Hubstacks add a lot, due to extra bearings on each side of the hub … look up how much hubstacks cost on the Confusion GT versus the “888” GT. That’s like $35 versus $60!
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With kids I used several types of yoyos. The toughest was the original YYF Spinstar. That thing could take serious abuse! I saw it bounced off of sidewalks, used in an emergency for a hockey puck, and bounced off of a brick wall. The bearing was also attached to the axle and had a decent starburst response. Only down side was the yoyo was a bit heavy but hey years later I see them being played by the kids of the students I taught. Not bad!
I’m not sure how the new SpinStar compares as I haven’t seen one in real life.
Kids are more likely than adults to use yoyos for things other than yoyoing. I used to skip mine across puddles and plastic wadding pools, like a stone across a pond, plus a hundred and one other imaginative uses.
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I think the problem with this kind of choice, is that kids, like the rest of us, are not all the same.
For some kids codinghorror is absolutely right, and they would do best with the most modern playing yo-yo, that could quickly have the bearing switched out for unresponsive play. Shoot, it may even be best for some to start with an unresponsive yo-yo, and learn to bind it from the beginning. Some kids will just have a knack for it.
However for other kids the big challenge will be just to have the yo-yo, well, yo-yo.
It’s easy to lose perspective, with a bearing yo-yo. What seams like something so easy and responsive to someone who plays, might fall to the end of the string, and spin out for a noob; seemingly a mystery as to how it’s supposed to come back up.
For those kids a fixed axle might be a much better choice.
For many, just getting the yo-yo to yo-yo is a huge challenge, and a yo-yo that easily sleeps, can be a hindrance.
I think a super responsive bearing yo-yo might be the best compromise. Maybe the Spinmaster, or the FAST 201? The FAST has the adjustable gap…
Yeah, those yo-yos may not take them as far, but you can do a lot of tricks with them. If they get into it, they’ll get more yo-yos.
Maybe a mixture of yo-yos would actually be best? You could get a few Proyos or Legend Wings, and a few spinmasters or FAST 201s, and a few Arrows. If you could get a good enough deal, the Velocity can adjust to extremes, and might be the very best single choice.
I experienced how switching yo-yos can help this summer at the Rock and Blues camp that I teach at. I’ll yo-yo there, and the kids always want to try. I found it increased their chances of success, if they could try different yo-yos.
Edit:
Just caught this. Yeah as I was thinking, might not be such a bad idea!
Kids are very tech savy now so they’ll find tutorials pretty quickly if they want to go farther but a little one-on-one time is great if the kid and teacher are using the same yoyo and not a Butterfly / Shutter type of situation.
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It really does help if you both have responsive yo-yos, or that you both have unresponsive, if they are to that point. I don’t think it matters beyond that.
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I think sometimes we just over think it. Many times when you give anyone anything, it’s not the thing they find important, it’s just the giving. 
So give your time, share your knowledge, give a yoyo!
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If your only goal is to make a kind gesture, then sure, any old yoyo will do. But if your goal is to identify what will engage someone’s curiosity, maintain their interest, and promote learning, then thinking a little deeper about the yoyo(s) to give to them is worth the effort, I’d say.
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Can you elaborate?
I’ve had the unique opportunity to introduce yoyoing to hundreds of kids, literally. I can only speak from my own experience.
That’s all for me in this thread, movin on! 
Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that the vast majority of people who try a yoyo never bother to take it beyond learning the gravity pull and maybe the sleeper. When you put a yoyo in their hands, they are in Trying It Out mode, as even they don’t know if they like it enough to go any further. Most of them don’t and probably never will. Those (relatively) few who do are the ones who proceed to learn Forward Pass, Rock the Baby, Around the World, the basic Breakaway throw, etc. These are the people we typically refer to as Beginners, and their needs are considerably broader than the Trying It Out crowd. Therefore it stands to reason that a different caliber (and cost) of yoyo would be appropriate for each.
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Thanks.
I went with the yyf whip, loop 360, and Duncan pulse! Pretty excited! I’ve always like the whip as a plastic yoyo and as a give away too, so I wasn’t surprised when I picked those. We shall see how the others turn out 
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good, the whip was a great choice
You just can’t quite get your head around it, can you.
I prefer fast cars to horses and carriages, yes, and I believe most other people do as well 
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The fixed vs bearing for beginners is a valid point. Otherwise this is an apples to oranges comparison. Like it or not, progressive fixed axle play is a thing, and people enjoy it. I mean, literally, there is an entire play style devoted to it that doesn’t look like it’s going away. The argument of inferiority is incorrectly applied here. You are saying Tom Brady is a better QB than Tiger Woods.
I agree that there continue to be horse riding enthusiasts and that riding horses is very much its own distinct discipline.
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I don’t think it has anything to do with different disciplines when talking about learning the basics, It’s just about what is easiest to learn on. I would agree it’s easier to learn tricks on a responsive bearing yo-yo since you get more sleep time, but it can be easier to get down the basics of throwing a yo-yo on a fixed axle or transaxle. It’s easier to get them to respond on a very weak throw, and when kids are learning that’s important.
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Sure, but not all beginners are kids. Some of us are in our 50s. A solid, high-quality responsive throw of contemporary design is ideal for most folks with even a modicum of dexterity and enough maturity to approach yoyo like any other challenging physical skill (i.e., approach it with patience and care).
But I’m convinced that even as a kid I would have been just as comfortable, if not more so, learning on an Arrow or a Hornet as I was on an Imperial or Butterfly.
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Hmm, I find returns to be weak in all cases on fixed axles. I have tried around 10 and even the “best” fixed axle I have (a BC laminate) is pretty marginal relative to the super snappy returns I get on bearing & silicone pad yoyos.