He is not exaggerating, but I do notice that you tend to have a very hostile and defensive attitude toward most people around on the forum.
Im just saying, I have talked to many who feel this way. Just take a step back a bit before you post is all we ask.
J.
I don’t care if people love or like Duncan or not.
Duncan may not be one of my favorite brands, but I do like Duncan and will continue to buy Duncan and throw Duncan.
The ProZ’s, I bought all 4 colors. I kept 2 as modified, two as wide. One of the wide ones I popped a CenterTrak in. Massive fun! $8 each, can’t be beat!
The Freakhands went on sale for $10. I bought all 4 colors. Cleaned the bearings, way fun!
Saw some Flying Pandas on sale. Picked them up. Used some left over ProZ Mod Spacers on one. Awesome!
I got some of the new Butterfly XT’s. As a noob throw, they are great. As a advanced throw, not so much so. I cleaned the bearing and I need to cram some more weight in there. I have this up to 61+ grams. I need another 4 grams or so in there and it will be good. Either way, it’s still loads of fun.
I have some of their metals. I like them too.
I could care less about other people’s opinion of Duncan. They wouldn’t be in business if they made bad stuff. They’ve given many of us their starts, including myself. And yes, I have a Butterfly and two Imperials. Duncan used to be a brand you start with, then either quit or move on. Now they have stuff at all skill levels and usable in all competitive categories, although admittedly maybe some aren’t the best in particular categories.
I like Duncan. I like YoYoJam better. But, I will continue to buy Duncan, among other brands. And I will like every single one of them!
scratch, really jayyo? why are you always starting with me 
I am making a conversation on a message board and not talking DUNCAN that much. I would like to say: you are not one to talk. You have been very ugly. too many talked about your misbehavior. suspended? Me? never. Why is everyone surprised your back? bahhhh you know im kidding bud ill see you next meet 
Now that I think about…I do miss my metal zero v2 and avenger. My metal zero had a Clem bearing, and it was from Paul escolar, a legend in my eyes. Making twenty bajillion high ends, some of them just mods of the others, isn’t neccesary. Like yyf. I like some of their throws and would love to bit others
But C’mon. 40 dollars more because the throw is a slightly different profile and has a center trak? That’s silly, and Duncan knows this. So their high ends are all the same price range, and are pretty different. I would love a vendetta for myself. And not to mention their throws all play great, even if stock bearing. So please don’tbe spiteful just because an ancient yoyo company isn’t being hipster.
Sincerely,
offstring-stewart
In the music world we have something called “Punk Rock Ethics” which generally refers to a way of making art in a personal way without the influence of a boardroom full of executives who pull all the strings and make their decisions based off of demographs. The idea is that art is a divine inspiration that pours through a human conduit and is bottlenecked when you add extra middle men who typically are only interested in making a buck or attaining fame.
The reason I highlight this concept in reference to Duncan is because I would encourage people to look at what Duncan started off as and what it has become.
Here is a quick Google search result on the history of Yo Yo (skipping past the ancient Greek stuff and weapon stuff) starting in the 1920s.
…"The modern story of the yo-yo starts with a young gentleman from the Philippines named Pedro Flores. In the 1920s, he moved to the USA, and worked as a bellhop at a Santa Monica hotel. Carving and playing with wooden yo-yos was a traditional pastime in the Philippines, but Pedro found that his lunch break yo-yo playing drew a crowd at the hotel. He started a company to make the toys, calling it the Flores Yo-Yo Company. This was the first appearance of the name “yo-yo,” which means “come-come” in the native Filipino language of Tagalog.
Donald F. Duncan, an entrepreneur who had already introduced the Eskimo Pie, Good Humor Ice Cream, was co-patent holder of a four-wheel hydraulic automobile brake, and would later popularize the parking meter, first encountered the yo-yo during a business trip to California. A year later, in 1929, he returned and bought the company from Flores, acquiring not only a unique toy, but also the magic name “yo-yo.”"…
So if this is correct…it should be apparent that Pedro Flores is the true artist and Donald Duncan is the man that made it all possible. I can accept that…but this is where things get unpleasant:
…“For a long time Duncan had the word “yo-yo” as a trademark which led to their slogan “If it’s not a Duncan, it’s not a yo-yo”. In 1962 Duncan sued Royal and Dell over the use of the word yo-yo. The latter company stopped the production of their yo-yos, and a 3 year court battle between Duncan and Royal started regarding the trademarked word. The Supreme Court put the word “yo-yo” in the public domain, stating that the well-known Duncan slogan defined the name of the toy as a “yo-yo”. This landmark decision is is still referenced in copyright court cases today. This long, costly court battle led to Duncan filing bankruptcy a led to the buy-out by Flambeau.”…
So now the original artist is long forgotten…the man that actually took a chance and invested in the idea went bankrupt due to his own greed trying to sue people over the use of the word YOYO which as we previously learned, is a word that comes from a long standing phrase from the Philippines.
None of this sits well with me. The fact that their work is made in sweat shops and owned by a faceless corporation does not help matters at all.
Why does no one like Duncan yet they make millions of sales? I suspect for the same reason that no one likes Nickelback yet they still manage to sell millions of albums.
Just because a company has been in business for decades doesn’t mean “they must be doing something right”…all it proves is that are people gullible (which we already knew).
People keep mentioning that Duncan sponsors the community. Thats cool…but do they do it solely for FAME/MONEY? Obviously so. If you removed the name-recognition (fame) and money then I suspect Duncan would no longer exist WHEREAS many of the other companies such as OD and CLYW would continue to exist because they represent something more than business revenue.
So what does this all mean? It doesnt mean that Duncan is evil or that you should boycott them…it just means you should vote (with your $$$) for companies that represent values similar to your own.
As always, if you just follow your heart, you’ll be aight.
At least he has extensive knowledge to back him up.
You’ll have to forgive me for making a concise and coherent post. In hindsight, it was really uncalled for.
I still don’t see what the gripe is with Duncan. They create products for retail sale and get a high level of saturation. Why do we even care, or take the time to complain, when they don’t make something that fits our standards? We are not Duncan’s only concern; they have millions of other potential customers who are more worthwhile in the long run.
It seems like a trend to knock a company for not being an end-all-be-all. Certain companies are going to have specialties, where deviating from such might not be worthwhile. Or when they do try to make something new, we complain about the price or whatever. Are we impossible to please? Just deal with it.
EDIT: I’m going to stick with product. I’m not even going to bother with the ethics side of things. I’ll let memoria handle that I guess.
Pretty much my thoughts. I don’t have the energy to deal with the ethics portion of this.
Stop carrying about everyone else’s opinions and just go with what you like or want. I don’t think anyone ever got hurt for buying a yoyo, at least not that I’m aware of. I’m not going to judge someone for what yoyo they choose to use. If they like it, that’s all that really matters in the first place. We seem to forget that.
Duncan: If you like it, buy it and use it. If you don’t, buy and use something else. Problem solved. Easy.
Move along.
ESQUEEZE ME!!! You wanna talk MONEY/FAME seekers and slap Duncan on that!!! I would put one of the big three on there but not Duncan,… and not YYJ either. So you can figure it out.
Further more Duncan just has a unique flavor that works for some people. I credit my love of yoyo to nights spent throwing my FH2.
Oh and as for why Duncan gets a huge front and center spot. They paid for it. Other companies get smaller advertising cause they paid less to put on the competition. (Their reasons are their own, and I am sure they are all valid.)
I would put money down that Duncan makes more off of butterflies and imperials then all of the small garage band metal producing yoyo companies put together.
Also willing to bet that they sell more yoyos then any yoyo company.
I think that probably makes them the worlds #1 yoyo producer, as well as the fact they coined the name yoyo, in reference to yoyo’s, and patented the idea for many years here. Thus the marketing campaign “if it isn’t a Duncan it isn’t a yoyo.” That’s because it wasn’t a yoyo, return top sure but not a yoyo.
If we gave that award out to the yoyo company that sold more yoyos to the yoyo community, they may still win. I don’t know the numbers yoyofactory sells, but I think they are the only ones even close.
Basically any way you look at it outside of stupid little kid hype Duncan is #1. If you are going for kid hype then it is what ever the next best throw that yyr, or clyw, or yyf have produced recently. that award would be getting tossed around ever few weeks.
If people want the biggest banner then they can pay the largest amount like Duncan and get that.
Duncan is where its at. Duncan is original. Duncan is what made yoyos famous, and what they are today.
If it wasn’t for Duncan, this forum probably wouldn’t even exist. If Duncan didn’t make beginner yoyos that sell at big name stores, many of us wouldn’t be here. Duncan is a company that makes yoyos (mostly) for begginers. They make many cheap plastics that kids buy at famous stores. They get many people into yoyoing, and show people how rad yoyoing can be. I support Duncan 100%. They have shown the world what 5a, 4a, 3a, 2a, and 1a is. They hold probably the biggest role in the yoyo world, and they’re always professional. And they do sell great yoyos. The Duncan Echo is great. Duncan dosn’t even need to make “professional” yoyos for people like us, they make more than enough money making cheap yoyos for the average joes. But they do make some yoyos for us like the Echo, and Freebird, etc. Duncan is oldschool. Right now, I am currently using a FHZ as my main throw. I’ve been doing so for a total of 3 days, and will contine using it for a while. The FHZ is what all the oldschool players (Yuuki Spencer, Rojas, Sam Lopez, Jensen, etc) grew up on. The FHZ is unstable, dosn’t have a great spin time, sometimes snags, and is responcive. It is a GREAT yoyo to practice on. The oldschool players tell me to just play with it if I want to become more consistant, smoother, and a better yoyoer. Playing with this yoyo and practicing a routine with it will make you a better yoyoer, and make you appriciate other professional yoyos when you use them. I think this is just another reason why Yuuki, Jensen, and all those other oldschool players are/were so great.
So guys, get off the computer and throw Duncan.
Maybe if people knew more about Duncan there would be more love for them. Like if we knew the names of the people responsible for designing their best work…
Even Ben talks to the common folk on YYE forums…has Duncan ever said “Whats Up?” ?
Brandon Jackson is on the forums
I do agree with memoria though. Support companies who share similar ideals and morals as you. I support the army, and even though I don’t own one of their throws, I do support general yo.
Brandon Jackson, Takeshi Kamisato, Drew Tetz, Jack Ringca, Fajar Siddiq, I can name TONS of Dincan reps that are all over the forums and social networks. They hype their product, give stuff away, teach, do tours, answer any questions you might have, and are excellent ambassadors for the yoyo community. They don’t talk down to people, insult people or other companies, or get you kicked off of forums for criticizing them or their business practices. They are just as pleasant in person as they are online. I’ll take that all day. What more could you ask for?
I sure hate to be a fly in the ointment of love that thread has become - but there is that 5A thing…
Last I heard, YYF does not sponsor contests in USA or Germany anymore because of the public stance of Duncan/Flambeau on 5A and using anything but Duncan equipment being used in promo videos or appearances involving 5A play. Google the Patent on 5A statement by Duncan/Flambeau and read the un-tneable language they use in their enforcement statement.
“Prior written consent form Duncan”? Are you serious?
Has something changed?
The only restrictions are using 5A in your advertising, or marketing 5A specific yoyos/equipment. Anyone can sponsor contests with 5A, but if their player wins, they can’t use the footage or name for their advertising, unless they’ve paid to become official. Two companies have already done so. YYF just refuses to because they’re stubborn. And, like it or not, Duncan owns the patent and has the right to protect it and make money off of it.
So, my guy wins “Duncan-5A” with my yoyo - but I can’t use any video of him doing it without Duncan’s permission. Gee, why wouldn’t everyone want to do this? Two companies have signed onto this. This would be two other “patent” holders right?
I will not go into this argument here. It is for another thread. I was just pointing out that Duncan is not a perfectly saintly-company that the members were saying they were. They are a business and are acting like it.
Their lawyers are schmucks just like everybody else’s.
NO one said they were “saintly”. Of course they’re acting like a business. Because they ARE a business. Businesses protect their assets, period. They could easily keep the patent to themselves, but they don’t.
I’ll put my 2¢ in.
I love Duncan quite a bit. I grew up with it so there’s definitely nostalgic value to the company. They are widely available everywhere, both online and brick & mortar stores and are affordable. Their plastics play pretty good and their metals (I have an Echo and Raptor) are pretty solid.
What I don’t like: the darn friction pads! Within a week, I begin getting slippy binds and throws. Actually when I first picked up my FH2010, being my first ‘modern’ yoyo back in 2010 after a week of throwing (and barely getting used to a bind/playing responsive) I had no clue why my yoyo was just falling down the string with no spin. That’s when I learned about the joys of friction stickers, and other response systems. Sure you can buy replacement pads but you can’t go back to the store where you bought your Freehand (say that you purchased it at Toys R Us) which would make it convenient for those who need something quick. With that said while I like to recommend their throws to beginners, the friction pad wear is the only downer. I actually had a facebook friend wanting to get into yoyo and I told him about the FH2010. He picked one up and about a week later was finding that it was slipping. I believe he ended up finding out about the Dark Magic and got one of those.
So in the end, I’d love to see Duncan take on the more standard silicone rings, much like what YYF and YYJ (and most other companies) use. Once that happens, there will be some amazing plastics! I figure that by the time a silicone ring wears down, the yoyoer will probably be knowledgeable enough to realize they can silicone it and/or know that it’s time to replace the rings.
