Has anyone else noticed just an absolute insane decline in Duncan’s quality over the last few years?
I have some from early 2019 or so they came with no vibe, good quality and have lasted a long time in that condition.
Ever since they had their big sale I feel like everything I’ve gotten from them is just awful. Almost like they are selling B grade as new.
I got a grasshopper 2.0 and an orbital new and both tons of vibe. I saw people complaining about the same thing but just chalked it up to a one time issue.
Just got a new freehand AL and honestly it’s the most vibey throw I have ever gotten straight outta the box.
Anyone else have similar issues? The heck is going on over there!?
I think Duncan is just focusing on quantity right now. To offer so many options at cheap prices they probably just lowered the acceptable tolerances. I enjoy a smooth throw as much as the next person but if I can save $50 to have a little bit of vibe that’s not a bad deal.
I have no clue, the only yo-yo’s I have bought off Duncan are the Duncan Imperial and the Duncan Butterfly in a package. They are both really bad. My friend has a Duncan Butterfly, it is different than the one I have and it is pretty good so I also think they are doing bad.
I don’t have any unresponsives from them though so if that is what your talking about then I can’t help.
Interesting. My experience has been the opposite. The new FHones have been really awesome and my friend bought a B grade Fh AL and that thing is GLASS smooth and plays amazing. Same on the nee metal fh one. The XTs i got were are sweet players too.
Grasshopper GTX 2 (YYE)
Haymaker OG (YYE)
Freehand One Al SB (YYE)
Yoshicuda X (direct during sale)
Haymaker X (direct during sale)
Orbital GTX (direct during sale)
No issues.
I wish everyone had the same experience. I would say that anyone who didn’t should request a replacement. It seems like Duncan is capable of producing quality.
The only bimetal I own is the Tourney and it plays great. I own several al fh’s, al fh1’s, mini fh’s freebirds. They are some of the smoothest $50 metals i own.
I also have had very positive experiences with duncan. I have over 25 duncans mono metal bimetal… as well countless proyo, XTs and butterflies… never had any issue with any.
Honestly i find duncan to be a very easy company to work with, despite the issues they seem to have on June sales etc…
Maybe I’m just lucky but the yoyo day sake throws I got were great and I really haven’t had a bad Duncan. Ive never loved Duncan customer support as it seems unless you reach out to Bryan you may not get much response.
I’m sorry to hear about your experience with vibey Duncans, that’s really frustrating to deal with. Personally I’ve had the opposite experience. Granted, I was much more active in the community a long time ago (2009-2014) and only recently came back this year after just throwing on my own occasionally, but Duncan has made some serious strides since then. Back in 2009-2014 era, Duncan was the mainstream yo-yo brand everyone knew because of butterflies, imperials, and maybe Freehands, but they hadn’t really ventured much into competitive yoyos. Yes they had stuff like the strix or the raptor, but they could hardly compare with other competitive yoyos on the market from CLYW, OD, General Yo, SPYY, C3, YYF, YYJ, etc.
I had my reservations when people suggested Duncan bimetals to me when I recently posted about it but I gave it a chance with the Grasshopper GTX 2 after researching it and asking tons of questions, and it is by far the best performing yoyo in my collection. In terms of spin time, power, smoothness, stability, and basically every other metric I could think of, it outplays even my best yoyos from the 2010s like the Summit or the SPYY Dynamo. Do I still like my old throws? 100%. Do I feel a need to buy a bunch of Duncans now? Not necessarily but I am extremely impressed with the Grasshopper and would be much more open to consider other Duncans like the Orbital or GTR in the future. Hope this was helpful!
I definitely can’t complain about Duncan’s quality. I’ve gotten several plastics and bimetals from them and they are always top notch.
Actually, butterflies and butterfly xts seem to be pretty hit and miss. I get some great ones, I get some duds but yeah, anytime I’ve spent more than 5$ on a yo-yo from Duncan, I’ve been super impressed.
I can’t say I’ve had the same experience. I’ve bought a gtr-js and a delrin freehand new from yye that were both smooth. I also bought an exit 8, grasshopper gtx, gtr and a yoshicuda x all used. The yoshicuda had vibe out of the box, tons of vibe but after some tuning I got it down to be playable. I’m honestly loving their stuff right now but I also agree that they’re probably focusing on quantity. I think it’s a good thing though to make them actually attainable for most people. If I bought one new that I thought was defective I’d reach out to Duncan or the seller. Just my 2 cents, hope you have better luck with your throws in the future!!
At least in my experience, I think Duncan’s quality has only increased tbh. Just a decade ago they were pumping out throws that weren’t being taken seriously by the community (and especially competitors) at all, but the revival of the FH line + a rock solid bimetal lineup has totally revitalized the brand - and everything I’ve purchased from them since I’ve never had an issue with quality wise. Since the yoyos you mentioned are more than one piece (bimetal or capped yoyo) have you tried adjusting the rim fit/cap fit? Sometimes things can get wonky in that department and all it takes is a good snap back into place to be perfectly 100% smooth.
I will say echo 2 is the only Yoyo I’ve stripped but that was user error still tho but my yoshicuda x is great and my barracuda is great. Ooo and all my responsive stuff is great. Sorry op poor luck
but that was user error still tho