I think it’s almost that time to get a solid metal yoyo. Right now both my metals—iYoYo Passion and Goodlife Valley—are undersized. My other unresponsive is a iYoYo Shooting Star. I like them all but want a solid, full-sizeish metal. I began going down the rabbit hole of looking at options and realized there’s a ton. I think I’m looking for something 65-66 grams and 55-56 mm in diameter. I was looking at maybe the Gulch or Shortcut, but would like to hear everyone’s suggestions and thoughts. If anyone has any decent used ones they’d like to sell, I’m open for that as well. I appreciate it as always.
The Legendary Terrarian is a solid monometal yo, pretty well-balanced as to what it offers, even for the kinda high price point.
Although i don’t own one, the YYF Uppercut has been getting good reviews and is cheaper. I know the Shutter and Diffusion are also standbys for reasonably priced metal yos
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I really like the Shutter, and I like the Shutter wide angle even more. Many people think it isn’t worth it with cheaper options, but I think it is a great yoyo all around.
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The Gulch is a really good yoyo.
I believe Theodore Munoz used it at nationals for 5a. This yoyo is awesome.
I would also recommend a shutter wide angle, jds shutter, winter solstice and summer solstice.
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The shortcut is insanely good, not just for the $30-34 it costs, but just in general. Definitely get that one
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Thanks for all the responses. I forgot I looked at the uppercut like a week or two ago and it seemed nice. I thought about the Shutter and R-Type as well. I’m not sure if I want a super wide yoyo though like the wide angle Shutter and the R-Type. I always wish I could test yoyos before buying. It’s tough with so many decisions.
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Buy to Try is a part of the hobby unfortunately.
Fortunately for you, everyone else experiences the same issue. You could just buy something cheap that looks appealing to you off the BST. There’s a lot of great stuff for cheap on the BST right now.
However, if you have a favorite player, maybe Kurti or someone from Good Life? Anyways, doesn’t matter, pick one.
Buy their signature throw. The one you’re copying tricks off of. The one who has the style you’re trying to replicate - even if you’re a beginner now, you’ll grow into the yoyo and it’ll continue to serve you well later on if that’s the style you’re into.
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Yeah. I feel you. It’s definitely a process. I think I read somewhere that you can visit the retail store of the online retailer based in Erie which is 2 hours away. I think your not aloud to say other stores names on here? That would be awesome to be able to check out sometime.
I’m just starting to get more familiar with players now. I only watched a couple videos of Michael Kurti. I learned about Chris Rodriguez when I was looking up the Valley and he’s definitely super good. I don’t know who my favorite player is at this point. Maybe Evan Nagao. Right now I’m more so going off of sizes and shapes that I think will feel comfortable. Though, I have seen that can be deceiving at times.
You basically can’t go “wrong” when buying a yoyo right now for the most part.
If you’re a beginner, everything will likely outplay you, so it’s just down to how much you want to spend and buying something YOU think looks cool that will make you want to play more yoyo. Price doesn’t dictate performance either. A $50 used bi-metal on the BST is likely going to outperform a $50 new monometal.
From there, as your skill progresses, your preference and style progresses and your taste in yoyos shift until you find what works for you. Until then, it’s a lot of “buy to try”
Suggestions are to be taken with grain of salt. Everyone has their own preferences and tastes, something I favor may not be something you like.
That being said. If you really can’t decide, buy something baseline and tested. Shutter, St. Elmo, Free Solo/LT, Berserker/Bastet, Silenus off the BST. All of them are $30-$50~
An “old” design that’s been through the ringer, so you have a baseline to buy off of for your next purchase.
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I hear that. I’ve read a few times that most yoyos these days are good. I haven’t bought one I didn’t like yet. I just got to kwyjibo following along on the yoyoexpert trick list. I really like responsive alot but I want to keep learning more advanced tricks. I’m keeping my eye on the BST. I got the valley on there for $20 shipped. I notice as I move on how my preferences change. I have an idea of what I’m looking for but theres sooo many I wanted to ask if there’s any others I should take into consideration. Im gonna check out some of the ones you suggested. I been wanting to try out one drop. Appreciate you taking the time to drop some knowledge.
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Yeah, I was gonna suggest one drop, specifically something 7075 with pyramatte (most of their stuff is pyramatte.) I say this because they can really stand up to damage.
As to which one? I haven’t tried them all. Someone else may be better at commenting on that front. Possibly a Top Deck on the BST. Haven’t tried one, but based on feedback it might be up your alley. I just bought one last night.
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Would highly recommend just staring at the bst for a while and picking up some things that catch your eye. Only way to judge your own preferences is to just repeatedly try yoyos, and the cheapest way to do that is either a yoyo club locally or BSTing, that’s why lots of us constantly trade on the bst, just to try more yoyos!
For specific yoyo advice, here’s three options I’ve been enjoying a lot recently:
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Cheap option ($30): Topyo x July Yo Null (available on yoyoexpert), 56.5mm diameter, 64.5g weight, this yoyo plays a bit lighter than you would initially expect, also a bit zippy. Doesn’t have a very hefty presence on the string, so it’s pretty fun personally. If you’re looking for something with a bit more heft in this price range check out the Topyo Annihilation Mono. Some people in the forum here have complained about Topyo QC in the past but I’ve never had a problem with it before (in the roughly 10 topyos ive purchased)
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Midrange option ($45): UNRLD ReCognition, 55mm diameter, 66.5g weight. This yoyo is a great performer, lots of people are a big fan of this yoyo (myself included, I owned 3 at one point, now just 2). It plays slower than both of the Topyo options but makes up for it in spintime/stability. I think this is an excellent first monometal.
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Boutique option ($60+): onedrop Free Solo, 55.6mm diameter, 65g weight. Great all around yoyo, 7075 AL, made in the USA (if this matters to you for some reason :p), yadda yadda. Note that this yoyo ships with a flat bearing (not preferable to many people) and uses flow groove response, so if you need to change the pads out in the future you’ll probably be pouring your own silicone. These are both very minor inconveniences for experienced throwers but can be annoying when new. This yoyo is an all around great performer, can’t recommend it enough. The wyvern by onedrop is also very good if that catches your eye more.
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Are yoyos made in China as good as those made in the USA?
Just kidding!! I’m definitely going to keep an eye on BST. I’ve seen some great condition Gulches that sold or never got bought months ago in the $30 range. That definitely helps a lot to keep up with the “habit.” I kinda relate different yoyos to playing different video games. I cycle through all my yoyos daily.
I’m going to check all these out. Didn’t think about 7075 being stronger. Always wondered what was the reasoning behind using that over 6061. Might have some questions I’ll post on here about them.
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Get a horizon. It’s a really great yo-yo. Pretty rim weighted, so it’s very stable, and it has a great finger spin cup for learning how to do that.
7075 is denser, which means the metal can be thinner, and allows for either lighter weight or more extreme weight distribution. It’s also harder, which makes it harder to take chunk out of it. 7068 is closer to 7075 than 6061.
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I’ll recommend the Free Solo. It’s the best monometal I own, though I probably play with my Top Deck and Thorn more. Honestly, anything One Drop is probably what I’d recommend.
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Cyber Crash and Shortcut are both incredible options!
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Completely agree with this, I play with that yoyo frequently, is really dead smooth and has seriously great perfomance, imagine for a beginner.
I think until now it’s one of the best deal I have ever seen money/quality in the yoyo world.
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Thesis Invictus, C3 Bastet II, Unprld Recog, Dressel Emotion (coming soon), Mowl Heterogeneity, YYR Monotone
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UNPRLD ReCognition is one of the best values in yoyo-dom. But if you like the Shutter and don’t want to go as wide as the Wide Angle Shutter, the JDS Shutter seems to be slightly preferred by a lot of people and MAY be slightly narrower on account of its beefy rims.
EDIT: I checked and the JDS Shutter is indeed narrower.
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Agree on this as well, I have a recognition and play unbelievably well, as someone said is hard to find yoyos that are horrible nowadays, it’s also a shame that I didn’t seen the recognition mentioned a lot around, it seems gone a bit “out of radar” when is in fact a great product, I can see the shops have still sooo many in stock!
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