Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking hard about how I can make a contribution and give back to the community that has given so much to me.
When I was growing up one of my favorite things was the “player profiles” in skateboard magazines. Quick articles highlighting skaters in the community allowing you to learn about them and gain some inspiration.
When I look at our community there are so many amazing players with such unique personalities, tastes, and styles - we really attract a lot of amazing people.
I decided the best way that I can give back is to start interviewing people, and create a history of the people that make our hobby so amazing.
Already I have an incredible line up of people who are lined up to be profiled - I know you all will be pleasantly surprised.
I hope you enjoy and that this becomes something you look forward to as I document the amazing and talented people that make up our community!
First up is truly one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet @Raindog3030. An incredibly talented player and owner of Turner Return Tops!
What got you into throwing, how long have you been in the hobby?
Duncan came to my Elementary School to peddle their plastics, and the next thing I knew… I was in the yoyo boom of the 90s! My friend group and I were avid yoyo-ists all the way through Junior High. Unfortunately, I forgot about my yoyo for several years before I picked it back up on my 30th birthday. When I turned 30, I decided to quit smoking, I did that with my yoyo! Anytime I had a craving, I’d throw yoyo for 5 minutes instead. That was over 7 years ago, now!
What trick are you working on?
I’ve recently learned the Beefhook and have been focusing on consistency. I’ve also been working on Beesting!
Whats your favorite trick?
Tough question! It’s definitely a tie between boingy-boing and follows.
What’s your favorite yoyo?
Another suuuper tough question! And this is another tie-up… my favorite yoyos, that aren’t ones I made, have gotta be the Parlay and Panorama.
What’s kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I’ve been really into pinball for several years now. We compete in local tournaments and also have found great joy in fixing and restoring old machines. I’m also an avid reef aquarist, reader, video gamer, wood worker, and mechanic. We started our first classic car resto last year, a 1973 Volkswagen Type 1. You could say I’m a bit of an eccentric hobbyist!
Favorite foods?
I love food in general. I spent most of high school and college working in kitchens and learning different culinary arts. That said, I’m a sucker for good Japanese food, especially takoyaki, sushi, and curry! I’m not certain I’ve found a type of food that I genuinely dislike, apart from previousely frozen fish.
Favorite movie ?
Fifth Element, chicken good!
What does yo-yo mean for you?
Yoyo means a lot to me! It’s an escape, it’s an outlet for my art, it’s an actualization of my dreams, and it’s nothing short of a great source of joy. Yoyo also has also become a great source of fellowship for me. Between organizing the Central Florida Yoyo Club, starting TRT, and attending events, we’ve met so many excellent folks. The Yo-mmunity is made up of some of the most wonderful and amazing people that I’ve had the honor of interacting with. The friendship, support, and kindness we’ve felt is unreal!
Best yoyo memory
Hahaha, it’s gotta be when my 2 best friends and I would regularly skip out of Church on Sunday’s to instead yoyo around downtown and visit the local science store for yoyos, string, and trick pamphlets… yeah, there was no internet back then!
What made you start TRT
Mark Diehr, it’s all his fault!!! Really though, I owe it to him. I met Mark on the interwebs a few years back (2020-ish?) on the Throwers Discord channel. One day, he asked for help with Quality Control and packaging, and we obliged! He invited us over, total internet strangers, and taught Jess and I how to visually inspect and package yoyos. We spent the day working with him on the second run of his Contact yoyo. I started learning yoyo engineering from his youtube series, started talking to manufacturers, and the rest is history!
Advice/ words of wisdom to new players
Practice! And don’t let anyone tell you it’s easy, it isn’t. Yoyo is a skill that everyone has to build. At the end of the day, whether you can hit crazy zontals or just throw-and-catch, as long as you’re having fun… you’re doing it right!
@100Love Community can and should absolutely let me know anyone they want me to reach out to!!!
I’m going to ask different questions as well, so it won’t always be the same. If you all have questions you want me to ask let me know! Hope yall like it!
@Yodaddyo thank you! I have to give credit to @Raindog3030 for helping me to come up with the idea! If it wasn’t for him I would have never thought of it
Very excited to have up next the one, the only, Steve Brown!! Thanks @unklesteve for taking the time to answer some questions, really appreciate all our conversations!!!
What got you into throwing, how did you find the hobby?
That story is interesting but I start to wonder how many more times people want to hear it ha ha. I think at this point the definitively easier version is this: I was homeless and needed a job, and lied my way into a gig assembling yoyos. If that sounds remotely interesting to anyone, you can hear me tell the much fuller version of that story here: YoYo Player Podcast Episode 1
What trick are you working on currently and what is your all time favorite trick?
I honestly barely yoyo anymore, and I miss it. I don’t actually see any yoyo players locally so it’s really only when I go to contests that I see anyone….and when I’m at contests I’m pretty busy either with contest business or Caribou Lodge business. I definitely feel that lack of other players to teach/inspire/push me and yoyoing has become less of a solitary pursuit as I’ve gotten older and more of a social one. I moved on from the “something to prove” phase of yoyoing a really long time ago and so it’s rare that I just get an idea for a trick that I feel like I have to stop and work through.
All-time favorite trick
Probably this one. It feels amazing to do and it’s a deeply satisfying trick to watch yourself hit.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
Right now it would be the Beater. I’d eventually like to make a titanium Beater and when that finally happens, that’ll be my “desert island yoyo”, but for now it’s just the regular 7075 Beater. Man, I love that thing.
What’s the most meaningful throw you have?
I have a Hummingbird “Nature in Motion” wooden yoyo that was the prize from the first contest I ever won when I was like 10 years old. My parents sent me to a day camp that was just down the street from where we lived and some guy came through and taught us five basic tricks and ran a contest at the end of the week. It was super easy stuff….Sleeper, Walk The Dog, Inside Loop, Around the World, and Trapeze. I did all five tricks on the first try and when he said “Ok you get one bonus if you have another trick you want to do for extra points” and I landed a clean Double of Nothing. I won the contest and that Hummingbird yoyo was the prize. I played it a lot that summer and beat that yoyo up pretty good and eventually it went into a box and I didn’t see it or think about it again until I was 19 and found yoyoing again out of necessity. I still compulsively buy those Hummingbirds everytime I see them pop up for sale and I think I have like 5 or 6 of them now but that first one is pretty special to me.
What kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I play bass (decently) and ukulele (also decently) and guitar (terribly). I also have a small tech startup called Nervous that provides strategy and moderation for Discord servers for large brands. I enjoy reading although I’ve gotten out of the habit lately because I’m a workaholic and have a lot going on with Caribou Lodge that I’m trying to implement and am working on really growing Nervous. I’ve also really gotten into biking in the last year and have a Salsa Beargrease C Deore 11 that I really enjoy riding.
Favorite foods?
Unagi, tonkotsu ramen, adobo pork, dinuguan, chicken tinola, Culver’s Butter Burgers, and my favorite breakfast: two eggs over medium, cooked in chili crisp and served on extra crispy hash browns with rye toast.
Favorite movie?
I think I can narrow it down to Aliens, The Breakfast Club, Stripes, Stand By Me, and Roadhouse.
What does yo-yo mean for you. Expression, technical, art etc
I don’t think of it in terms of that anymore, to be honest. I used to devote a lot of time to trying to quantify it in my mind and these days it’s just something that used to be the biggest thing in my life and I can honestly say that in a lot of ways it saved me…so now I’m trying to provide that same opportunity for others. I guess if I had to pin it down I would say it’s a unique canvas that people can imprint all their own thoughts and ideas upon to shape yoyoing into whatever they need it to be for themselves.
Best yoyo memory?
Watching people compete at Worlds in the very first 5A division. That was absolutely wild.
What’s it been like to watch the growth of the community?
A lot like watching my kids grow up. There are players who I met when they were 13, 14 years old who now have families of their own. I’ve doing this since 1995, so almost 30 years. I’ve been yoyoing long enough that less than 20% of the competitors at the 2024 World YoYo Contest were even born when I started yoyoing. (And the Over-40 division accounts for most of those, ha ha)
If you couldn’t yo-yo what would you be doing?
Like, if I lost the ability to yoyo or if I had never learned?
If I lost the ability to yoyo I don’t know that my life would measurably change. I’d still be working on the IYYF & Worlds & Caribou Lodge and Nervous.
If I had never learned? Might have stuck with performing? I studied theater for a while before I starting yoyoing and wanted to continue with that.
What are your yoyo bad habits?
I change strings like every 5-6 minutes. I hate dirty string. That’s probably kinda wasteful.
Advice/ words of wisdom to new players?
Don’t try to decide what yoyoing needs to be for you….just let it be whatever it is at that moment and accept that it’s great at filling the gaps. Let it be as much or as little as you need, and don’t be afraid to let it wax and wane in your life. Let it be part of you, not all of you.
What do you want to tell the world?
You should care more about other people’s well-being.
Thanks everyone, if there’s any questions you’d like asked, or people you’d like to see please reach out!
Edit: Big shout out to my friend @theendofcake for helping me learn to categorize and hyperlink!!
can’t wait to see who you do in the future.
