We were touring through town and saw this place. Being a big fan of quirky tourist stops we popped in. Well that was interesting... As some have said the top lady likes to talk about herself - alot! We didn't take the tour but I think I saw a sign that said the tour was $14. I hope that was wrong. We looked at the collection of antique toys and current product for sale. I was ready to leave. We barely extracted ourselves from the store since she wanted to continue talking about her role in the Christmas Story sequel, etc . I actually felt a bit sad for her... read more

Classic Americana! Judith the proprietress - The Top Lady - is very passionate about tops and spinning devices. Spend some time there. Do the tour and listen to the presentation - it is a hoot! I am not sure what the low ratings are all about. This place is not the Field Museum. If you want that, go there. If you want a unique experience and to see the most complete top collection in the midwest (maybe the USA, maybe the world) go here. Remember, top spinning and marbles were the iPhones of yesteryear, and an important part of Americana. Visit, talk with Judith and see the museum. You will not go away disappointed unless you think you are getting the Louvre for a few bucks admission. Oh, get a signed top from the Top Lady - makes a perfect gift or conversation piece. The one star reviewers must be communist. read more

I took my family to the Top Spinning Museum because it sounded like fun and I've been yo-yoing for many years. I had expected your typical small museum type of experience but that was not the case. Instead of learning about the history of top spinning and yo-yos we were subjected to one of the worst museum experiences that we have ever endured. The Top Spinning museum is a single room museum located in the back of a storefront building in Burlington. While every description I read of the museum listed many exhibits for your to see it turns out that there are only 6-7 exhibit cases used to display the owner's personal collection of tops. Very few of the items in the cases have any sort of signage explaining what you are looking at and when they do it is often a note about the personal connection the owner has to the item (e.g. "My first yo-yo"). In addition to the cases there were a few tables with a small collection of tops that one could play with during the designated play time. The tops provided for people to play with were almost all cheap plastic or wood; no throw tops or yo-yos at all. While my family and I mildly enjoyed trying the assorted tops we did not enjoy the museum, mainly due to the way that the 'tour' was run. The 'Top Lady' who runs the museum seems to think that people come to the place to hear all about her. The introduction to the museum consisted of Judy sharing articles that had been written about her and books that mention her, all delivered between a hacking, phlegmy cough. The tour included nothing about the history of the spin top toys (which have a rich and fascinating history), nor did it include anything about yo-yo history. Also missing was any sort of discussion on the physics of spinning toys, which again I would consider to be mandatory for a museum like this. It would be like having a cake museum without any discussion about cakes being edible. Instead the museum was all about Judy; what types of tops she likes, what TV shows she has been on and what it was like being the 'top expert' on the set of a movie. Judy was rude to my daughter and wife, short with my son and a pest when I was looking at the exhibits. After an hour and a half my family was ready to leave but we were told that we could not leave until the end of the show. The doors to the museum were literally locked with us inside. We didn't want to be rude and make a scene but in hindsight I wish we would have insisted and had enough time to salvage our visit to Burlington. I wish I could say that the show was worth it but again, it was not. All it consisted of was Judy sitting at a stool and showing off more of her favorite tops. She yo-yoed a bit but could only muster a few tricks and the last half hour of her 'show' consisted of her telling us what it was like being on the set of a movie. Nearly three hours after we made the mistake of entering the Top Spinning Museum we were finally able to leave. We high-tailed it out of there and were all relieved to escape. We were promised that the two and a half hour tour would fly by, but it didn't. Instead it was a nearly intolerable waste of time and money. I advise you to go to the laundromat in town instead; it will be more interesting, more fun and more educational. read more

We discovered this place by accident, while out on a day road trip to Burlington Wisconsin. As the museum visit is by reservation only, we just hit the gift shop. It is full of all kinds of toys and puzzles and used books. It is very cluttered, but also very interesting. We got a few books, including a copy of The Complete Patents of Nikola Tesla (for Christopher of course). I contented myself with a paperback copy of King of the Wind, my favorite childhood book. Anyhow, we found out that there is an annual yo-yo conference in Burlington every year. Go figure. Sure wish I had my old Duncan Imperial yo-yo from when I was a kid. But to be honest, I was never very good with the yo-yo, and even a worse top spinner. Still, I am glad I grew up in an era where those were the important toys rather than the brain numbing toys kids play with today. (So speaks the old geezer) read more

We went for the 1.5 hour play with puzzles experience - it was a blast! Despite it being a small area there were so many logic puzzles to try out. It was quite interesting to see puzzles and challenges from eras of the past. If you're into brain teasers, you'll really enjoy the experience and won't believe when time runs out. The puzzles were challenging enough for adults and there were easier ones for kids too. I'm not sure if this was a permanent part of the museum or something rotating so call ahead first. You may be disappointed if you just show up thinking that you're coming for a regular museum experience. read more

We recently took our two 9 year old grandsons to the Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum. I was totally unfamiliar with it having found it online. I like to research interesting places to take our grandchildren and this museum was that and more. We had no idea what to expect and were delighted by the time spent there. Judith, the curator, is a fascinating woman. Her collection of tops and other toys is beyond imagination. Our grandsons loved playing with the tops but then so did my husband and I. I think what I liked the most was that this museum was unique. I definitely will never look at tops the same way. We also spent time at the Logic/Puzzle Museum housed in the same storefront. We were given the opportunity to try our hands at puzzle solving and many of the puzzles brought back childhood memories. The "gift shop" was filled with a huge assortment of puzzles, tops, books, toys, and other things. I was delighted to even find a book written by friends of ours. The boys each picked something out for themselves and for their siblings. I bought a magic top which claims to spin for up to 7 days. I have no idea how it does that and even if it turns out to be something simple or silly, it has delighted us to no end. It is now on the second day of spinning. Definitely call ahead to reserve your time there. During the year there are other events and I hope to return to Burlington for some of those. I recommend this museum to anyone looking for something truly different and FUN! read more

My dad enjoys challenging wood and metal puzzles, so this is the place I go to find him something different. It's a small, cluttered shop and can be a bit overwhelming when you first walk in, especially as the owner is a real talker and insists on demonstrating how each of the toys and puzzles work. Nonetheless, I admire her enthusiasm and love for toys and puzzles of the past. Last year I picked up a few things for my nieces (tops, Jacobs Ladder toys, etc.) and they were a big hit. Great to see them having fun with something that didn't involve staring at a video screen! Note that the shop is only open for a few hours per week, so suggest calling ahead to verify times. read more

Read the reviews of this place and thought my kids would enjoy an afternoon here. From what I've read I thought that this place sounded awesome. Let me first say that when I walked into the store the owner was very friendly. I really hate to write a bad review but I feel I HAVE to let people know what they are in for and decide if that's what they really want to spend their money on. The place can be described as a thrift/antique/junk store. Small and many of the games had dust on them in the store. The owner introduced herself and pulled out about about 20 big hand written flash cards with rules. Let me give you an example of one of the rules. NO scissors. Another "rule" was that I could not carry my purse or phone the small puzzle room. I was not allowed to text or use my cell phone. I was advised to put my purse in this little table in the back of the room. She then told us she was going to sanitize our hands. She squirted hand sanitizer on each of our hands generously which was a good idea. We rubbed it in. She then advised us we were to do it again. Um ok??? She then went through the her many puzzles and explained them. The puzzles were interesting. I think you get an hour and a half to play with them. We were done in about 45 minutes. I wish there was some comfy chairs for the adults to sit on. There was some smaller chairs for the kids. At the end the owner said that I could take one picture but she wanted to take it herself with my phone. I said no thank you but I will take my own picture. She then said that I could not take a picture of any of the puzzles. I could only focus my photo on the "logic puzzle" sign. She was directly over my shoulder while I was taking the picture and had to approve it. Weird. I'm sorry this was not worth $9 per person. It was just so weird. The owner is very nice and I really wish her the best of luck with this place. I'm just letting other people know my experience there. read more

My 12 year old said he would make his kids take this tour as a punishment when they are bad when he grows up. My husband is an avid yo-yo'er and loves all things yo-yo. He has a collection that cannot be rivaled - even by the collection at the Spin Top & Yo Yo Museum - so you can imagine my enchantment when I ran into a small ad regarding the Spin Top and Yo Yo Museum in Burlington, WI in Racine County. We called ahead for reservations which is requested in their website and took the family on a road trip to Wisconsin to visit the museum. We were assured on the phone that the tour would last no more than 2.5 hours and that the time would fly by. However, I have never sat through something that dragged on more harshly or more boringly since perhaps having to go to church as an 8 year old. Honestly, the funeral museum is more fun and interesting than the Spin Top and Yo Yo Museum in Burlington. The whole place is run by a strict old school marm who has spent her adult life in the obsession of collecting spin tops and yo yo's. The doors opened right before the tour and we had about 10 minutes to browse through the re-sale shop that was full of 70's era teaching materials, old books and toys, and nothing interesting or that we wanted to buy. Then, we got locked in because the shop needed to be locked while we were touring the museum and we were led to the back room which was half draped in blue cloth, about 6 display cases lined the walls crowded with a hodgepodge of collected spinning toys with NO descriptions or labeling of any kind. Imagine going to an art museum in which it was just a bunch of rolls of paintings in a case and you had no idea who painted them or from what era or year or brush stroke or even how they came to be in the museum, why or if they are valuable, or what the artist was trying to represent, etc. The whole center of the room was set up with benches where we were asked to sit for the first hour of the "presentation" where Judith condescends to her patrons. She has her museum RULES written out on old cardboard, but she reads them aloud to you anyway in case you're illiterate. Then you have to watch a scratchy old video tape she puts into an antique VCR which is a video of HER showing us how to spin each of the tops on the tables in front of us - as if it is some type of rocket science. This goes on for a while and we are finally allowed to stand up and go around the two (2) tables to spin each of the cheap ridiculous tops that everyone spun as children. Before play time was over, the Top-Lady made a point of letting "ONE person from each group" go out through her store which was closed and blocking the exit for us so that they could check their cars since curb-side parking is a 2-hour minimum. We actually attempted to leave at this time but she ushered us back into the back room with the lights off in the front and said, "Only one person from each group. You stay in here. We're going to do some other fun stuff." We were literally locked in for continued condescension. The second hour and a half of the "tour" of the same damn room we had just been sitting in for the first hour and a half, consisted of us sitting on our butts watching Judith spin different tops and then re-enacting some stupid sequel to A Christmas Story that no one in the room had ever seen except for my husband. The movie apparently contains a scene with some kids spinning tops - but it was really her! She must have repeated, "it was really me!" at least 15 times in reference to some two minute bit in a low-budget kids movie. And, she couldn't even yo yo! I mean she had one trick in her bag and let the yo yo spin on it's axle for a while then asked us to tell her when we were impressed. No one was impressed and she moved on to "walk the dog." Geez! When we were first shown into the "museum" (read: back room of the crap resale shop) I was bitterly disappointed and thought, wow, I can't believe we just spent $15/person (x4=$60), for this! But after the first two hours I honestly would have spent another $15 just to be let out. The whole tour dragged on for more than three hours. What could have been a quaint and kitsch little out of the way stop on our routine visits to the Racine area turned into an endurance test that I would never take anyone to, that I would never sit through again, and that I would advise people to avoid at all costs. You seriously do not benefit from the tour in the least. There is no value in looking into a display case filled with old toys. I didn't learn anything or even know what I was looking at besides a case of old toys. Maybe if there had been dates on each of shelves of the spin-tops or yo yos at least that would be a reference of some kind. But there was nothing. It was really more a lecture on Judith the top-lady and how she influenced one scene in a movie nearly twenty years ago and collected a life-time worth of toys. read more