Any throws that surprised you recently?

In short, I’m addicting to buying yoyos. I like playing just fine, but for whatever reason my OCD brain can’t get enough of trying out “just one more”. Over this time, my preferences for shape, size, and other qualities have changed, largely because one or a few throws were so surprisingly good that I had to rethink my whole game plan.

So, instead of a “your favorite throw?” thread that we’ve seen quite a few times, I’d like to know if there were any throws that really surprised you by how they played, how much you liked playing them, or anything else…and why.

My short list:

Phenom: I went in expecting this should be good. It has a good reputation. But, I also thought it was a little thinner than I usually like, a little taller than I usually like, and not the shape I tend to prefer. I bought it only because of its rep, expecting that I might be able to sell it when I didn’t like it. But, it all came together despite those things and now I can’t stop picking it up.

Oxy 5: This is a really strange yoyo. I don’t know if I can even recommend it for any good reason. But, it’s just got “something”. It doesn’t feel like anything else. I just enjoy playing with it even if no part of it performs as well as other throws I have.

LaGoutte: This throw singlehandedly turned me on to lightweight full size throws, and it was the weight that made me think twice about buying. I’ve probably bought at least 5 or 6 similarly spec’d throws in an attempt to find something else that feels like this.

Albatross: I’m not sure what I thought going in. I wasn’t ever excited about it but a trade offer popped up and I thought I’d give it a shot. Regardless, I just can never get over how this “full size feeling” throw moves so fast and light. It’s one of those yoyos that makes me feel like tricks are easier to hit.

I too thought it was too thin and WAAAAY to light. It was also an odd shape and a bit unstable.I like the Phenom a bit more than the Phenomizm (the Phenom is more solid), but both are towards the bottom of my favorite yoyos list. I guess Mickey and my style are too different; after all, he designed them. He’s more fast and tech, while I prefer whips and slacks and whatnot.

Basically, any.

In short:
The Gnarwal. My first “big ticket” throw, but I got it off BST, along with a Code1. Together, those informed me what the difference is between the good stuff and the great stuff.

Phenom: Absolute perfection for me. I can’t play fast, but someday, maybe.

Royale: Wow. I mean, forgives bad throws, holds steady, keeps spinning. Amazing.

XCon Pro: Hated it, then learned to love it. Forces you to improve. Excellent competitor and trainer. Really like it a lot now!

Vexed: Wasn’t interested in this, got it at BAC. Yeah, you want this now!

Chief: What can I say, it lives up to its hype, at least for me anyways.

Magic YoYo T5: I paid what for it? Under $20? OMG, it’s like I paid $80 to $115. WOW!

Code 2, with the disc side effects: Yeah, beats my other Code 1 with the stock spike. That was today!

That’s all I can remember that really jumps out at me. I enjoy yoyos and each has a special place and function and purpose.

Wow, you’re up late Studio!

Chaser: Really surprised me. I thought it would be lighter, and faster. It wasn’t. Way too heavy for my tastes.

POPstar: I thought this was a novelty yoyo, but it’s a decent throw.

Positron: I thought I would hate its’ odd shape (odd to me), but I loved it. One of my favorites.

Diamond Noir Celestial: I wasn’t expecting much, but both versions packed a real punch. Not neccesarily budget throws–I believe they will retail at $99 US-- but they are cheaper than alot of high end ones, and the Celestial plays just as good as the $150 yoyos. I got a raw prerelease here in Singapore where they are made, and it rocks.

Ministar: Good things come in a small package. Way lighter than I thought. Still, it and my Code 1’s are my favorite throws. I now own 3 of these beasts!

Anything Yoyorecreation: I think I was expecting too much from YYR. I wanted there yoyos to do everything short of taking me to the moon. AMAZING yoyos, just not what I thought. The Messiah is in my top 5 favorites though.

Code 1: Weird shape, but I loved it. My top throw.

Not really. It’s only 12:40AM. I’m usually up until 3AM. I’m trying to get that kind of stuff under control.

Back on topic:

General Yo Essence: Wasn’t expecting this yoyo at all. Part of my BAC compensation package. Raw. Woah! And it plays as good as it looks. Wasn’t expecting this kind of goods in the payment.

Oh, duh, I forgot you lived on the west coast. I was thinking Central time. :stuck_out_tongue:

Pocket Change: After hearing everyone say it was good for the price, I caved and bought one. WORST YOYO EVER. I had so much trouble with it. At least it was only $10. I think Yoyofactory was smart to fill the cheap beginner throw market with the much better ONE.

Oh yeah, Studio, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get a compensation package from BAC? Especially one with a General Yo?

EDIT: Was it because you did audio?

I recently picked up my old proyo II and was pleasantly suprised at how much it could do. I was even doing eli hops with it!

Tried one of Eric Tranton’s Ironies over the weekend, and it really caught me by surprise. Now I wish I had a few of them in my collection.

And this is coming from someone who has mostly thrown Protostars for the last year.

Try the Evil Yo. I think you will be surprised.

I wasn’t adjusting time for local time zones. I’m typically in bed around 3AM and up at 6AM most days. Watch kids all day, try to run “normal business” during normal business hours despite kids who can’t behave, leaving me up all night trying to get real work done.

The compensation package from BAC was because I provided sound production services for the event. I had an absolutely amazing time and am signed on for next year. Compensation aside, it’s the satisfaction and joy I get from just doing the event is why I did it this year, and why I’ll continue to do it going forward. I get to watch the best, meet the best and provide world class sound services to a group that deserves a bit of the A-list rock-star treatment!

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Pro Z. Amazing for the price. Gave mine to a friend. But I can hit the few horizontal tricks that I know with it and just about anything else.

Madhouse Compulsion. I know I am biased, but I walk around Manhattan with the throw always in hand. I cannot put it down! It looks sick and it plays sooooooooo smooth! I haven’t been this hyped on a yoyo in like 3 years, even more so than the EPIC which i helped to design lol

-Nick

The yyf NOVA surprised me, I didn’t expect it to be that great.

Got a YYE edition about a month ago. Unfortunately, it didn’t click for me. I’m planning to round up some pics for an new BST and that’s on the list.

Littles: after a few tweaks and putting a thinner string, I was amazed. Just feeling the yo felt pretty good.

Magic T9: honestly I was a bit worried of a cheap metal but the feel of this surprised me. After first throw I was shocked as to how smooth and stable it was.

YYF One Star: I was expecting a hollow-feeling feather weight throw with some vibe but after trying it out, it felt like a lighter metal. I quickly handed my cash over to yyf for the throw!

Yeah, i’m addicting to trading. Getting new yoyos all the time and never having to spend money is amazing.
Anyways, I have a few that i’ve gotten in trades that REALLY surprised me in the last couple months.

First is the X3 La goulette, I’ve never been a huge fan of X cube’s crazy shapes, none of their throws have really caught my eye up til now. But i kept reading here and there how the “La goulette” was such an amazing yoyo, and from people whose opinion i took seriously. So after scouring the BST for about a month, i finally acquired one for a fair deal.
It’s kind of an unheard of yoyo as far as the mainstream goes, but it is AMAZING. As far as size goes, it’s substantially below my preferred size, but for some reason it just works for that throw. Spin times are great and it grinds better than ANYTHING i have tried. Just a fun yoyo to play.

Secondly, is the YYF Super G. I’ve always been a real supporter of the Small “ma and Pa” yoyo companies, so it’s hard for me to get excited about some of the bigger companies throws, but boy have i been missing out. I hate to say it, but YYF has seriously nailed it with a few of their designs. I wasn’t expecting the Super G to be as good as it is. The shape is a big extreme for me, but somehow it just works. A serious competitor yoyo. It has a nice sturdy weight on the string, but it is fast too, and sleep times are among the longest out there. Dang good yoyo.

And lastly, not surprisingly is the YYF Supernova. I’ve been mildly interested in this yoyo for a long time now. The shape and specs really caught my eye, i was just never ready to drop 129.99$ on a YYF when other amazing yoyos have been coming out like the Chief and Code 2. But after a while i decided to try and get one. I seriously searched the BST high and low for 3 MONTHS trying to acquire one. All to no avail til recently.
I found out there’s a reason that everyone who had a Supernova was reluctant to trade it. This thing is GOOD. I figured as popular and hard to get as it was it would be good but… Dang. It’s easily up in the top 5 of best competition yoyo’s i’ve tried, and second only to the Chief and Code 2. Absolutely amazing yoyo. I can only speak for the older editions though (the 7075 versions), not the 2012 ones. I seriously didn’t think that YYF would ever beat the Genesis as far as performance goes, but i think they blew it out of the water with this one. If you haven’t tried one, GET ONE.

Sorry for the long winded post, I just wanted to share the ones that I think people should try. These three yoyos really caught me off guard and gave me a very pleasant surprise.

I received a C3 Halo as part of a large BST deal a while back. In the deal the Halo was the one I was least interested in. It ended up bein one of the only ones I kept from the deal. Great throw.

Positron: I really thought I would love it, I was so excited waiting 10 days to get mine, but I got very disappointed at the first throw. That’s odd, as I usually need 2-3 weeks before I admit I don’t like a throw, but this time it was so obvious that it would not do it. But it really felt too uncomfortable in the hand.

My DNA, with all the hype around the 888 I thought a full sized would be better. Especially when I got a 7075 version! Alas its too lightweight and never met my expectations which is why its on my BST now.

Definitely the proz, I couldn’t believe how it preformed after putting the spacers on.