so…I only feel a few clyw throws are worth the money…i was kinda unimpressed with the AX…itsva good yoyo…but not for the money…any agree? why is clyw so expensive???
Oh No not another Flame thread. Just watch this thread will slowly turn into a HUGE arguement.
inb4 mod closes this thread
no… no flame. just want an elaboration.
My guess is its the whole limited availability colorways and short small runs and batches. I guess it boils down to rarity (lol for you bronies) and just the fact that CLYW makes really nice throws.
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Chris designs great yoyos. Economically, it makes sense to price them that way because there are people who will buy them at that price, and they will sell out. After all, he does have to put food on the table.
Maybe this will help. First off CLYW’s corporate office is Chris Mikulin’s kitchen table, considering that he is the owner and only true employee of CLYW it is safe to say that, although very popular, he owns a very small business. As far as I know this is what Chris lives for and, don’t quote me on this, this is his only source of income. To add to that he is now married so his responsibility has risen. So what I am basically saying is that he puts a lot of time an effort into the company rather than having a great number of employees kind of like YoyoFactory.
This leads into another reason, companies like YoyoFactory, Duncan and onedrop own there own machine shops where they actually machine the throws. This is cheaper because, unlike Chris, they don’t have to pay for machining and the shipping of the product. They can also by the material in bulk making it cheaper as well. I would assume, but not positive, that YoyoFactory has there own anodizing shop. This makes it quite cheaper for the same reasons as why it is cheaper to have an owned machine shop. Chris also takes pride in the anodizing considering the amazing colorways he puts out in all of his products. This means he finds a high qaulity anodizer to do his throws. So he has to pay for the work they do and than of course shipping.
After that you have to consider the throws that don’t make it past his standards, that are quite high. For example there were quite a few Claireview Station Arctic Circles produced but all turned out fools gold due to the anodizing. This means money out of Chris’ pocket, although he does manage to sell them at a discounted price. The second thing is that unless it is through his own store he has to sell all of the throws at wholesale price so vendors like yoyoexpert can have some profit off of the product they sell. So when you think about most of the $160 you spend isn’t even going into Chris’s pocket only a fraction of it is.
Another reason that I feel as a buyer and a fan of CLYW and Chris (knowing that he is a great guy, without even meeting him) is the exclusiveness and great quality of throws he puts out on the market. In my opinion he puts out the best colorways of throws in the entire market of yo-yos. Also of course the uniqueness and greatness of how the throws play. Of course that can be your own personal preference. But really I mean CLYW throws are one of the few companies that either keep their value or close to it or even rise in value on the B/S/T forums. It just goes to show the greatness of CLYW return-tops.
Also Chris contributes back to the yo-yo community with donations to different things like contests and such.
Of course you don’t have to listen to this, but this is basically my theory of why CLYW is the way it is. I would not have taken the time to make this response if I didn’t believe in Chris’ products. I probably missed a lot more reasons, but this should cover most of it. I hope this helps.
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Low supply and high demand the prices can be higher and people will still be there to buy the products. If people are buying the prices aren’t too high, in fact I can see then rising until they hit a critical point where sales start suffering. As long as the prices rise slowly, they could easily exceed the costs of even yyr yoyos because of how high the demand is.
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@yoyodiscussion
woah, I thought you were studio for a second there by the length of your post! 
Yeah, clyw is chris’ full time job. If you wanna know more about all this you can look for the thread complaining about the hats being $30.
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If you don’t want to buy into the hype, then don’t spend the money.
Personally, I like their products. Even so, not all can be winners. Not everyone can like them. That’s simply reality.
Now, even though I like their products, I feel the Canvas sacrificed performance in favor of having that “canvas” area for the artwork. Still figuring out the Arctic Circle.
Remember, nobody is being forced to buy anything or spend any money. That’s how it goes.
What I don’t understand is why people think CLYW is really that expensive. Yes, they’re more expensive than many metals, but by no means are they the most expensive. Even when you really break it down, what are they really asking? Maybe $20 more than most mid-to-high end companies? It’s really not that outlandish, especially since those other companies usually don’t have the kind of rabid following CLYW’s throws do.
Bottom line, they’ve made enough good throws and captured enough people’s attention in the process that they can afford to ask what they’re asking. Would anyone buy something they didn’t feel was worth it? I very much doubt it.
I’ve only just recently purchased my first CLYW but to be honest you can feel a difference once you take it out of the box. I was skeptical at first but when I started throwing it there is a certain quality the AC has that makes it feel more polished or finished in comparison to other throws. I’m not saying its the best out there but I am saying that the quality can be felt at the end of the string.
If you delve into the physics of a yoyo and really research the engineering and dynamics behind a good one you can see that Chris has found that certain, essential mix of weight, diameter, width and weight distribution which translates into a well executed product. I think that part of the success of CLYW is that they have been around and Chris seems to have found this sweet spot in the design early on while other companies may have taken a bit longer to grasp this design.
Plus if you look at the trend on YYE, offering a limited supply at intervals seems a better marketing tactic than just flooding the sales floor with 500 throws and waiting for people to buy them. It makes economical sense as well on Chris’ side of things…he can do a small run, measure the demand and success and follow up with a second run which is fueled by the initial limited offering.
So good design + limited quantity = increased demand and…drooling players dying to get one no matter what the cost.
People forget to realize that YYF makes some yoyos more expensive then CLYW.
Way to throw the hate in YYF’s direction
No hate lol, Just saying that yoyos like the Mutant DNA cost more than a Wooly Marmot.
Your point?
I think he is trying to say that people tend to make a big deal about CLYW prices while there are other companies, such as YYF, that make throws that cost more than CLYW.
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Oxy Ti 9.06 was 465 dollars and nobody complained one bit and they all sold out. EVERY CLYW sells out as well (maby not campfire) so the solution seems to be, raise the price higher to say 180 or so for there regular set price and then nobody would complain.
Of course that is an exageration. If you don’t want to spend that much then don’t, they are great yoyos and you are paying chris, his annodizer, his machinist, shipping costs to and from those places and yoyoexpert, your paying André and his employees, paying the people who supply the aluminium stock and I am sure I am missing something somewhere.
Personally I just don’t have the cash to drop for them but if I did then I would. I do love the CLYW yoyos and I have nothing but respect for Chris.
there is hype in every brand … yyf yyj clyw od c3 tp yyr spyy generalyo werrd ilyy … etc. and on n on n on (list of more companies)
what really makes CLYW different are the fans of CLYW (they all have their own agenda) … they are dedicated to only owning all clyw out there… so when a new one drops its like candy in a kids store …
i can say that cus i was one of them but hey anyone can say it if they buy one … cus then you will be hooked for life … its that feeling you get when you first throw your clyw … mine was an avalanche and I was like … what is this thing that keeps spinning effortlessly lol …
long story short … its everyone who buys it that keeps CLYW alive … off course chris is the biggest part of it … but without all of the people buying his yo-yos its nothing …
so what is all the hype ? well if you bought one then you fell into it didn’t you? well i wouldn’t say fell into it like a trap but curious enough to try it … thats how it starts and then you realize what you have in your hand … I can’t speak for the AC but i can speak really well about the Avalanche and Chief and Sas and gnar and canvas (although canvas probably plays different then the rest)
so unless you have tried all of their throws … i would say that you can’t judge a company on one throw … now … their is nothing wrong with that … i have done that before … ( won’t mention who or what )
but we are all throwers (some are robots) here … so why don’t we just buy everything that is out there so that we can have a better understanding of what we really want.
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You said it well Nivo, I own all the CLYW throws that you speak of. They all stand in a class of their own.I say thank you Chris for your devotion. Hype/money becomes unimportant @ some point.