I recently received a yoyo on the BST that was claimed to be a mint prototype. I made the assumption (worst word in the world) that mint actually meant mint - as in undamaged and in its original condition.
When I received the yoyo, it had two dings in it. Very small and flat, but dings none the less. I confronted the previous owner and asked for my money back. It was then “explained” to me that those were not dings, but marks made during testing of the prototypes, and that yoyo manufacturers will slightly damage the yoyos during the prototyping and testing process, but they’re still released to the public. And that’s how you know the yoyo is a prototype. It took me 2 months to actually contact the owner of the yoyo company because life is full and busy, and he told me that he does not send out damaged prototypes, ever.
So, I wanted to confirm this with anyone else that actually makes and sells their prototypes. I’ve bought more prototypes recently and directly from manufacturers. And they have been flawless.
Do you ever send out prototype yoyos that have damage on them from testing? Have I been misled by the previous owner? Thank you in advance for any information you can offer.
I am not a manufacturer, but I have about 3 prototypes, and all of them have scratches in them from the metal not being smooth, anoed, or blasted, but there is no reason it should have anything that is actually deep. I dont mean really deep, I mean like feelable. ALl the scratches on mine or on the surface and you can’t feel them.
Prototypes are usually distinguished by being factory raw, there’s a minute difference in the actual feel of factory raw and a rawed yoyo. I haven’t produced any yoyos yet but I plan on testing and sending them out mint, only raw marks could be apparent, if any. I’ve never heard of anyone purposely damaging a yoyo to mark it as a prototype.
Well, this is a St. Eel, so it’s raw by nature I guess. Here’s a pic of the damage. I know. It’s very minor. But it was sold as mint. And mint doesn’t mean minor damage.
Not, in it having dings, it is no longer mint; even if it was sold by the manufacturer that way. Most established companies don’t release their prototypes to the public anyways, either.
Seems pretty obvious to me that the damage is not from manufacturing. Obviously someone rubbed it on something while it was spinning, hence the marks in the same location on each side. Not mint, and didn’t come like that from the manufacturer, imo. Or it might have come like that from the factory, i’ve gotten plenty of non-proto throws straight from One Drop and others that have small ano flaws and even dings and scratches under the ano, which is annoying, but i still wouldn’t sell it as mint.
I didn’t think so. Thank you for responding.
I gave the person the appropriate feedback because he won’t return my money. Mostly because he’s just a kid and doesn’t have any.
But, for all you future BST’ers, please be honest and educated about what you have to trade. KNOW what you’re trading, and ask for pictures from the other guys so you can KNOW what you’re getting in return. Trust is earned.