I thought I’d take a break from work for a bit and discuss this.
I’ve been back in the yoyo scene for about 6 months now, and I think its safe to say that I am mostly caught up on all of the new companies, terms, new trick concept names, etc.
As I get more new yoyos little by little, I notice that certain yoyo’s have a certain feel to them that is hard to really put a finger on. It’s not as simple as yoyo’s feeling “different” in terms of shape and build, but it goes beyond that and I’m curious of the thoughts of some of you.
I feel that certain yoyo’s have this sort of “essence” about them that almost seems to give them a personality, and some other yoyo’s seem to lack this feeling. It isn’t about how “good” the yoyo is, but something else entirely. For example, one of my current favorite yoyos is the Caribou Lodge Bear Vs Man. It was a yoyo that was my favorite during my original active years in the yoyo world and still remains my all time favorite. Another one of my favorite yoyos to throw is the YoyoFactory Shutter. It has everything I like in a yoyo: Stability, speed, solid spins, nice shape. Yet while it has these things I love, I feel it doesn’t have this “essence” that I feel on the bear vs man.
Another example would be the One Drop Format C. It’s another of my favorite newer yoyos and like the other mentioned yoyos, it has all the things I love, but also has this extra bit of essence to it that gives it a certain personality and feel. Whereas another of my newer yoyos, the Caribou Cliff, doesnt have that same feeling despite being a yoyo I enjoy very much.
Can anyone pinpoint what this is exactly? I mean, as much as thinking a yoyo is alive and has a personality would be great, there’s probably a better explanation
Like I said, its doesnt feel like its about how “good” a yoyo is or how much it plays to my preferences, because even yoyo’s I don’t like as much, have this feeling more than others that I enjoy.
Or maybe I’m just a bit crazy. Which I fully welcome as an answer to this.
I know exactly what you’re getting at, but I actually found the format:C to lack this essence. Whereas I thought the Chik had it in spades.
Every person’s list of yoyos they felt a special affinity for is going to look vastly different from one person to the next. When you find someone whose list coincides with yours, they’re probably a good person to take shopping advice from.
Totally! Certain yoyo’s (the Format:C like GregP said), are just plain bland but that’s ok because they’re made for competition. If you compare the M10 to the Format:C there’ll be a huge difference, not just because the M10 is super floaty though… idk.
Yeah I think this is part of the quest to finding a perfect yoyo for yourself. It has to be something that you can connect to; something that you’ll always come back to, even if you already own other throws that are arguably “better”.
I feel this way about the M1, for example. Ever since I’d started throwing at around 2010, I’ve always wanted an M1. It was one of the first all-metal yoyos I was exposed to. I had seen many other yoyos floating around, but I could never buy an elusive M1. I’m pretty sure I had no idea what the BST was at that time, so I had to look for retailers, almost all of which were out of stock. It became a dream for me for the next few years. I just felt like that was the yoyo for me. It had an industrial look unlike most of the yoyos of the time, it was a nice, 50mm, perfect for my small-ish hands, and it came in CLEAR anodize. It was just such a clean looking yoyo that really spoke to me and gave me the message, “less is more”.
That dream was almost forgotten, but last month, I picked up an old beater M1, and I’m planning to get it reanodized clear. I also love the look of the polished brass. It is a pad version, and I do prefer flow groove, but I have nothing against pads either.
And, of course, as my hunches told me all those years back, I love it. Plays at just the right speed for me and I like having it a little bit narrower than most throws of modern yoyoing. The shape fits my hand very well and the weight is perfect.
Oh, by the way, if anyone has a flow groove M1 for sale/trade PLEASE let me know
