I don’t think ed was commenting on what yoyos look like, just in what you do with them.
I do agree with you, there is a lack of originality today among designs, most designs are rehashed ideas or updates to older designs and ideas. However, I don’t think that makes them boring. Going back to the car analogy, would I rather see an original Shelby Cobra or a kit car Cobra? Obviously the Shelby, but I’m going to appreciate the kit car the same, and want to take it for a spin 
i like it but come on. $160 v shape chinese bi-metal. oh but it has cut outs. well nevermind then. totally different. not. next year YYF and Magicyoyo will have a handful of cutout v shapes. but it’s no longer art.
Without a doubt; one of the very best yoyos you have never tried.
It is a Keeper🙄
Top level product from Julio
Hey; I even bring it to work🤤
Now that does not seem boring at all!
I really miss the good old days where I had to buy ten yo-yo’s to get one really good “keeper”. If buying a boring yo-yo today means great performance; then bring on the boring.
Too much of this “personality”, “vibe” and “laid-back” nonsense that is just marketing cover for poor performance. And how the heck is a “competition” yo-yo a bad thing? Doesn’t “competition” mean great stability, long-spin and predictable, forgiving play? What could possibly be wrong with that?
now that’s an interesting design!
Its becuase I find that a yoyo that doesn’t have absolute perfect or almost perfect performance more fun. Why? It’s because yoyo that aren’t so close to perfect in performance require a bit more skill & effort to make them shine. That, to me, adds to the fun factor. I also think a bit of center weight adds more float to a yoyo & I like float in a yoyo.
Of course the above only applies up to a certain point after which it turns from fun to frustrating. I also acknowledge that you & many others disagree.
Have you thought about learning a new style of play? It may make a boring yo-yo more fun.
Thanx 4 advice m8
I was hoping this thread would be more about how the yoyos play than how they look. 
The problem as I see it gets on soapbox is that going for pure performance pushes yoyo design towards the same thing, low walls and high rim weight. With every company refining the same design it is certainly a win for performance but is that all there is? If performance is the most important thing, then why are we playing with such simple toys in the first place?
granpa grumbles, shuffles away, and plays with stock FHZ
But aren’t there many yoyos available with these attributes?
There’s an interesting description for the new Axis Newport about to be released which is relevant to this thread:
‘As the competition scene grows, so does the number of companies trying to make the best competitive yo-yo. There is often some overlap and similarities in designs and that’s what Axis is trying to get away from. The Newport is a competitive design fused with just enough of that fun and playful feel to separate itself from the pack.’
Looks like the folks of Axis know what’s going on.
Yep, nothing unique comes out anymore really. YYF has become as sterile as a motherboard factory. Not a lot coming out that has its own character or personality. Like cars. Most Throws it seems are geared towards getting formulas of shapes and play down perfectly for competition. One of my favorite yoyo’s is the good and evil 3. It had the “flaw to love”. That was part of what made that yoyo unique even though it wasn’t that big of a problem at all. It was a subtle thing that gave it character. The peaks have story and history behind them. At the same time though the industry has been around for a pretty long time now so it’s to be expected that companies would be perfecting yoyo’s now and figuring out ways to push them out to as many customers as possible for as cost-effective as possible. I’m not slamming anybody at all that’s just the way the world goes.
Das trew. I do really like my sherpa. I pick it up quite often. The Sherpa is a really good example of a yoyo that is unique. Is that little dimple reeeeeaallly necessary on a yoyo like that? Nope, but it sure is fun to mess with. I also love how the halves are enclosed giving it a full shape but with a light and hollow weight. It has a different feel I have never experienced on any other yoyo. It also helps me with my accuracy.
I am not clear on this. Is lack of performance what adds “character” to a yo-yo?
I thought it had something to do with a unique “feel” on the string. Perhaps this unique “feel” is not one associated with a performance-oriented design?
Cutting through the marketing of yo-yo’s that have lesser performance, the point seems to be that while performance has gone up; the number of unique-feeling throws has gone down. I can see that. Manufacturers are naturally going to gravitate towards designs and successful design features that promote performance and sales.
The challenge for designers now, would seem to be creating high-performance designs that “feel” different than the others while still retaining the performance we have come to expect. That is a goal I can get behind. What I cannot get behind is sacrificing the increased performance that has come with modern yo-yo’s for an elusive, subjective feature like “feel”.
For the 1st sentence, to a certain degree IMO.
Overall, you stated your point better this time. I understand your sentiments about throwing performance under the bus for something subjective. We cool man! 8)
I’m not sure YYF is “sterile” right now, to me it looks like they’re going through and getting signature models for their players, IMO that seems to be their focus. So if there is anything sterile about what they are doing it’s their players fault for what they want in a design.
Not sure how you can start a paragraph with a slam and end it with a disclaimer about slams, but since you have thrown every new YYF model I have to ask - Was not one of them unique/different? They were all boring and sterile feeling?
That’s a lot of yo-yos, a lot of different shapes and styles, to just flat out dislike.
I think much of the excitement about the YoyoFactory Edge is that it does not feel like most bi-metals on the market today. Maybe this is the type of performance vs. feel that the op is thinking about?
Agree with the first part. However, I think there is a tradeoff between feel and performance …and that feel doesn’t have to be subjective.
For example, I like yoyos that feel good in hand and have sensitive to accuracy. This means round shapes and high walls. Rounded shapes that also lend themselves well to balanced weight distributions.
If I were going for straight up performance, then I would go for something like the Draupnir, all day everyday, but that’s just not as fun to me.
And on the topic of keeping a nice feel but increasing performance, does anyone know of a yoyo that feels like the original Puffin (fast, round, smallish, nimble, floaty) but with a better gap/response ?
…Like a Puffin. But with a better gap/response.
Which direction are you looking to go: larger gap/ less response or smaller gap/ more response?