, Verticle Handle Disc Shaped, e.g. Roto Top)

S611-H (Supported Mechanical Detachable Human Shaped)

S5200-H (Plastic Teeth Launched Gyroscope Human Shaped, e.g. Dancing Ballerina Top)

S5300-IR (Friction Wound Gyroscope Inorganic Shaped)

S143-8T (Alpha-Numeric 8 sided Teetotum)

Rule 3:

Attach a number from the Additional Attributes Table to the Top Classification Number, preceded by a dash (unless already preceded by a Shape Letter), in order to represent additional attributes. Add multiple numbers to reach a sum in case of multiple attributes (e.g. Twirler Finger (S110) that lights up (25) and plays music (50): 25+50=75, thus S110-75).

Additional Attributes Table

* Numbers to add according to Additional Attributes

01 General Noise (Includes Bells and Electronic Noises)

02 Bounces

05 Sparks

06 Rattles

09 Choral (Reeds producing Music or Sound)

10 Whistles or Hums

25 Light

29 Writing Instrument Attached, e.g. Doodle Top

50 Musical

100 Magnetic

200 Optical Illusion

400 Advertising

800 Glows in the Dark

2000 Multiple Tops (e.g. nested tops)

5000 Hollow

8000 Double Tipped

9000 Stationary (Fixed Position)

Examples:

S110-75 (Twirler Finger that lights up and plays music)

S110-9001 (Finger Twirler that is stationary and makes bell sound)

S510-10 (Supported Classic that hums, i.e. English Humming Top)

S510-2000 (Supported Classic with Dual Tops)

S611-H75 (Supported Mechanical detachable, human shaped, that lights up and plays music)

S611-35 (Supported Mechanical detachable that lights up and whistles)

S1110-10 (Supported Plunger that hums)

S1110-29 (Supported Plunger with marker attached)

S520-8000 (Western Peg Double Tipped)

S521-10 (Western Peg Crowned that whistles, e.g. Duncan Whistler)

S521-410 (Western Peg Crowned that whistles and includes advertising)

Rule 4 (Optional) :

Optionally, one may add a lowercase letter from the Construction Material Table to the end of the Top Classification Number in order to represent a top’s construction material. In cases of mixed media, more than one constructional material number may be used with the predominate material listed first.

Construction Material Table (Optional)

*Lowercase letters to add according to Construction Material (Optional)

bn Bone

gl Glass

mt Metal

pl Plastic

wd Wood

cr Ceramic

st Stone

gr Gourd

nt Nut

nr Natural Material (can be used for Gourd or Nut)

pr Paper

en Enamel

br Brass

tn Tin

Examples:

S145-75pl (Dreidel that lights ups, plays music and is made of plastic)

S145wd (Dreidel made of wood)

S130bn (Tippe made of bone)

S5000pm (Gyroscope made of plastic and metal)

Rule 5 (Optional):

Optionally, one may wish to add to the Top Classification Number further descriptions in the following order: Country of Origin, Manufacturer, Model Name, Color, and Other. One may wish to add as many of these descriptions as desired, as long as the correct order is observed, e.g. -Country-Color; -Manufacturer-Model Name; or simply -Other.

Rule 5 must be applied after applying Rules 1-4, and must be preceded by a dash. If rule 4 is used, the lower case construction material letter must be attached before applying Rule 5 (e.g. S521wd-USA).

Note: The “-Other” description has two purposes: (1) to provide a place for top attributes missed in the Rules Tables; and (2) to provide a freelance Notes field. For example, Gildas Lescop, a French top collector, has a S110, which is also a pencil sharpener. I would suggest classifying this unusual top, S110-Pencil Sharpener. I use the -Other field for such things as indicating a top bought from the online service, ebay, or to identify the songs played by -75 tops.

Examples:

S110-H-India

S513-Japan-Red,Yellow,Green

S1110-Ohio Arts

S521-10-Duncan-Whistler

S521-Royal-Red-ebay @ $5.99

S521wd-USA-Toycrafter-Natural Tone

Sample from my catalog:

(This catalog represents a portion of my collection. It was done in the Excel worksheet program and sorted by Description. In the worksheet I created separate fields for Country and Manufacturer so that I could sort by either. You could also add fields for the Additional Attributes Number so you could sort by that. Of course you could also do this in a database program and include pictures.)

Sample from 2nd Rev.

Quantity Description

______ ________

Un-Aided Launch

6 S110

1 S110-06

2 S110-100

7 S110-200

1 S110-200-Toycrafter-Lucky Penny Top

3 S110-400

2 S110-75

1 S110-800

1 S110-C

1 S110-India

1 S110-Japan

1 S110-Toycrafter-Lazercut

4 S110bn-Australia-Brian Lemin-Miniature

2 S110cr-USA

1 S110nr

1 S111

1 S112-Carlisle-Revolution

2 S113-200

2 S114

1 S130b-Australia-Brian Lemin-Miniature

4 S130pl

9 S130wd

2 S145

1 S145-75-Tradional Dreidel Song

2 S145-Small

2 S145Pwd-Small

2 S200-Japan

1 S200-Japan-Large

1 S400-2000-Israel

String Launched

1 S510

1 S510-2000-Japan

1 S511-DC-Roto Top

1 S513

1 S513-Japan

1 S514-H-Japan- ebay (10/15/99)

String Launched (Peg-Tops)

2 S521-Duncan-Imperial

1 S521-Duncan-Sir Duncan-ebay

2 S521-Duncan-Tournament-ebay

2 S521-Toycrafter-Natural Tone

2 S521wd-Small-circa 1940’s/1950’s

1 S522

1 S523-Astro Top-ebay

Spring Launched

3 S611(521)-10pl

1 S611-27

1 S611-75-Jingle Bells

1 S611-2000-Agglo-Turbo Tower Tops-five stackable tops

2 S611-10mtwd-Gibbs

5 S611mtwd-Gibbs

Whips

1 S910-U.K.-Peter Camus

1 S910-USA

Push Rod

1 S1000-ebay

Gyroscopes

1 S5100mt

1 S5100plmt

1 S5500-ebay

1 S5200-H

1 S5200-25

__________________

108 Total

More tops from a “sub-collection” of mine:

“Un-aided”

1 S110

1 S110-Wagon Wheel

2 S113

1 S130pl

7 S140pl-black

“Aided”

1 S510

1 S514-10

2 S590pl

2 S590wd

4 S611mt-Gibbs

1 S611pl-2000-Turbo Tower Tops-5 tops

1 S1000-3 tops

1 S5200-75

===

Total 25 Tops

Please let me know if you have any questions or just want to talk about tops:

John Sandstrum

Last Revised July 14, 2005.

As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun!