the fear of dings betrays the fear of transiency (or death if you want to extend it). it’s the most natural thing in the world to be afraid of. we tend to be repulsed by the feeling/sight/experience of a yo-yo that has tasted the concrete because we associate a little of ourselves with the toy (the money we spent or could get, the time taken to acquire it, how pretty and new it used to be and how much we liked the color). to mar it feels like marring a part of ourselves.
but natural or not, i think that mindset is the most important thing in our little obsession to move beyond. i totally understand calling yourself a collector or investor, in which case you’re kind of keeping yo-yo’s pretty for posterity or an eventual buyer. but if you’re a player i think it’s valuable to play with abandon. i think it’s valuable to detach from the stuff (and from your self) and throw to suit the moment. sometimes that will be in your room over carpet and sometimes it will be out in the hard, sharp world. sometimes you will make the sketchy trick and sometimes you will miss it. it’s not about breaking stuff on purpose. it’s about being willing to accept the fact that a life lived joyfully will have scars to show for it.
the dings will happen. the heavy ones will sand out and your yo-yo will tell part of your story - the part that says ‘the experience was worth more to me than the object’.
The only time I really mind dings is when I’m planning on trading or selling a Yoyo or when the dings actually hurt on grinds or te dings are so sharp it’s unbearable
Thought I’d throw this in there: when it comes to BST, I dread the “pristine condition” resellers for the most part. There is DEFINITELY a target consumer who is not me-- a consumer who wants an item in new condition but they can’t find it in the stores anymore (model/colourway).
But as for me, as soon as I see “Mint!” I think, “drat… there goes an opportunity for me to play a yoyo I’m interested in, in order to satisfy my curiosity without paying new prices.” I love buying new… and when I do, I’m glad to support the companies and stores that are supplying me the new product. But when I buy used, I want a used item that comes at a heavily reduced price so that I can satisfy my “PLAY ALL THE YOYOS!” curiosity.
All that to say (and I don’t think I’m alone), the label “mint condition” isn’t usually a selling point because it usually means a high (and sometimes so high that it’s unjustified) price tag.
Along the same lines, if I buy some near-beater for $50, I can usually turn around and sell it for $50. I don’t… I have a weird personal code that always makes me price things lower than when I bought them, no matter how insane the original deal was… but I could. Could even price it to cover the cost of shipping, for a total break-even scenario with my curiosity satisfied!
The same can rarely be said for babying a brand-new yoyo (ie. keeping it in new condition) and then eventually re-selling. You’re almost always going to take a loss. And that’s also fine-- the benefit is that you spent some time with a brand-new yoyo (if you’re a big fan of that look/feel, this is enough of a benefit in and of itself!), essentially paid “rent” on it, and got to move it along. But you’ve taken a loss for that privelege.
All that to say the ‘more than gently used’ market is actually a safer investment than the new and mint condition market.
I have two shutters that I’ve designated as throws for outside that I beat up when i was first learning (they still work perfectly although I’ve had to sand the one down quite a bit). I had anxiety at first when I didn’t have better alternatives but now I just enjoy myself wherever with those and keep my other babies inside.
