I really like your enthusiasm, and the starbrite is a decent throw. but
she’s a sponsored player, this is nothing but promo, your thread proves it (up to the title)
I can offer you a refund if you want. As stated above Ann selected her own yoyo. Yoyofactory has never pressured or chosen any competitors yoyo for them. Ann has a player edition avant garde due for release any day which would have been a better yoyo to promote rather than a yoyo which as stated is no longer in production.
Tyler Severance once placed first place with a stock FHZ. Hiroyuki Suzuki also placed first place with a Speed Maker. Both were the same and close the price of the StarBrite. Who says someone can’t use a cheap plastic in a competition? And when they do, everyone thinks that a company is trying to advertise that yoyo? It’s possible, but keep in mind that preference can create a large difference.
I’m not saying she got pressured, I’m rather saying this is
- good business
- obviously a good enough throw to compete and perform
maybe I shouldn’t have used the “nothing but promo” as the truth is more of a “big picture” kind of thing.
so let me break it down a little more
- first off YYF come up with good throws, they perform and they look good, all of them. their plastics are no exception.
- second, Ann being sponsored by YYF, I doubt we’ll see her throw, say a OneDrop burnside, on a major stage at least (I’m sure she has a nice collection)
the choice of a Starbrite is no surprise, it is indeed a good enough performer and Ann can certainly get the most out of it. Obviously she could have went for a superstar or a supernova, avant garde or whatever, but I think the neon collection has something special to it that make it stand out visually, which is always good for competition.
now this is nothing but pure speculation, but if I were a sponsored player, I’d want to help my sponsor as much as I can by putting forward their latest, hottest products. I can only assume that it may (or may not) have influenced her choice. I know it would have influenced mine if I was in her place.
Sponsored players “job” is to promote their sponsor (and yoyoing in general) and their products. this is, by no means, a bad thing. I believe everyone is happy with the way it is and most YYF sponsored players seem pretty happy to be there and represent what is one of the nicest brand around.
It takes a lot of maturity to be there, especially with such a brand as YYF, you have to believe that what they are doing is the right thing, because you probably will take some fire for being there (you know, the whole YYF hate train thing). I for one believe that YYF are doing all the right things to achieve their goals. And the first of these “right things” is to release good, quality throws. I think Ann’s performance with the starbrite says more than enough about its performance.
And in the end, this thread is the perfect example, the fact that she used that throw on that event is making people realize that this could be, indeed, a good throw. Which is what I meant when I was talking about how her “job” is to promote the brand, and that it works out just fine.
So YYF will be happy because people will realize that even their entry level throws are capable of winning major contests
Ann will be happy because she helped people realize that
The players will be happy because they’ll be able to buy a very good throw for a very low price
and I’ll be happy because I will be able to tell beginners that they could easily go for a starbrite and that despite its price, it’s a very good yoyo, and now I have the material to prove it.
so in the end, everybody wins. this is what I call good business.
Ok, Just what my thought where at first. I never meant it as a bad thing at all! From a business stand point it would make sense for that to be the case, since I have seen other companies (not necessarily yoyo related) do similar things to promote their products, but if not then ok! Havent yet tried a starbrite yet, but hoping to try one is the near future, They do look interesting 
Cheers,
I actually like the starbrite very much ^^
it’s right up there with protostar as a very good plastic throw able to handle whatever you throw at it.
and it definitely looks cool
I’m sorry that my words got misunderstood, I never meant to say that YYF forced that throw on Ann, I actually was there. I was just stating that Ann playing with it resulted in people considering it as a legit plastic throw, which is nothing but good business. That’s actually why there are sponsored players, to showcase the brands products and help promote it. In return they get free throws, they get to travel and in general, they get a great life experience.
Being sponsored, especially with one of the big brands such as YYF or Duncan or YYJ is a blessing and a unique opportunity for a young player to gain a unique life experience. I think everybody gains from sponsorships. The brands, the sponsored players, and also us, normal/unsponsored players who get to have legit throws for a few bucks.
I’ve heard that most sponsored players are encouraged to use any throw they want. Yet I guess you use your sponsors yoyo out of respect to the team(not saying that any sponsor has bad throws).