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The woman who created the fidget spinner hasn't earned a single penny off her creation

Home> News

Published 15:28 7 Jan 2023 GMT

The woman who created the fidget spinner hasn't earned a single penny off her creation

She might have invented the fidget spinner but it never earned her any money

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

The woman who created the fidget spinner never saw a single penny out of the boom in popularity her invention enjoyed.

As someone not very 'down with the kids' I have no idea whether people still use fidget spinners or if they've all become that thing wedged in the back of some drawer in the house until the end of time.

They used to be all the range but they really seemed to peak back in 2017, which is now six years ago and oh my god I feel so old.

Fidget spinners were everywhere back then as retailers sold tens of millions of the little gizmos which have probably ended up next to the Beyblades in countless landfill sites by now.

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Some people loved them so much they ate them, others simply hated them and some people made heaps of cash selling them.

However, the toy's original inventor Catherine Hettinger never managed to cash in on the craze.

Catherine Hettinger invented what would become the fidget spinner back in the 90s, but her invention didn't take off back then.
Twitter/@MelissaOnline

She says she came up with the original idea for the fidget spinner back in 1993 and tried to pitch it to a number of toy retailers, including Hasbro, but they turned her down.

Catherine got a patent for her invention in 1997, but by 2005, it had expired as she couldn't afford the $400 (£330) renewal fee to hold onto the rights to the device, meaning anyone could make their own version or design of the fidget spinner without running into any legal issues.

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Fast forward to 2014 and Scott McCoskery invented something he called the Torqbar, which was basically a fidget spinner.

He said he invented it because he wanted something to focus his hands on during meetings at work so he wouldn't fidget as much while his boss droned on.

It would still take a few years before they really skyrocketed in popularity, but fidget spinners went on to become one of the most popular toys of the 'new 10s' (or whatever it is we're calling the previous decade).

The famous fidget spinner, so named because you fidget with it and it spins.
Igor Stevanovic / Alamy Stock Photo

Not holding the patent and not making the toys herself, Hettinger was left making absolutely no money out of the fidget spinner craze, which sold millions of toys around the world.

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Despite not being able to cash in on the craze and struggling for money herself, Catherine told The Guardian back in 2017 that she was 'pleased' that people were enjoying the thing she created.

She also accepted that most inventions just didn't make money, though suspected things could have been very different if someone had just invested in her all those years ago.

Then again, it might not be such a bad thing not to have your name attached to the fidget spinner considering some of the mishaps people got up to with them over the years.

Featured Image Credit: InformOverload/YouTube/simon leigh / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: Weird, Money

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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