It’s been going on for a while. My mom had decided to limit my yoyo purchases to 1 yoyo a year. Ive been throwing for 5 years and have been placing relatively high in prelims recently. Since 2011, she’s made me buy only once a year. Every yoyoer including Eric Koloski don’t think this is fair. What are your opinions? How can I convince my mom?
The same exact thing with me bro. My parents were raging at me the day they found out my bank account only have 300 bucks in it. Imagine the whole “parents find out you smoke pot”, but with yo-yo’s. It was all money I made from working too. My dad was all mad and started crying because he was “disappointed” in me. That sure made me stop buying for a bit. Now I try to buy them even more secretly and do trades.
One yo-yo a year is just downright mean. :‘( That does not even allow birthday and Christmas. If a kid excels at something, they should get a tad extra, if it is affordable. I’d die with only one yo-yo per year…don’t even like the thought of what it would be like. :’( I feel for you.
You could try trading, means you get to try different throws and cycle through your collection. And if you throw in a couple of extra dollars to get a better yoyo who needs to know?
There’s a lot to consider. I’ll look at this from both sides, especially the parent side.
First, what yoyo are you using? Or yoyos? I’m only asking to gauge prices of what you want. It’s a factor.
Second, you’re placing HIGH in prelims. What does that mean? Mostly, I’m hoping you’re within 5 of making finals. Also, ideally with prelims, you shouldn’t need to change out yoyos, but hey, stuff can, will and does happen. How many contests? What contests?
Third, your age. May I ask? May you share? Don’t share what you feel you shouldn’t.
Fourth, what are you asking for?
I’m not gonna sit here and decide “what is or what isn’t fair”. It’s not my life, not my house, not my finances, not my anything, so I don’t want to start bending noses out of joint.
As many parents, we(I’m a parent) just don’t get it. We don’t get the difference between responsive and unresponsive play. We don’t know why strings wear out so fast. We don’t understand why these stupid things cost so darn much. “When I was your age…”, yeah, yoyo’s changed a lot from inexpensive toys, to now being, well, you know exactly what I’m about to say. I think the Duncan Imperial that I got in 1977 probably cost around $2 or so. While that’s been gone a LONG time, an Imperial costs around $5 now. I’m regularly playing $100+ stuff. I’m a parent, a parent who throws, who has a son who throws.
I also see the same thing from parents at meets. I bust out the “Case of Wonders”, most of it being over $100 stuff. Lots of this stuff are items the kids are all begging to OWN, but haven’t tried. As a parent, depending upon the age of the kid, it’s hard to justify spending that kind of dough. I’m also seeing people competing and killing it with upgraded Classics, Protostars, Triggers, and other “reasonably priced” plastics. I even saw a parent buy a child who had never seen or touched a yoyo before an MVP, which the kid promptly DESTROYED during the course of a 2 hour meet. Wow, wish I had $120 to throw away like that.
I think without us knowing a bit more of the “bigger picture”, it’s not really for us to pass any sort of judgement. Even so, we’re still not in a position to judge.
What it comes down to “need” vs “want”.
Parents don’t understand why our kids need more than one yoyo, or a handful. We don’t understand there are different sizes, weight distribution, bearing sizes, response systems, features and what-not. The yoyo is a toy, and to parents, they are all the same. Parents who don’t throw just don’t get it.
On the plus side, I do.
My boy, who throws, is 6 and a half. He’s got over 20 yoyos. At BAC, he’s probably going to get 3 more. I’m looking to get 2 or three myself. I’m planning to get him 2 new off-strings fairly soon, me too. He mostly plays my stuff, not because he has bad stuff, but because he simply has expensive tastes as well.
I would suggest that you really need to figure out what you want vs. what you need. Also, if you can, you need to try to really figure out what it is you just got to have, and see if you can try it before you decide you can’t live without it.
I will admit that one yoyo a year seems a bit harsh. High dollar yoyos can force restrictions. You can’t be alone, and others may have it worse. I would say that if competition is a regular thing for you and you’re constantly getting better, it’s sounding like you’re in need of a competition set, which to me can be anything between 4-6 identical(well, same make, model and run if possible, as well as matching bearings and response) yoyos. If this is the case, it will be time to ask your parents to re-evaluate the situation. You’re presenting a situation that requires a different mindset towards the situation. Of course, I do see kids competing with a mixed bag of various yoyos. Hey, we do what we can with what we’ve got, right?
Listen to your parents, they do care. Hobbies can always cost a lot of money or very little! A new yoyo will not make you a better thrower!!!
I know it does not seem fair, but if its what they want for you then you should listen. Research your next purchase and continue throwing what you have. The newest, latest and greatest will always be coming… Life is not about material things my friend. Throw your yoyo with pride, and I don’t care if its just a regular duncan butterfly!!! Let it become a extension of your body… Do your very best with what you have! Not just with yoyos, but with everything in life.
Save your money for a car, college or a house! You really only need one good metal throw, one good plastic, and one good wooden fixed axle.
My best advice= chillax
I had my dark magic two for 1.5 yr. (at least) before buying my Sakura. Unless you’re buying a pair for 2a or 4a(I think) just love what you got. Being content is almost like a muscle. That you need to exercise. I’m not saying having a lot of yoyos is bad I’m just saying there’s more than just yoyos to spend money on. You don’t need the latest of every kind of high end yoyo.
Another point: if you just want different yoyos to try new things, explain that to your mother. I’d suggest trading. That way you don’t have a stack of unused throws. And there’d probably be a better chance of having your mothers blessing.
When I was growing up, I got 1 new yoyo every 2-3 years… I might not have had a huge collection back then… but I certainly wasn’t lacking anything either.
There’s also a lot to be said for spending that much time with any one yo-yo. #1, you learn that yo-yo’s quirks a lot better than any other yo-yo. #2, if it’s not the “greatest” it can force you to be a lot smoother.