And while I was in Edmonton, Chris and I may have figured out a way to simply revise the tooling for the Yeti so that we can make some changes that will vastly improve them. They’ll have to be made out of a standard polycarbonate plastic (goodbye, weird glass-filled polymer that looks awesome) but we’re pretty sure we can do it.
So, we’re working on Yeti 2.0. Same mold, slight tweaks, immediately visually different, better play and value. We have a lot of work to do to make it happen, but we’re working on it. Gonna be a while, though.
In the meantime, we have parts for a few hundred Yetis in the existing plastic. Fans want them, so we’re going to make them available with increased maintenance explanations and customer service for anyone willing to deal with the fact that they can cut strings if you aren’t paying attention. It’s not a perfect product. If regular maintenance isn’t your thing, DO NOT BUY ONE.
Wow, thanks for all the updates and help. Do you think I should wait for the “Yeti 2.0” (or whatever its called) or just get a yeti when its re-released?
Evidently Yetis cut strings? I know people complain about this and I know CLYW has stated this themselves, that being said I have 3 Yetis: black, purple, khaki. Not one has ever, EVER shredded string. I’ve never done any specific sanding or maintenance. Never had to do any of the stuff in Chuck’s Yeti maintenance video. I’ve siliconed and I’ve put new snow tires in because the responses have worn out cuz I’ve played the heck out of the throws. Maybe I’m lucky or maybe people complain too much about this nonsense. IDK…either way this newer Yeti version sounds intriguing.
I said from the beginning they should just sell these things as kits and make absolutely no guarantees. Throw some spacers, a bearing, an axle, stickers, and halves in a bag and ship them out for $20. They could have been making money hand over fist by now. Let people be responsible for the finish work, assembly, and tuning. Same way model kits have flashing that needs to be removed and so many other hobbies that require actual effort by the end-user. Stop trying to coddle the whiney children of the community and just put some out there, since it is actually quite a fun yoyo.
The amount of man hours spent just replying to kids on social media and forums asking about Yetis has to have wiped out any potential profit to be made anyway. At this point just cut the presumably massive losses and get some more out into the wild.
Furthermore selling them at $20 a pop might not even allow them to break even at this point.
And then they have their brand quality to consider. What if 90% that go out are all bad? That would hurt their credibility and trust more than anything.
For the record, I’ve never cut a single string on a Yeti. And Chris can do it in like two minutes.
The biggest variable we can’t control is the player, so we have no idea what the heck people are going to do with them. So each will come with a big disclaimer on the website before you buy it, and another disclaimer in the packaging.
To the point of losing profit on a yoyo? I think they’ll sell for whatever price CLYW puts them, unless CLYW are spending all their time on doing the YETI stuff, I doubt they’ll lose money. But this is jsut my opinion
It’s impossible for them to net a profit on the Yeti at this point if everything Chris said about tooling and mold costs a few years ago is correct. Maybe new material can do the trick, but at this point with this material and design and time required they’ll never break even selling assembled yoyos.
I’m just saying a big ol’ bag of Yeti parts would sell like wildfire and get rid of the biggest hurdle which appears to be assembly time. It’s not like Chuck has some skill with sandpaper and axle tuning that no one else can have… I love my Yeti, and if i could buy a ton of halves with no guarantees and dye them and assemble them and create something fun on my own, why not?
Whilst I won’t comment on whether I feel that CLYW should do this or not, I definitely agree that I’d personally be more than happy to do all the assembly and modifications myself. If anything it would make the end result feel more personal/special.
The Yeti truly is a fantastic yoyo. This thread inspired me to spend all yesterday evening throwing my trusty light blue one, and it’s given me a new found appreciation for it. Easily, and by far, the greatest all-plastic yoyo out there as far as I’m concerned.
