The Waboba ball is the latest summer beach sensation, a gray and orange ball that bounces on water. About the size of a golf ball, the Waboba ball is being introduced in the United States and new markets in Europe this summer, having become a summer sensation in other European countries last summer. The Waboba ball already dominated the beaches of Australia and will soon find its way to beaches in New Zealand, South Africa and China.
The Waboba ball was invented by Swedish inventor Jan von Heland. After accidentally bouncing a Frisbee on water, von Heland’s imagination turned to creating a ball that would bounce on water. Several years of work later, the Waboba ball emerged to almost instant acclaim by beachgoers.
The Waboba ball’s secret is its composition from different types of polyurethane, covered in lycra, allowing it to bounce and float.
Is the Waboba ball safe?
Safety is a threshhold question with any new beach toy. With Waboba balls, bouncing on water, I immediately wondered about drowning risks associated with children chasing bouncing Waboba balls. A check of the Consumer Product Safety Commission website revealed no Waboba ball reports. Googling “Waboba safety” and “Waboba drowning” did not bring up any reports of safety problems with the Waboba ball.
What is the Waboba ball game?
Waboba ball fans do not idly toss their Waboba balls to and fro. They have invented a Waboba ball game for teams of 3. When playing the Waboba ball game, a team earns one point by passing the ball to all players on its team, without capture by the other team, and with at least one bounce on water during each pass.
New and improved Waboba balls- already?
Waboba introduced a new and easier to use family Waboba ball this year. The family Waboba ball is slightly larger than the original Waboba ball for ease of handling.
Waboba plans to introduce a new and improved Waboba ball in the summer of 2009. The tease on Waboba’s website claims that Waboba ‘s test crew loves the 2009 version. Will beachgoers love it? We will have to wait until next summer to find out.
The original Waboba ball has been retired, except for special orders.
See Waboba ball game in action
A YouTube infomerical for Waboba balls that shows a Wabboba ball game in action can be viewed here.
Waboba ball rap
Waboba ball has already inspired its own rap. See the lyrics here or listen to the Waboba ball rap tune called Waboba Ball Bounce here. These two lines from the song should give you a feel for the Waboba Ball Bounce:
“but wait! Jesus didn’t bounce! he was a walker
if he had this ball, he’d be playing water soccer…”
Move over, beach balls! The Waboba is here.
Sources: www.waboba.com, Waboba Ball Official Infomerical, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvO4cgoUBY, www.cspc.com; Waboba, http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waboba (translated), http://www.b-boys.com/forums/f33/waboba-ball-bounces-water-11783/, www.journalrhythm.blogspot.com.
