As I’m new to this whole thing(nearly a year), I still have my perspectives in place for that.
I remember after I got in, and seeing responsive play and seeing “I gotta do a trick just to get the stupid thing to come back” to be discouraging at first, but I had already bought my DM2 and was waiting for it to arrive. While I was waiting, I got impatient and got a Duncan Butterfly and Yomega Fireball. I already had a Reflex and Imperial at the time.
The yoyo is supposed to be a simple toy. Two halves on a string, up and down, simple stuff, that’s it. That’s how many people perceive this. Parents see inexpensive yoyos on toy store pegs and figure “that’s enough”. I recall my information overload, despite being an “very late starting noob”. Fortunately, my learning has shielded my wife from knowing all the nuances of serious yoyo ownership, and has made the yoyos for my kids seem rather painless and seamless. She doesn’t see the parts here and there, she just sees that “he’s not having to run out and get stuff all the time”.
While there is debate over starting responsive vs. unresponsive, I am in favor of unresponsive. Get yourself oriented properly, gain some skills, some experience, some self-confidence, let things evolve naturally. As silly as it sounds, there’s tremendous satisfaction from doing rock the baby or eiffel tower, especially when you’re a noob. If we follow the tutorials on YYE, you’ll notice a natural progression. Yes, the tricks get harder. You have to push yourself.
This is where buying a yoyo such as the DM2 is important. You can get something inexpensive that’s pretty much responsive only, only to outgrow it and put it away and have to replace it with something else. You may or may not end up spending more. The DM2 is just one of many examples of a yoyo that is two yoyos in one: responsive or unresponsive depending on the bearing. For a beginner, a Legacy II does the job just fine at a reduced price. Of course, we’ll all buy new yoyos over time.
Another method I use is to minimize loss. Don’t start off expensive, start off reasonable. If it takes off, worse case is you’ve wasted small dollars and you buy a more expensive yoyo and the old one can always be used again. If it fails,you’ve wasted small dollars, cut your losses and walk away.
I was at a yoyo meet a couple of weeks ago. There was this kid with an 888 beating the crap out of it. The kid couldn’t throw it. No spin, no control. It was like watching a spaz wth a rock on a tether. I bet his parents must be proud. This kid could easily be amused with an Imperial or Butterfly for 1/20th of the costs.
I really started at age 39 with the yoyo. Old enough to have my own money, old enough to learn a fair amount on my own. But also old enough to know how to cut my losses. I figure if that Reflex and Imperial pair didn’t work for me, then for $12, that would be my losses. However, it didn’t work out that way. I’ve spend quite a bit since then, including yoyos for my kids. I’m having fun all the time!