Elf's Bauble Juggle

Turn the crank and he juggles. Every turn he tosses a bauble across his face into his mitten, and the toy rolls it all the way round and back into his hand for another throw.

Scroll, and follow one bauble round the loop.

The elf on his light-blue base with a red bauble in his throwing hand, the candy cane beside him, the green tree and the peach mitten to his left, and a yellow bauble in the trough along the front.

Turn the crank

Knob over the top, away from you. Turn it backwards and a freewheel in the hub just clicks, so nothing jams.

A snail cam lifts a lever

Inside the base, the crank’s shaft turns a snail-shaped cam. It lifts a yellow lever and winds the spiral spring on the lever’s axle.

The lever pulls his arm down

A pushrod runs from the lever up through his tunic to his shoulder and rocks his throwing arm down 40°, bauble and all.

The cam lets go, and he throws

At the cam’s hooked step the lever drops free. The spring snaps his arm up against the candy cane, and the bauble sails across his face into his mitten.

Down the tree, into the trough

The mitten drops it onto the tree. It zig-zags down 3 ramps, lands on the deck and rolls along the trough behind the window in the base.

The stair carries it back

The same shaft pumps a yellow stair behind him. Every turn lifts each bauble two of its 12 steps, and the chute at the top rolls one into his hand.

10 baubles, one throw a turn

Keep cranking and the loop never runs dry: while one bauble flies, the others are rolling, queueing and climbing.

Most of a turn is waiting

For 63% of every turn his arm rests up on the candy cane while the next bauble rolls into his hand. The cam then spends 32% of the turn pulling the arm down and winding the spring, holds it for 5%, and lets go all at once.

The cam lets go at the same point every turn, so a throw is the same whether you crank briskly or gently. About a turn a second, or slower, gives every bauble time to settle in his hand.

Up close

Mid-turn: the elf's throwing arm pulled down with a red bauble in the cup, below the hook of the candy cane.
Halfway through a turn his arm is pulled right down, bauble in hand, waiting for the cam to let go.
The back of the toy: a yellow stair climbing behind the elf with purple, silver, pink and orange baubles on its steps.
Round the back, the baubles wait their turn on the yellow stair.
The elf face on: candy cane and throwing hand on the left, mitten and tree on the right, the white trough running along the front.
Face on, the way you watch it: he throws from the cane side and catches over the tree.
A hand turning the red crank at the corner of the base, on a wooden kitchen table beside a coffee cup and a plate of pastries.
On the breakfast table, one hand on the crank. It sits comfortably beside a coffee cup.
The toy on a light oak desk beside a white coffee mug and a yellow pencil, in warm lamp light.
On the desk beside a mug and a pencil, within reach for a turn between emails.
The toy on a wooden mantelpiece among a pine garland and warm fairy lights.
On the mantelpiece among the garland and fairy lights, ready for whoever walks past to give it a turn.

The details

Size
7.3 × 3.9 × 7.5 in, wide by deep by tall
Weight
7.4 oz
Baubles
10, each 0.6 in across
Power
Your hand on the crank. No batteries, no motor.
Cranking
Knob over the top, away from you, about a turn a second. Backwards, the freewheel slips and nothing moves.
Tuning
If throws land short or long, the cup clicks along his arm in 7 notches: outward for a longer throw, inward for a shorter one.
Care
Lift it by the base, not by the elf. Not for children under 3: the baubles are small balls.