Some may be older yoyos that were still being sold then; others may be wooden yoyos new back then that are still being made.
There are some very good, newer model (began production in the last 5 years) wood throws, but I would prefer to leave them out of this particular discussion, thanks.
For me it was a Newton yoyo. I really liked it, performed well. I got another Newton recently and it doesn’t measure up, unfortunately.
What’s your favorite wood from those times?
I have an old Spitfire, and it is actually decent. It loops alright, and is suprisingly good at stalls. I can’t even hit Buddha’s Revenge or Kwijibo on it, though.
Tom Kuhn No-Jive 3-in-1 and BC Apollo
My fav is my beloved 1st ever No-Jive… I got this guy when I was a freshman in HS back in 1991…
I still throw it a bunch…
I’ll give the BC Apollo my vote. Even with a case full of “modern” wooden throws my Apollos still get constant use.
Ain’t nothing wrong with Lightnings either.
no jive is still just about my favorite yo-yo.
worth noting that’s the time when production of the tom kuhn line transferred from tom’s san fransisco-based workshop to brad countryman/what’s next mfg. a lot of players note that this coincided with a significant change in shape/gap and a general decrease in consistency (though obviously higher production #'s).
that said, i have a bunch of “clean machine” no jives (no finish and/or stamp) done by both brad and tom, and they’re some of my favorite yo-yo’s ever. really tough to beat that feel.
I love my BC Apollos (see avatar), and one of my BC era No-Jives (the other, not so much). I also play my Lightning a lot lately and it is my current favorite (which changes often).
I’ve got a selection of no-jives, BC spitfires and classics and a couple of non-take apart no-jives, as well as a few of the BC laminated versions which I’ve always found to be too heavy for my liking. I prefer the BC and TK models that don’t come apart. They just feel better to me. The spitfire really plays nice.