Duncan throws old and new

General Yo-Yo
1

What are your favorite Duncan throws and why?

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glow in the dark imperial. first and fave.

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Duncan Pro Z is honestly one of my favorites.

It’s largely because they were sold at Walmart for just $10. It’s the yo that sparked my interest to get back into this hobby (saw it at walmart and it flooded me with nostalgia).
It was just such an amazing deal for the money. A VERY playable yo that can get you through all the basics, and with the spacers and included concave bearing is more then capable of advanced tricks…and heck you can even learn looping with it!
All for the low price of just $10! Crazy!!

Really wish Walmart still sold these things.

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Favorite Olds:

  1. Glow imperial
  2. Butterfly
  3. FHZ (does this count as “old” ? lol)

Favorite New:

  1. Tourney
  2. Strix (very underrated imo)
  3. Haymaker Beta
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Vintage >20 years old

  1. Butterfly
  2. Wheels
  3. Professional

Modern <20 years old

  1. Freehand Series
  2. Screaming Eagle MayheM
  3. Grasshopper GTX
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The only Duncans I have are the Drifter and the Freehand. Both are very good yoyos for beginners!!

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Old:

  1. Imperial (glow preferably of course). Imperial was my first real yo-yo.
  2. Butterfly

New:

  1. Tourney
  2. Haymaker X
  3. Haymaker Beta
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Imperial and Butterfly: My first yoyos in early/mid '90s. Still have them but rarely throw them anymore.

Ballistic: Got it in '99 or so. My first ball bearing yoyo. Playing modern responsive has brought new life to mine as I use it quite a bit now.

FH2: Mine is with the Steve Brown art. I remember driving to the Twin Cities (hour or so away) one morning before work just to get one. Feels great in hand. Still use it, now setup responsive. I like it better than my FHZ.

FHZ: I got a clear one recessed by Takeshi and painted it brown. While I still throw it from time to time I do prefer the FH2 over the FHZ.

ProFly: Excellent for quick mods, but also fun stock with the wooden axle. Easy stalls.

Butterfly XT: Great intro yoyo for modern responsive (just add some Brain lube to the bearing and go), especially for the price. Again, easy stalls.

I’ve never thrown a metal Duncan. They look great and I hear good things about them but for some reason I haven’t tried one yet. The Butterfly AL and Freehand AL are both tempting though.

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I’m with @twitch77 on team Pro-Z. I love that dumb little yoyo, and you could use for most styles, provided you had the right parts for it. There are wood axles that fit it, kits to tune the response, weight rings, responsive and unresponsive mod spacers, etc. 4A would be a stretch, I suppose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Duncan had made rubber shells that fit on it at some point. It’s been available in a TON of colors, is mod-able, and it’s dirt cheap. It’s the Swiss Army throw; a dedicated tool is always going to be better, but it’s WAY better than nothing at all.

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I always have a butterfly on me. That aside, I’m always going back and forth between a Dragonfly, a Speed Beetle, and a Hornet.

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I am getting back into throwing after a long hiatus.

I grew up learning on Duncans (because that’s all there were) so I am kind of partial to them.

I am wondering what metals to look more closely at. It seems the Orbital GTX and the Tourney are worth checking out.

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My favorite bimetals!

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Never had a lot of Duncans and I’ve sold most of them. I have a couple imperials and butterflies that rarely get used (nostalgia has saved them). Have two FHZs and a Dragonfly, which is a rebranded TBB. Duncan used the playmax/proyo molds. If you take the caps off it says Proyo inside

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Duncan Equals Love

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I just got the Grasshopper GTX in the other day, and it’s quickly becoming a favorite.

I have several Imperials, including special editions like Midnight Special and Glow in The Dark (will dig out and take pics ASAP).

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Old - Butterfly
New - Butterfly

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Awesome AL collection!

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Origami 2.0 is underrated

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My favorite is the Imperial. If I can remember back that far, probably my first throw. Just bought a new old stock glow in the dark from the 1997 era, I believe.

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I love the Grasshopper GTX, too. Just gets it done. If you’re interested in the same shape, but mono feel, the Haymaker mono is pretty good, too. It seemed familiar, so I put it next to the GTX, and it is nearly identical in profile.

As an aside, I also like the Haymaker OG bimetal. A little powerhouse!

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