This is awesome! I’ve been lurking on this thread for awhile now. I can’t stop reading these! I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to anything yoyo. Much love! - Snoopy.
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Glad to hear it, thank you!!
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Proud to present Doc Lucky for today’s profile!!
What got you into throwing? How did you find the hobby?
Like any other kid in the 60s & 70s, I played the yo-yo a little bit, maybe a little more obsessive than the average kid. In medical school, I found a yo-yo and trick book, and to kill time between classes, I started practicing. I learned all the tricks in the book. That was the start.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
If it had to be a fixed axle, it would be a Tom Kuhn 3-in-1, No Jive. If it was nonresponsive, then the one I would go with is the Shutter.
What trick are you working on currently and what is your all-time favorite trick?
I am getting better at two-handed looping. However, I could be more consistent. My favorite trick is rock the baby out the window. It’s a crowd-pleaser just because of the name.
What’s the most meaningful yo-yo you have in your collection?
That would be an original Flores yo-yo from 1928. I’ve always said you’re only a Jedi yo-yo collector if you own a Flores yo-yo.
What kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I still compete in open water swims and do a 2-kilometer lake swim daily each morning. I also play for the Orlando underwater hockey team. We were the 2024 Florida state champions this year. I also like doing short films, and I’ve had a couple in the last few years at film festivals that have picked up a few awards.
What are your favorite restaurants and order?
I would go with the one that has had the most yo-yo premiums over the years: McDonald’s. My favorite order would be a Big Mac and small fries with two BBQ sauces. My cardiologist tells me that that is no longer my favorite order.
What is your favorite movie or TV show?
My favorite movie is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. My favorite TV show is Game of Thrones (with the exception, of course, of the last season of the show.)
If there is one song that you say fits your mood and personality perfectly what would it be?
Any song by Weird Al Yankovic
What is your best yo-yo memory?
I have many, but there are two that stand out. The first time I was in Tallahassee, sometime in the 90s, I was hanging out after a yo-yo competition. Steve Brown had just recently attached either a ball or maybe it was a dice at the time to the end of the string. He said, “Guys, check this out,” and he threw a simple aerial. Everybody’s jaw dropped to the ground. We saw 5A for the first time, and the rest is history. The second memory was when I was hanging out with Mark McBride in a hotel room, and he said let me show you a trick I invented. On the third try he hit it. “I call it velvet rolls,” and 3A was invented.
What is your bad yo-yo habit?
Absolutely not arranging to have enough yo-yo throwing time.
What’s the most expensive or rare yo-yo you have?
That is a tricky question to answer as I have several one-of-a-kind prototypes. I also have many yo-yos that we refer to as “majors” in the collecting world. A major is a yo-yo that has sold at some point in time for over $1000 at auction. Some of my favorite rare yo-yos are a Candy swirl Flores, a Duncan white wooden prototype Coke yo-yo (Duncan only made six and rejected the color), a Dale Evans yo-yo (only 10 or 12 were made), Tom Kuhn reverse Flying camel, an original Yomega yo-yo, a wood Jack Russell yo-yo signed by Jack, okay I’ll stop there I could list 40 more.
If you never found yo-yo what would you be doing instead?
I would be making movies, preferably zombie-related or horror. It’s still on my bucket list.
How is the yo-yo community change from what it used to be and where do you think it will end up?
I was at the first modern national championships in 1993 Chico, CA. I have seen the yo-yo evolve from a contest to a legitimate sport. Yo-yo competitions will end up being in the Olympics someday. If break dancing and skateboarding can make it into the Olympics, the yo-yo should also be a part.
Advice / words of wisdom to new players?
Practice, and then practice more until your fingers bleed. That is the only way to become a yo-yo champion.
What do you want to tell the world?
That’s an easy one; the answer is, “You can never have too many yo-yos!”
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Yooo! Very cool to hear from Doc Lucky! I love that he is championing Duos division and think that division has the potential to pushing out some of the coolest and most fun routines!
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I can’t wait for Doc Lucky to start doing yo-yo talk again.
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Verycool. Some of my favorite yoyo people have been interviewed so far. Keep it up!
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I needed to hear this, this morning. Such wise words.
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All - apologies for delays here. I was impacted by not 1, but 2 of the Florida hurricanes that just made landfall.
That being said I’m excited to have one of my favorite players Eric Tran-Ton!!
What got you into throwing, how did you find the hobby?
I think it was during the winter of 04, when a couple of my friends picked up a couple YYF F.A.S.T 201’s after their tour came through Chicago. After playing with one of their’s at recess, I went home and asked my parents to take me to a KB toys to pick up one of my own. I’ve pretty much been yoyoing ever since.
What is your goal in the next year for yourself personal or professional?
I’d really like to make it out more yoyo contests this year. I’ve been pretty disconnected from the wider yoyo community for quite a while now, and I’d like to meet all the new players that have gotten into this community since I’ve been gone.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
This is a tough question to answer, it changes all the time. If I had to pick one right now it’d be the mowl Infiltrate Ti. We haven’t released this one yet, but it’s been the yoyo that I pick up every time I want to play for the past year or so.
What trick are you working on currently?
I’m mostly just revisiting older tricks I never finished and figuring out ways to make them feel a bit more modern. That and all the Corocoro tangler variations.
What’s the trick that gives you the hardest time?
Corocoro tangler. I cannot get this trick consistent.
What’s your favorite trick of all time?
All of Daniel Kim’s tricks.
What’s the most meaningful throw you have?
There are 2. The first one would be my Pink Werrd Irony. It was the yoyo I used to make my first worlds finals back in 2011. The second one would be the Unknown x Unparalleled Ignition. Bryan Figueroa is one of my closest friends, and it was super cool finally being able to do a collab with him.
What’s your worst habit with yo-yos?
Not taking out my knots and just changing yoyos.
What’s kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I’m really big into movies. I watch an embarrassing amount of them every year.
What fictional character best fits who you are?
Uhh, I have no idea… Maybe like Uncle Chan from Jackie Chan Adventures.
Favorite restaurant and order?
Ghareeb Nawaz. Chicken Qurma w/ Garlic Naan & side order of Basmati Rice.
Favorite movie and or book?
Favorite movie of all time has to be Reservoir Dogs by Tarantino. I could give a Ted Talk on that movie.
Favorite book is Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton
If you could wake up tomorrow and magically have the skills from one player who and what would it be?
Daniel Kim. He is the best yoyoer in the world, and it’s not particularly close. His flow is incredible.
What’s your favorite memory from your time in the hobby ?
I’ve been in this hobby for so long that It’s quite hard to pick just one. If I really had to it’d be going to my first 44Clash in 2014. That is a contest I wish every player had the chance to experience.
How has the community changed since you started? Where do you want it to go?
How has the community changed since you started? Where do you want it to go?
It would take forever for me to go into how the community has changed over the past 2 decades, and it would make me sound like a crochety old man. So I’ll just focus on where i’d like the community to grow from here.
I think that there has been a really large influx of younger players in the past couple of years thanks to TikTok/Social Media, and I would really like for our community to focus on helping those kids transition into becoming competitors or more “serious” yoyoers. We always want to see/need newer faces in our competitive scene, otherwise our hobby is going to fade away.
If you never picked up a yo-yo - what would life look like now?
If I never picked up yoyoing, I think my life would be much more boring. I wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends, and would have never gotten the chance to travel all over the world. I probably would have spent all the time grinding away at yoyoing playing League of Legends.
Advice/ words of wisdom to new players?
Learn the fundamentals. It’s boring and looks kinda lame, but learning the basics of yoyoing before you move into more advanced tricks will make learning advanced tricks much easier. It’ll also make your presentation look 1000x better.
*Whats you want to tell the world?
Thanks for being a part of my life for the past 20 years. It’s been an amazing experience being a part of this community and I’m grateful for being accepted by it, but more importantly Daniel Kim is the best yoyoer in the world.
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