I am absolutely curious since I’m not exactly have so much cash to burn to buy CLYWs, or One Drops of even Anglams, Auldeys etc.
I’ve always went through thinking so far that YYF prices are ‘somewhat’ justified except for a few exceptions. Like if you bought a cheap yoyo then obviously it’s not going to be exactly the level you want it to be. I’ve also faced some chinese metals that surprised me in a good way and other more expensive metals from yyf which disappointed me.
Is there a line on being the ‘best’ yoyo? or would i dare say that they all feel similar? (the really pricey yo-yos i mean)
So yea if you have to, maybe compare any high end metals you have to the ‘shutter’ that seems to be a very good yoyo that has been priced very well for it’s performance level.
I ask this cause I’m going to HK soon and am almost considering buying a Summit or Magnum by Auldey unless you guys tell me the price isn’t justified!
Isn’t there a saying around here that goes something like:
It’s not the throw. It’s the thrower.
?
A high priced yo yo isn’t going to make you magically better. Sure it may have tons of hours put into it’s design by only one or two people ( most higher end yoyo companies are only ran by a small group ) and the machine specifications are probably very very strict, along with the QC. So even though you will get a perfectly dead smooth , long spinning yo yo with no wobble , it won’t make you win Worlds.
Basically the point is, give a pro a $25.00 yo yo and he will out throw anyone else who is using a $200 one. Didn’t Jensen win Worlds or something using only a Protostar?
I think that a large factor in yoyo pricing is how much they cost to produce:
Are 2 bits of aluminium with a bearing in the middle worth $150? Most people would say no. However if that yoyo costs $100 to make, then the price can be justified because it’s value increases due to the work and expenditure involved.
The above is why someone like YoYoFactory (who can outsource to china) are able to put out cheaper throws than a lot of companies. I highly doubt the Shutter could exist without this outsourcing, since, (as anyone on these forums that has tried to produce their own yoyos knows) getting them made for you using a US machinist isn’t cheap. Onedrop have an advantage because they are able to machine in-house which cuts off the cost of having to out-source.
Performance wise, I think that spin time is usually negligable and stability is all in the design, not the cost or material.
7075 throws usually cost slightly more, but the only real advantage to them is a slightly denser mass and a lovely shinyness.
Titanium throws are always going to cost a lot due to how expensive Titanium is. Although again, a well-designed yoyo made in 6061 is going to out-perform a poorly designed Titanium throw.
As far as “are they worth the money?”, thats a very individual thing. I feel that the Anglam is way overpriced, however I’m sure Stickman (who has like 10) would disagree. Similarly, others express concerns about the price of yoyorecreations and CLYW’s, whereas a lot of people are happy to pay the prices asked.
I think it boils down to this: Jensen infamously won Worlds with a $35~ plastic Northstar, and Gentry just won US nationals with the Shutter. Once you get past the $40 mark or so, the difference in performance becomes negligable. There’s a video on youtube of a guy doing a 1 and a half minute throw on a Protostar, which is far more than a lot of people could do on a Dazzler or Anglam.
CLIFFS!
Pricing is reflective of cost to produce, which is why china-made throws are cheaper (like the Shutter)
7075 is more expensive but doesn’t offer too many benefits.
Titanium is very expensive but a Titanium throw isnt necesserally a good one.
“Are yoyo prices justifyed?” All depends on the opinion of the individual buyer
Once you get past Shutter/Rally/Yeti/Protostar stage, performance differences aren’t all that spectacular.
Ok one of the biggest reasons as far as I know is that OD and CLYW are companies ran by a couple if people and everything is machined in the US or Canada. Then the ano along with labor of putting then together and in the boxes it all adds up.
I feel that after maybe $50, you won’t be able to see a very clear increase in performance for the amount of money you are spending. I can only justify buying more expensive throws if you like to collect yoyos, or if you have extra money you don’t know what to do with. Almost any modern yoyo will be good enough to compete in a contest. Like it has been said above, paying more isn’t going to make you throw better.
I dont think yoyos are worth $150 whatsoever. But, it feels good to support companies that put a lot of effort and work into creating high qualify US/Canada throws. Ex: clyw, gsquared, etc. for some reason i don’t mind paying the high price tag for these because these throws are the best of the best in the yoyo world. And yoyos are fun
I would like to point out that pros will notice a lot more of the differences in their yo-yos than we will. A good example is tennis, there are excellent rackets in the twenty dollar range easily. But you still see tons of amateurs playing with 100 dollar rackets because they believe the racket is better. When in fact the lower cost rackets are better for all styles of play, they’re just high quality metal with a net slapped on. Where as the top dollar rackets are all really really really amazing for one style of play. Which is why the pros use the top dollar rackets. They know exactly what they’re style of play is, how heavy they want their racket down to the gram, and so on and so forth.
Also a lot of what you get from higher pricing is more variety. There are way more high priced throws than low. And they’re each very good at what they do, and they each do very specific things. Thus a pro is going to love a pro yo-yo that caters right to their style.
I personally buy mostly more expensive throws because I have the extra money and love to throw. I hate buying blind but unfortunately that’s the only option available to me right now. Although I’ll try to start to fix that in January.
The process of making a yoyo isn’t really cheap, along with all the costs of running the company and shipping products and in the end coming up with a profit it really costs quite a bit.
i don’t think i have to reiterate its the player that shows the potential of a throw, but to add to that i guess some people prefer certain designs over others. Some people prefer to have really nice throws just for everyday use, some prefer to just use a plastic for that. It really takes some time to get to know what you prefer.
"Pricing is reflective of cost to produce, which is why china-made throws are cheaper "
Price is often a very poor reflection of production cost. In 2006, Sony sold the original PS3 about $300 BELOW cost to produce. They make their money back in games.
Glock sells its handguns at about 400%+ ABOVE cost to produce. They use the extra money to give deep discounts to law enforcement, which then further drives the popularity of the gun.
I agree that regardless of cost, people can set their own prices. It’s just a rough guideline within the yoyoing world because most US companies will machine using US machinists which are more expensive than their Chinese counterparts, which is why they tend to be more expensive. By comparison most of the cheaper metal throws are manufacturered in china, hence the lower cost to make, which allows a more competitive price.
However this is just a rough guide. Nothing to stop a company skipping all corners possible during production and still ramping up the price.
Remember I’m talking EXCLUSIVELY about yoyos here. You can’t compare a PS3 to a yoyo…
Is it going to play 3 times better just because it costs 3 times more? No.