LAUDERHILL, Fla. -- A South Florida man unveiled his 9,000-pound rubber band ball, winning a Guinness Record and selling his creation to the "Ripley's Believe It or No" tour and television show.

Comprised of more than 720,000 rubber bands, Joel Waul's creation stood 6 feet tall and measured 25 feet around. Waul -- who is hired by sponsors to create rubber band balls -- told Miami TV station WPLG that his giant rubber band ball just kept growing.

"It's not really an obsession. I figure it just got out of hand. I can't believe it's in my front yard," said Waul of his largest piece to date. "I just wrapped rubber bands around each other. That's it. I used small ones until the ball got to 3,000 pounds, then I needed bigger ones."

Waul said his creation was a treacherous undertaking.

"It's pretty dangerous. It's like a knife when one of the bands snaps. It can take out an eye. I've sprained my foot when it rolled over it," he said.

His project, dubbed "Megaton," began five years ago after Waul saw a giant rubber band ball on the television show "Ripley's Believe It or Not."

"I just decided right then and there I was going to build one and started that night," he said.

Waul's ball will embark on a national tour now that the show that inspired the project bought it.

Waul said he couldn't say how much "Ripley's Believe It or Not" paid him, but said he was getting out of the rubber band ball-making business. He didn't say if it was the money, or the other risks of the profession that changed his mind.

"People say I smell like it. It's embedded in my skin," said Waul.

Waul said he will soon begin training to become a stuntman.