for me though, it isn’t as much jealousy as much as just being overkill.
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I’ll think of this thread when I’m at YoLex in a couple of weeks with a proud parent watching their kid beat the crap out of a $100+ yoyo and say “look how good my kid is” as all I hear is “ding, ding, ding, clonk, klang, ping, bang, slam, kronk” as the kid repeatedly bangs the throw into the ground, taking it from new to destroyed in the course of 2 hours. It’s always saddening when they come to me with a busted axle and beg me to see if I can fix it for them. I mean, I saw the process: parent asks kid, kid says yes, parent goes big against advice, forks over money, hands it to kid, kid tears open box(whatever, I like saving the boxes but I’m strange that way), and immediately the kid starts bashing and thrashing that yoyo into oblivion. Jade whip? Plastic whip? NO, more like bull whip and alloy-mace. Rock the baby? No, abuse the baby. Walk the Dog? Maybe the way they did in the movie “Vacation”. Eiffel Tower? Maybe a jump from the top. Jamaican Flag? No, Ja-Makin’ Metal Shards! Double or nothing is when the yoyo breaks in half.
Not my money, not my problem. I guess if they are fine throwing their money away, I guess I should be fine with it. I wasn’t raise that way though and had to claw and fight and scratch for everything. I still do to a certain extent in certain areas.
So, I’ll just stop caring. But I will take notice and when “Little Timmy “the Throw Smasher” WonderKid” wants to come play my good stuff, he’s gonna be told “I’m sorry, but no. I’ve seen what you’ve done to yours, and I don’t want you to repeat with mine”.
Oh well, in 2 weeks they can try again. “Hmm, what did we destroy last time? That didn’t work out. We should get something else” My suggestion: How about a nice inexpensive plastic and actually accept some help this time? We want this “gifted and talented” child to learn, but they have to want to learn.
I guess I shouldn’t say anything. I am teaching my kid to do double or nothing using my Albatross. He hasn’t dinged it yet and he’s almost 6.
I will say for me, I started cheap: Reflex and Imperial. Liked it. Made sense to go to a DM2. Really liked it. Yeah, I’m in this until I die now, as I’m loving it. If I didn’t like it at the DM2 level, I’d have stopped a long time ago. My kid keeps pushing his envelop and improving. He’s avoiding structured learning, but I’m trying to get him to learn the split bottom mount, but he’s having too much fun doing things his way. He might be good some day. Probably some day soon.
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And just when I thought people couldn’t find anything more pointless to get mad at.
To some people $150 isn’t a big deal. I know it seems silly anyway but you can’t expect everyone to see it like that. It would have been wasted money if he quit regardless. The amount, and how much that matters, is unique to your perspective.
Thoughts? Hmm … I think yoyoing is a boatload of fun. Way too much fun to get bogged down with something like whether a person is “good” or “advanced” enough for a particular model of the toy we like to toss around.
We are a niche community in a niche hobby. You can’t reasonably expect people outside of this microcosm to value these toys as we do.
Also, if Timmy the Wonderkid’s parents show him love and encouragement by by shelling out $150 on a yoyo for him, there’s more at stake here than an expensive toy; which is really the sad bit here. Timmy’s parents get a sense of utility in buying him the best of everything while Timmy gets a lifetime of false security, a misplaced sense of entitlement, and the frustration of never having had any of his things make him complete and not understanding why. You really ought to feel sorry for the kid.
No, I won’t feel sorry for him. He’ll have a fine career in middle management. Why middle management? That’s typically where they promote people where they can do the least amount of harm. He’ll have good job security!
At the same meets, I see some decent kids(which most likely means WAY, way WAY better than me) with stuff ranging from low end to high end. These kids I can see are being supported by their parents, which is great. I’m not going to place dollar value to skill level, because let’s face it, someone at my level DOES NOT deserve a lot of nice stuff. But, some of these kids have yoyos that are suitable and appropriate to their skill level, which is great. Some of them are playing nice plastics and some playing metal and plastic YYJ’s.
With my kids, I made them EARN their ONE.
They started with BRAINS(wait, that sounds kinda zombie… BRAINS… nevermind)
Once they good use that(gravity pull was enough), they got the ONE’s that were waiting for them.
After that, we’ll focus on my son who is progressing. Protostar. He wanted to get into 5A, so I got him a Freakhand and he’s DOING very basic 5A. He wanted to get into 4A, so at BAC, he got a Fiesta XX, and he can throw, bind and a couple of tricks. He also got a Pusle at BAC, and he tries one handed looping. He’s working hard so I got him a Metal Drifter which he’s using for 5A(he loves 5A) while he waited for his Magic T6 to arrive. At YoLexTravaganza, he got a Dark Magic II, which he loves.
At 6, he’s shown enough interest and real desire to do this. I’m NOT getting him an AC. But, I can justify spending $60 or more on a good metal yoyo for him. He may not “deserve” it, but it will fuel his interest.
I’m watching what he goes through in my case. He also wants a stacked yoyo, or two, so I may have to order something real fast so it arrives on time. He likes my Photon Spirit, so that’s a potential, and he likes my T9, so maybe time for his own. But, nailing down a small metal for small hands… that’s what I’m gonna have fun researching. I already have ideas at least.
He’s also going with me to Nationals. I’m not running sound at Nationals, but that might change in the future. I know I’m gonna get him something there. My daughter, who has lost interest, will most likely NOT be coming and will therefore most likely NOT get something. However, I’m trying to re-spark her interest. She acts like she wants to get back into it. If she can prove it, who knows what may happen. Maybe a DM2 might be in her future. But she’s gonna have to earn it and learn to play unresponsive. I’m not expecting miracles, but I’m expecting a real effort. A lot can happen in 7 weeks!
Not caring what other people do is liberating. If they want to destroy top end YYF’s and other premium throws, then hey, they spend their money, do as they please. I’m also going to also spend on my kids, but I’m not insane! Heck, my wife has a DM2.
I agree with your first point, but I think your example is kind of inconsistent with the idea at hand.
It might just be a personal thing, but whenever I start with a new hobby that requires special equipment that I need to purchase I would begin with the low-end and inexpensive. I can’t see into the future and tell if I’m going to still be enjoying this hobby a year or two from now, so if I drop it then not too much is lost. The beginner in question however, could already be committed to this for a long time. That’s good on him. If not, then sell it for what it’s worth.
To me, the same however can’t really be said with a laptop, or at least in this day and age. A laptop is more of a tool to be utilized for work or school and not so much of a hobby. Gaming laptops are different however.
But again, just personal opinions and my two cents. It’s his money, so let him spend it as he pleases.
precisely.
how long do you have to have considered yo-yoing in a ‘serious’ way before you ‘deserve’ an arctic circle? no one in this conversation can push that yo-yo to the limit of its capabilities, so why is this beginner (or his parents) maligned?
imo, because someone buys into the hype surrounding a yo-yo, hangs out on forums, plays obsessively, and recognizes the rarity of the thing… those things don’t ‘qualify’ them to buy this or that. this conversation could be extended to virtually anything that can be acquired; cars, computers, shoes, cameras, musical instruments, etc. some people want to get what they perceive to be ‘the best available’. do i suggest expensive yo-yo’s to beginners? of course not. but it’s no less ridiculous to me that a beginner have one than anyone else. they’re all frivolous and over-the-top by definition.
we clearly do not agree on the fundamental spirit of yo-yoing. i would hear that sound and hear authentic play; more authentic than the self-importance or invented reverence with which most of us would approach that yo-yo. have you ever ‘destroyed’ a metal yo-yo by playing with it or dinging it up? it’s pretty tough, and with encouragement and sandpaper, they’re reinvigorated pretty quick. you’re describing the value of the yo-yo in terms of its ability to be resold. but a kid sees its value in terms of its ability to be played with. i don’t think you can have it both ways. either a yo-yo is made for play, in which case you can’t resent johnny for doing ‘drag the dog’ to his heart’s content… or it’s use is imbued with some esoteric ‘high art’, in which case there will always be someone out there who would be qualified to watch you using it and say ‘well, they don’t DESERVE or REQUIRE that’. who are you to vilify said kid or their ‘proud parent’?
most beginners buy expensive stuff because they’re excited about the hobby and they want to connect with it. they can’t do that through skill-based channels yet, so they use their wallet (or their parents’, who are justifiably excited that they want something other than another video game). as much as the curmudgeon in me would like kids to ‘learn the hard way’ like i did, walking uphill both ways through the snow with an imperial… that’s not how most kids are wired. no 10 year-old is going to be content with a brain (or even a one) when they go on youtube and see the best players rocking $150 yo-yo’s. they automatically associate ‘expensive’ with ‘good yo-yoing’ (which, guess what, so do 99% of you reading this thread - yeah, you do).
i lost my spyy ‘eh’ a few months ago. it was made custom for me, and there are 3 in the world. some kid (presumably) picked it up at a local playground. it’s probably got 30 knots in the string and has been banged up to high heaven all summer. truth: the kid who picked up, not knowing that it was special to anyone in this infinitesimal microcosm of a community, probably played that thing with more sincerity than i could, even if they just did gravity pull. to them it was ‘just a toy’ and they probably threw it without any sense of themselves or ‘the important skill-art they were making’. i don’t know that any yo-yo deserves better, and i hope i can come back to that spirit before my last throw.
i think yo-yo’s are toys. we can pretend they’re something more (or something less; a kind of egoistic capital to be collected and sustained), but bottom line: you and i play with toys. a beginner doesn’t need an arctic circle to have fun, but neither does anyone, right up to zach gormley. i won’t get anywhere pronouncing judgment on those who are new to the hobby. i’m better off just saying ‘sweet yo-yo’ and teaching them some tricks. (apologies for the tome.)
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There seems to be a lot of reverence for the point of view that a yoyo is just a toy in this community. There’s virtue implied in play, and not only that, but annoyance and even anger at the idea of a yoyo going unplayed.
I don’t personally see a yoyo as a toy. But, I have the mind of a hands-on kind of guy. I’m a watchmaker, I love working on cars, I build, draw, paint, and generally try to put a little bit of myself into everything. My most recent purchase was a Moonwalker from Heath. I paid what you would expect, far too much for a toy. And that yoyo will be used, but not to the degree that it could withstand.
But, I see virtue in that. I see that yoyo for what went into it. I see Heath’s inital Skywalker design on a computer, and his idea to enlarge it, and then the mistakes that were made, and the efforts put forth to salvage them. I see Jason coming up with an anno technique and applying it more skillfully than I could even begin to guess at. Ultimately, I’ve ended up with something that is not only rare, but something that represents “art” in it’s purest form, to me. The effort that goes into making something great from nothing.
I love it just for being what it is. It’s respect, really. I feel that for most of my collection, filled with designs I think are unique, challenging, and innovative. And this is value to me. Even if my yoyos go largely unplayed, that I enjoy them is about the most any designer could hope for.
So, in a roundabout way, I come to agree with people who see a yoyo as ed does. It’s not about skillfull play and it’s not about cost, it’s about whether or not the yoyo is speaking to you in some pure, and meaningful way.
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If you wanted the yoyo that badly, you would have been the one to fork over the cash and buy it yourself. If the kid’s dad bought him the yoyo, that’s his business. If the kid quits yoyoing, that’s also his business.
It always gets me when people say that someone doesn’t “deserve” an expensive yoyo. It’s their money, they can do what they want with it. Period.
A very wise man once said “It is easy to despise the things you can not get.”
Might want to think about that…
People should judge others less and yo more! 
This happened at my school, complete beginners getting awesome code 1s, gold phenoms as first Yoyos, new Yoyos every week, and all beginners Yoyos were 100+. At first I was jealous, because I started with a maverick and slowly worked my way up, but when they started quiting, and selling thier Yoyos for really cheap, I was fine with it lol. But it was weird how kids were buying Yoyos, and the quiting. It’s a pretty hard thing to get by as a kid when you work really hard to become good at yoyoing, and your friends start to progress very very quickly because you are helping them, and then they get 100$ Yoyos that you had to Wat a year to get. But eventually you get over it, as kids start to lose interest. Remember how many kids from Chevy Chase used to be on the forums? There was about 3x the amount of them not on the forums. Now there’s only about 2/3 left on the forums, and almost the same not on them. But it’s nice to see some kids really commit to yoyoing, regardless is they started with a 100$ yoyo.
If some someone I knew had an arctic circle and could throw double or nothing, I’d encourage him like crazy. It would be fun to know more people who throw.
I understand there’s different ways of viewing these things, but I just keep thinking how lucky some of you are to have others take any level of interest in your hobby. I drive 2 hours round trip for our “yolex” meets and, while ed and kevin are awesome to throw with, I’d be thrilled to have an army of newbs with clyws show up!
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Jealousy is a terrible thing.
It’s not a jealousy type of thing. I really don’t want an AC, I have lots of throws that I like way more. It just somehow frustrates me that this beginner gets an AC and he’ll probably destroy it and get out of yoyoing. And I do encourage him to keep learning, who wouldn’t? I dunno, just like JohnnyJ said a few pages back, it’s a pet peeve. It’s just frustrating to me.
Is it more resentment than anything? I mean for those that work for what they have, it can be frustrating when they see others handed the same thing they worked for.
I remember when all my friends and I were getting our first vehicles. Some of us worked for what we had and some had it handed to them. My dad explained to me that if I earned it I would take care of it and I’d appreciate it more. Hurray for dad!
I kind of feel sorry for people that are handed everything. They really miss out on so much and don’t even know it!
I am late to the party, but the fact I can do the same tricks barring grinds on a bone stock Freakhand I picked up for 9.99 is why things like this are reasonable to cause anger and cognitive dissonance.
it doesn’t make sense for a beginner to buy one of the most expensive yoyos available when there is no way to know for certain if they’ll stick with it, especially when almost any $20 yoyo from a respectable manufacturer will get them to the same spot.
I have many metals but I already know this will be a part of my life for quite a while.
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Yes, that’s the problem, he doesn’t know if he wants to continue and decides to drop $145 or so on a yoyo, when it could’ve gone to someone who knows how to use it and can actually appreciate it rather than ding it up and not take proper care of it.
Honestly, you need to give it up.
Complaining about it and venting on the forums isn’t very productive.
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