Kudos to you for doing that but you are taking a sample size of 1 to represent the whole industry. Yes, I appreciate that you are transparent with all the source of material, however it might not be the same everywhere.
Best case happen is you might be the first to make Bi-metal made in US with price not going over 200 then it might be something everyone here are looking for
4 Likes
Long Rant incomingā¦
At the turn of the 19th Century, during the industrial revolution, a gentleman by the name of Henry Ford changed the manufacturing world.
The advent of the Assembly line - In 1913 Ford produced about 60,000 Model Tās. Just one year later, 400,000.
This ideal and concept were shared throughout the United States and we became the leader Globally. This concept helped carry us roughly 3 decades through World War 2. Essentially we were able to produce āProductsā at the same rate or faster than the āEnemiesā could destroy them. A war of attrition basically.
After the 2nd World War, the United States was sitting high on the hog. But with any of our foreign policies, once we destroy you, we help rebuild you.
In the 1950s is where we start to see the decline of US manufacturing. Against warning from several professionals, we decided to stay the course. āIf itās not broke, donāt fix it.ā was/is a US mentality we have had for a long time.
During the rebuilding phase of Japan, there was a lot of āSharingā of the manufacturing process. This sharing really opened their eyes. Due to their cultural differences, and getting beaten, their philosophy was āIf itās not broken, How do we make it better?ā
Over the next 20-30 years, the Asian Markets took this to heart. Japan, after attaining the new āWorld Class Manufacturingā status, fired most of its upper-tier personnel. These people were āOrderedā to go work for competing companies. Why? They didnāt want to repeat the mistake the US did. They wanted āFriendly Competitionā as motivation to keep striving for excellence.
Working and Refining their systems. By the 1980s, the United States could not compete. It wasnāt just the cost of āLaborā but how efficiently and quickly items could be made with minimum defects.
An example is the tariff that was placed on Asian foreign cars coming into the country. If the Manufacturers could sell their cars at a normal profit, it would have undercut the US manufacturers tremendously. We would all be driving foreign cars.
In the same example - the defect rate (Manufacturer Defects) is severely lower in the Asian Market than with any other global manufacturer.
While these Manufacturing Systems are known and shared (Toyota Production System, Lean, Six Sigma, Defect Elimination, etc.) The United States has been trying to play catch up for decades. A lot of our industries have just given up.
We now see āDesigned in Americaā for example, but not fabricated.
At one time in this Country (USA), American Made āDidā mean something in comparison to other alternatives. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed. Only in certain exceptions will you find this still true. Niche Markets, not High Output type situations.
I could expand on this more, but I think this is enough for now. Thanks for reading.
9 Likes
I consider Canadian made yoyos to be on the same level as US.
Zgrt and Motion are Canadian companies. (Perhaps their throws are still made in Asia?)
Even so they are both very good options.
1 Like
Anytime I see people get up in arms about Chinese made yoyos I have to laugh. Silly thing to bother with since quality of many Chinese factories has become very good and in high demand.
Back in the day it may have been a greater worry, but seeing modern Chinese factories and also getting inside looks into their workers and buildings (like Yoyoformula and magicyoyo have done) as well as seeing numerous employees in those factories also involved in the yoyo world shows that they are probably being treated quite well.
Throw yoyos yāall, doesnāt matter where they come from if it plays well.
13 Likes
While I would love and insta-buy an OD bimetal, theyāve said repeatedly that theyāre not doing it.
Iām certain thereās a reason buried somewhere here in the archives. What I suspectāand take this with a massive grain of saltāis that machine time, labor cost, material cost, trash grade %, etc makes it undesirable economically for them whereas lower costs for Chinese machine shops might make it worth their while.
4 Likes
Every time this gets brought up I wonder why itās become taboo to state that Chinese sourced metal is less consistent and occasionally just alloyed incorrectly. Thatās what happens when your manufacturing philosophy prioritizes quantity and low costs, and other markets (such as knife making, where Chinese manufacturers sometimes use rather dubious āsupersteelā alloys and questionable hardening processes) have been similarly affected. Thereās nothing wrong with doing business this way. At the same time, it is not xenophobic to call it what it is.
8 Likes
If a regionās materials are generally lower quality or less consistent but the end product is just as consistently high quality, it seems like this could be for a few different reasons:
- The manufacturer is sourcing equally high quality materials even if they have access to lower quality.
- The manufacturer is rejecting a lot of semi-finished product during QC and only delivering the highest quality.
- The quality of the materials is not very relevant to the quality of the end product.
6 Likes
This thread 
Look, if you wanna support an american business because you would rather contribute to your own national economy, I donāt see a problem with that.
However; I take issue with the idea that somehow a product is inferior because itās not made in the USA. At least in the year of 2023, if you gave two separate shops from different continents the same yoyo design, and had one anodizer anodize them the same, not one person could tell a difference between the two.
12 Likes
My general policy, that I donāt always follow, is: If all things are equal, buy American. If all things are not equal, buy the best product for me. As you can imagine, I donāt own many American made products. I do own more One Drops than any other one brand, but I own more Chinese made throws in total.
12 Likes
I think this comment is a bit unfair. None of us know the OP motivations.
1 Like
This gives us some insight into his motives:
5 Likes
I am 100% for supporting companies that:
- Treat their employees well.
- Make products that they understand well for customers that they understand well.
I donāt think that either of these things can be consistently inferred from a companyās geographical location.
4 Likes
Iām not saying that. Iām saying that anything that isnāt made in China is great. Iāll look into the throws you mentionedā¦
3 Likes
Ture, but that doesnāt make him xenophobic. Perhaps heās misguided when it comes to a small Chinese yoyo shop.
2 Likes
If one country consistently produces every top bimetal used by every major competitor for every contest in the world and the other canāt even make more than a singular bimetal without abandoning them entirely, are we really trying to argue that the second is somehow superior in quality?
14 Likes
I buy American and Canadian whenever the product is available. If not, I have no problem with Asian products.
3 Likes
Yoyojam Hex, phenom, nightmoves,ai,diamondback?
4 Likes
Thank you, and I think that might be what the original poster is after.
3 Likes
Butā¦. Bimetal users rarely win worldsā¦ā¦
Just trying to integrate another argument into this thread
6 Likes
I would assume thereās a huge degree of inconsistency across China in the quality of metal and the heating process, which affects hardness. But I also assume thereās a fairly high level of consistency within each shop, for better or worse. So I would expect, for example, all FPM yoyos of 6061 aluminum to be similar to metal quality and hardness, and if thatās good, I would assume their 7068 and 7075 to be good as well. (The opposite could apply.)
3 Likes