Since ive started yoyo’ing ive been looking for any and every store that sells yoyo’s. I know of looking at target or walmart or anything like that as well as hobby stores that sell kites and other skill toys and what not but have yet to find any where else besides the listed places. So just out of curiosity do you guys know of any stores that would be out of the ordinary for carrying yoyo’s? I’ve looked at local pawn shops but havent found anything there and dont really expect to.
Take a look here:
Where to buy yoyos locally USA retail outlets (real store) only
http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,32014.0.html
Ive already looked at that thread, I’m meaning more unconventional places
Take a look at local hobby shops, or specialty game or gift stores.
Yeah just any hobby town or place like Walmart or target or a pharmacy that where I got first yoyo from
I saw a proyo and a profly at a Dunhams… (Dunhams is a big sports place)
try toys r us… the closest one to me sells a decent line of duncans, like the freakhand 2 and metal drifter. also, some toy stores have good throws, like one near my house which sells high-end yoyofactories.
There was a costume shop that supposedly carried General Yo. I haven’t been there to check it out. I ran into a person I know who used to work there, but I forgot to ask her if she had any recollection of there being yoyos there. Since it’s not convenient for me to get to that location(parking is nuts in that area), I haven’t been there to check it out for myself.
hmm never thought of looking at a costume shop
Sport Chalet, has a handful of Duncan like FH2, squirrel, and pulse. My local Sport Chalet recently began stocking YYF PGMs and Velocities. Nice to see their boxes actually hanging on a shelf.
dont got one of those around me unfortunately, but ya its good to see them getting the product out there
You could also try any magic shops you may have in your area. That’s where I bought my first bearing yo-yos in 96’ or 97’.
Me neither.
They took it off their site. I just checked a bit ago. Strangest thing.
There’s actually a place right in Berkeley, CA (close for me anyway) that apparently stocks a variety of Duncans, YYF, and some other brands. One of these days I’ll hop on BART and take it to “Berzerkeley” and check out the toy shop since the station’s right across the street. They are a little more expensive (39 for a Protostar while we can pay $35 here) but makes me glad that there’s some physical stores that carry yoyos.
Other runners up in the Bay Area, in my ara that I know of are Toys R Us, Kmart (Pocket Pros line), and Big 5 Sporting Goods(Some basic Yomega brains/Xbrains, Throw Monkeys, Flying Pandas). Forget Walmart and definitely forget Target, as much as I remember back in 2004 you could get the FAST 201, along with the original Freehands, the Ballistic, Avenger…I should have grabbed them then. There is a hobby store that’s been around forever, maybe I’ll check them out.
Retro Ramble:
Long before the interwebs, there was a mom-n-pop toy shop about 5 minutes by car, 30 by foot, 15 by bike that sold a bunch of specialty toys. Things you could not find at Toys R Us. Yoyos were one of them. I remember every couple weeks during my summer break, I’d round up my friend and cousin and all take a walk to the Village Toy Shop to pick up some Fireballs or whatever new stuff they had in stock. I also made regular visits to Walgreens right down the street and even Safeway also right down the street to pick up different variations of the Duncan fixed axle line. Then, the big 1999 boom came and you could find them at Walmart and Target near the games and puzzles. I kind of miss those days, as much as I appreciate our online world and retailers (YYE) to exist. Today, I don’t even think Walgreens (and definitely not Safeway) stocks yoyos anymore.
yeah i yoyo’d for a very brief point in time around '01 and '02, i was in 5th grade at the time, and whenever i wanted a new yoyo i always went to target or walmart but now i cant find a single thing at either. I’ll have to look for some specialty shops around me, for now all i know of is a small chain of stores. I always hope to find a store that ordered some decent yoyo’s expecting them to sell but they didnt so they marked em down or something, have yet to see it with this hobby. I spose i cant really complain at all though the specialty store i go to has all the same prices on their yoyo’s as any online store and they have a HUGE selection, not quite as big as yye but still a good selection for a store anyway.
I’m afraid to go to toys r us because if I see an FHZ I know I will buy it. And a throw monkey. And probably anything with a counterweight, even a freakhand. Anything for CW like the one on the freehand logo(the one biting the string)