While that’s probably true, I just have to throw it out there that I personally have yet to throw anything similar to a One Drop. Not saying their machining is better than any company or trying to start a debate or argument lol, they’re just very distinct in feel and play to me. If I was blindfolded and told to throw a few different yo-yos I could easily identify a One Drop on the first throw, but I probably couldn’t any other companies’. And I’m sure them being around for so long and having the experience and years of feedback plays a big part in all that too, not necessarily where they’re machined at.
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I was thinking about this and I’m not sure how much the OD flat bearings and the pyramatte finish plays into this. There are some similarities in quite a few of their yoyos, but I’m not sure if I was given an Intro, for example, with a different bearing and finish if I would think OD right away. I also have an SK, that in fairness is a Collaboration, that doesn’t seem particularly One Drop. It has a blasted finish and more of a SF shape.
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ZGRT are designed in Canada by Jorge and made in China (I am not sure about the Alebrije but I am sure about the rest, is also written on the boxes they come with) and as you can see the quality is stellar.
This topic is so weird as I am Italian and this remind me so much the “buy made in Italy”, the only problem with the made in Italy for example in various mass designer produced clothes most of the time is 99% made in another country and 1% in Italy (for example apply the label on the clothes or just a passage of the process) and this make the product made in Italy which is a scam on my eyes as the price increase from probably 2$ to 400$, there was a scandal in Italy years ago about some designer clothes and this topic.
I have absolutely no problems with Chinese factory if the rights are respected (and most of the time probably are also in small factories like yoyo), again as someone said let’s look at the Yoyofriends yoyos or ZGRT or many other brands, the quality is so high and they look and feel perfectly, so there are no complaints, sometimes the made in Italy (in my case) it’s just an excuse to skyrocket the price of an item but doesn’t bring any more quality to it.
To go back in the yoyo world, I have several One drops (first brand that come to my mind made in america) and several other throws made in china and all over the world, I do not feel any difference in quality as also at the end of the days those are all toys which we suppose to play with
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Hear me out, Ben. What you’re gonna do is make a monometal—a sick monometal—that’s made in the USA. It’s gonna be Gentry’s, Evan’s, Mir’s, and Miri’s sig simultaneously. Heck, you can even get Shu in on this thing. They’re all gonna use it in their contests and then, without a doubt, the superior American manufacturing will reign supreme.
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I believe that All yo-yos should be made in the United States.
And they should All be designed in the Unites States.
And every single part of the manufacturing process should be done by American Citizens.
And I believe that every American Citizen worker should provide a personal Human blood thumbprint, Notarized by the proper Authority in order to Document Authenticity.
All American metal providers should be willing to Swear on the Bible their metals are 100 percent pure and domestic.
All employees of Yo-yo Manufacturers, should consume only American produced foods and drinks.
And only drive American made cars, bikes, motorcycles and skateboards to and from work.
All American Yo-yo Making employees should be in Unions so they can be provided with full Company benefits and superb pay so the Companies can justify charging the highest prices for their yo-yos.
All yo-yo buyers should have accessibility to Company Websites so they can review the individual employees personal lives and be assured they are being treated fairly.
Anybody found to be buying from Chinese sources should be immediately Stripped of their Citizenship and sent to a remote Island somewhere close to the Equator.
And on a final but more factual note, about half of everybody that may have read this looney post, are probably the owners of Apple IPhones.
And of course, IPhones are made in China. 
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Both companies are well worth supporting regardless of where their products are machined. They are a pleasure to work with.
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I’m not xenophobic - isn’t it the well-being of Chinese workers that I’m complaining about? It’s just China is a country that doesn’t have strict laws about how workers are treated and how much they’re paid. Like I said, FPM I’m fine with, but some factories in China are making life very hard for the employees so they can bring in more money, and the Chinese government doesn’t care. I never buy from companies like these if I can avoid it. FPM I’m good with though.
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Before start my answer AgentOPR you are not xenophobic, I literally trust that, also is stupid in a world where we are really all “mixed up” also in our hobby where we have players and companies all over the world.
We are hugely going off topic but we are all civil speaking about this, so it is fine I believe.
I can say that the under paid work happen in every country in every field even if they have the law against it, I do believe the whole world is build like that and it’s wrong, very wrong (I agree with you on this).
In Italy I was getting payed 200 euro (a bit more than 200$) a month for a full time job where I had more or less 2 weeks of holidays a year and crazy hour time (sometimes I used to go at 8 am and leave a 9pm) until I get stressed out and left and it was a job as a building designer and property management, something that for example in UK is seen as an “high grade job”
The Italian government? Doesn’t care at all, and this is a reality that I lived for long (around 6 years if not more) and most of my friends over there lived as well in different work places and roles nowadays, I would say that this is normal in Italy, during an interview I even heard “Oh yes if you want you can even start now, just if you do it for free” which it was one of the biggest offence I ever heard on my person and again this is normal for Italy but everyone keep buying Italian products anyway and we do not have this “fame” of be like China about working rights.
I had friends that worked in London (UK) in some restaurants as dish washer that get payed less than the minimum wage for crazy amount of hours and conditions and struggle to live there until decide to leave the country totally because they was basically living for work and did not even pay the bills at the end of the month.
Never had experience with America as I never lived there but I am quite sure this happen also there, underpay work is everywhere and maybe other countries are more able to hide it compared than China or have different percentages but I think during the years so many stereotypes about China came out and get stuck in the collective mind.
I had an ex girlfriend from China and she showed me quite a different world (and no she wasn’t rich or whatever), while that she agree that some areas are horribly managed by the law some others are not like literally in every other country around the world and even chinese people are now less prone to get “scammed” nowadays except in crazy poor areas (which again happen in every country).
About the manufacture, more or less everything come from there nowadays as someone said also the smartphone we use and some of our beautiful designer italian clothes for example, or most of the bs we all buy off Amazon or whatever website.
The quality raise up a lot and also the work conditions of so many people, I think they evolved a lot to keep up with the world standard and the fact that they becoming very powerful in the world economy, injustice is there but not only there, before judge everyone else is always better to have a proper big check on our own garden
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I see your point. I too wouldn’t support a company that treats its employees in this way. But as far as I’ve seen this only seems to be happening in high volume/tech factories such as the factories that Apple source their materials from. But yoyos don’t sell anywhere near that sort of volume. I’ve not heard of anyone saying X yoyo manufacturer uses this machine shop which doesn’t pay or abuses their staff. Maybe there are some and I’m ignorant to it but if you have more specific information about which companies are doing this that would be very much appreciated.
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Yes, I see your point. There are definitely in every country companies that treat their employees horribly and some that give them plenty of benefits and high pay. Perhaps China isn’t as bad as I thought? I’m not sure. But that is interesting, thanks.
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i just found out about american wages, workers rights and labour practices, i think i want to go with swedish made yoyos from here on out.
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You just know that yoyos are a niche product when there is no such thing as an Amazon Basics line of yoyos. And speaking of Sweden, if IKEA ever made yoyos, they’d sell you only the parts and make you assemble it yourself.
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Great point! Their flat bearings are definitely a factor in all that I would think. Finish yeah same thing but I’m talking mostly just by the feel of the yoyo on the string, but again like you said how much of that is the OD 10 ball? I think I’m gonna experiment a little today and see haha
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“Machines needed and paint sold separately” -Ikea
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And they would be made out of particle board. 
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The thing is that most yoyo manufacturers are known in the community, so you should be good if you’re buying something made by FPM, magicyoyo, etc., and thats where most bimetals are manufactured
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Don’t reveal my next boutique idea!
Fully custom yoyos
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Does Magicyoyo really do machining for a lot of other companies? I’ve heard this before, but other than the collaboration that they did with C3, I’m not aware of anything else. I do know that most companies don’t publish what machine shops that they use.
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I’d like to point out those small machine shops in China that specialize in yoyos most likely have under 10 employees and most of them have a passion for the process. You have nothing to worry about when purchasing a yoyo from manufacturers who use these shops. If you’re looking for mass produced plastics or those tin yoyos, I’ll give it to ya that those might come from shops with less than savory conditions. Why would you want to purchase those anyways? They’re garbage. But it is pretty silly for you to jump to the assumption all shops are like that. You see this disparity in the United States as well, have you heard the news of how Amazon treats their workers? Is this the same as how a mom and pop store treats their employees?
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