Pretty normal for yoyoing, it seems. I bought 30+ high end metals the first couple of years. I have purchased 1 in the last year, and sold off all but 4 metals. Now I know what I like, and if it isn’t getting played regularly, I get rid of it.
I just modified my above post. I no longer collect Delrins. Everyone is doing it now, and nothing interesting about it anymore. I’ll get the occasional one that stands out. But, now my list of things to “collect” is minimized to YYE Editions, titaniums and micros. I was dabbling in nickel and Delrin before I figured out that they weren’t for me from a collector standpoint. 
I guess this is how I can confirm that I have things under control. At any moment I can decide…I change my mind on having to buy that…I don’t need it, and will choose not to be interested. I sort of have a set budget for throws, and won’t spend any more this year than last year. This year is not outpacing last year with spending. So, things are looking good for me. I think our spending is positive for the community and encourages manufacturers to keep pushing the envelope with new and interesting things. It keeps people in business, and it keep the industry healthy. I don’t mind the investment.
I’ve about more than 20 yoyos in a month since I started the hobby.
I still want to buy more buy I realized that the more I buy, the less I learn. With so many options to chose from, I end up not remaining consistent in practicing and my learning speed slows down.
I’ve done some calculations. If I were to play 15 minutes with each yoyo every day, I’d end up playing 5 hours a day.
As my objective is to actually learn to play, and not be a collector, at this point, I realized that I should stop buying them for at least a long while. Will I? Probably not, as soon as YYE goes on sale again I will probably snatch at least 5 more yoyos from less hyped brands.
I don’t think about it too much.
If I like what I see and I can afford it, I buy it. I also try to have a lot of variety, since I do take my cases out to meets for others to try stuff they normally don’t have access to. At the same time, if it doesn’t catch my eye, there’s no point in getting it.
Either way, I seem to find myself rotating through a small set of yoyos on a monthly basis. There always seems to be a DM2 in that mix.
Right now, I do have “wants”. I will fulfill those wants. Most of these wants are stuff I can get whenever, so I’m in no hurry to get it. I also don’t have to get all of the latest things. It seems that way since I tend to buy quite a few of them as they drop.
June an July saw some big spending. Major sales for National YoYo Day and then July 4th, plus YYR was doing some insane prices so I had to pick up a Dreadnought(68 grams) at less than 50% retail price. YYE’s July 4th pricing had some insane deals I simply couldn’t pass up, and thank goodness they were pushing those new prices too! August, I don’t see the same spending, nothing near as close, maybe just a STRIX and one YYJ I want to get, but I may choose to drop the YYJ for the new YYF SuperStar and I just have to get a Yeti. September will be small as well, maybe a couple of those YYJ’s I want to get. October is a big unknown, probably being entirely satisfied at Nationals. November I’m gonna hold out for the Black Friday sale and maybe even pick up a YYF Mystery box if I get lucky enough. Is there a sale in December?
I have everything cataloged that I have in the collection in a database. I’m going further by adding fields to state what case they are in for faster locating. I also have in the same file on another sheet listing my wants, which I use for guiding purchases. This helps avoid distractions. That isn’t to say that list of wants might change at a moment’s notice, but I have to start somewhere with something, right?
I do find that when I buy and a lot comes in, I don’t worry about getting to stuff right away. When I get to it, I get to it. When I want to seriously practice, I have my go-to yoyos.
At no time do I neglect my other obligations. The past two years, I didn’t need to buy much audio gear, so that money went to yoyos and other luxury items. This year, I’ve changed gears, but the money is decent so I can still buy loads of yoyos, and now I’m focusing back on pro audio gear again.
Am I addicted? Perhaps.
I view some of my purchasing as being “a patron of the arts.” I really think a lot of these yoyos from the smaller boutique manufacturers are in fact, little works of art. The design, craftsmanship, and finishes all come together to create a sculpture of sorts, that happens to also be a fun toy.
I have my goto throw for learning. I throw the MaxBet every day. It was my first, and remains my easiest to learn with (most stable). Other throws are more easily knocked off axis.
That said, I do rotate through the other ones, and find enjoyment in them, and they help refine my skills after I have learned a trick. I am not racing a time line on getting better. I just like having fun.
Learning the tricks on the max bet, then moving to a throw like the Sakura SE to perform the same tricks is a great deal of fun for me. The sakura is much harder for me to learn the new tricks on, but once I am landing them on the Maxbet, moving to the sakura teaches me additional skills. It’s all good fun, and fortunately, I don’t really have to worry about the cost. I pay my bills. And I know it is slowing down. There ae fewer throws that I find interesting now that I have a foundation of things to compare to.
I think the holes in my collection that I am curious about will get smaller over time, and then new releases that seem interesting will be easy to keep up with, and perfectly affordable.
I am really interested in finding my old Kuhn’s SB-2 I got in 1993. I am pretty sure it is in a box in my attic or garage. I’d love to have such a cool old responsive throw again.
Personally I window shop a lot. Why? I simply do not have the money.
Sometimes I can do research decide exactly what I want, and then turn around and change my mind.
I have to decide which specs that I want, do I want two cheaper yoyos or one more expensive.
Granted I probably looks at yoyos more than I throw…