I have never managed yto get the collecting for the sake of collecting mentality, although I’m certainly not saying that it is wrong to enjoy it.
I love music more than anything, I have a lot of CDs and vinyl records, but what I own I purchased for the sake of listening to rather than purchasing to look at. If a record comes out in 5 different colours, I am only interested in purchasing one copy to listen to (and preferably in black vinyl, collecting coloured vinyl just seems so utterly pointless to me plus it sounds worse).
I think it can be a cultural thing, don’t get me wrong people in this country like having stuff but when it comes to the US it seems that gear and collecting things for the sake of aquisition is a big part of any hobby or at least that is my understanding through reading forums and watching stuff on youtube.
I’m definitely talking about myself as much as anyone else. And it’s not as much in regards to owning a lot of yo-yos, it’s more owning yo-yos I don’t use and aren’t part of my collection goals.
It’s weird that it’s so hard to get myself to sell them.
Speaking of the Shutter WA, im finally starting to really appreciate mine. Honestly on first throw I almost hated it; the thing felt lifeless, boring, and basically any other synonym for generic I could think of. Ive picked it up several times over the past months, thrown it, put it down for another yoyo, etc. But recently I think ive started grooving with it, and am gradually coming to the conclusion that it is the best ‘jack of all trades’ yoyo. Im beginning to think @Durfee is right about this yoyo. Not like I want to sell all of my other yoyos (I still have a deep love for organics), but it is definitely becoming my go-to lately.
It has a very particular feel on the string and moving through the air that I’ve yet to find in another yo-yo. While I love my WC edition and would recommend it to people as technically better than a normal WA, it loses a decent amount of that feel. On both of them though the width and shape create a huge catch zone that makes me want to go for riskier stuff.
Yea, it seems to have just the right amount of float and feel that just feels ideal. I get that it doesn’t have crazy spin times, but extra rim weight just might make it lose that feel that makes it easy to use. Idk, there is definitely some magic to the WA, I feel like I can make it do whatever I want.
I can only imagine all the different thoughts on this topic. I find even though I can only use one yoyo at a time, I do enjoy variety. For me, multiple different colors of the same yoyo don’t ring my bell (but, I can’t say I’ve found a yoyo that I could say “OK, it doesn’t get any better for me than this” and go all in). For those who enjoy collecting all the Shutter colorways, No Jive variants, Too HOT colorways…by all means, enjoy what you enjoy. That is what is great about this, people can enjoy it however they like.
Now, I struggle with looking at my collection and sometimes thinking “this is nice” and other times thinking “why the heck do I have so many?” Trying to find the right balance between falling into the trap of consumerism and supporting companies putting out products I enjoy.
That said, I do try to cull my collection, if I’m not using a yoyo regularly, or, even if I pull one out of the case and it brings me no joy when I throw it, I will put it on BST. Rarely have I sold something because I didn’t like it, mostly items get sold because my preferences have evolved and it no longer makes the cut (if I have multiple organics for example, I may choose to sell off the one that I enjoy the least, I still enjoy it, but, not as much as others).
100%. That’s where the struggle really comes from. I don’t not like anything, I just don’t use most of my yo-yos as much as a select few. I’m just torn between feeling like a yo-yo hoarder for keeping stuff I don’t use and being afraid of wanting a yo-yo that I’ve already gotten rid of.
I feel like I should set myself a time frame and any yo-yo I don’t use in that time that isn’t for collection purposes I can get rid of guilt free.
I find that given that there are a lot of yo-yos that fall outside my preferences and only a narrow range of stuff that I enjoy enough to throw regularly, having multiples gives me variety in what I’m throwing while still being 100% sure I’m going to like what I’m buying.
Something like the World Champ Wide Angle is the best example of this, where its technically the same yo-yo but plays and feels a little different.
Sometime the “one you don’t enjoy” needs pads or bearing service.
Simple changes improve them i.e. swapping bearings, string or pads. None of this changes the shape obviously.
That’s very much true for me, I’ve noticed that sometimes when I’m favoring one throw over another I am actually wanting a particular condition of response, (silicone pads that is) and sometimes how nice a bearing is playing factors in as well.
The big thing for me is string, for it seems to alter how I perform tricks and a change, particularly on the same yoyo, sometimes is frustrating because I can’t get the length just like it was before. I competed on Saturday, and I sort of wanted to get a fresher string before I went onstage, but I was so worried it would adversely effect my performance that I didn’t do it…
Thank you for the suggestion, it is a good reminder. However, I’m a bit obsessive about yoyo maintenance. If I’m not feeling it with a particular yoyo, I do check the usual suspects first - clean and lube the bearing, check the string to be sure it isn’t nasty, then on to response pads. I would say 99% of the yoyos I’ve sold have string and bearings with less than 15 minutes of play since string change or bearing cleaning.
However, I recently changed response in my Too HOT. I had been playing it, and, it was just not playing like I remembered. So, bearing, string, what the heck, lets change the pads. Night and Day. That said, the Too HOT wasn’t in any danger of hitting the selling block, before or after the work.
I’m in a really good spot for my yoyo headspace right now. There’s nothing I feel compelled to buy at the moment, one yo-yo I have my eye on that isn’t coming out until next year and that’s less time thinking about yo-yos and more time thinking about yoyoing.
Given that, I’ve been exploring more trick ideas and working on building them into full tricks, and it’s progressively getting a little easier.
One thing I’ll harp on (for the people who are at the point where they aren’t just satisfied with doing tricks x,y and z and want to start building their own tricks and style) is the importance of just yoyoing without trying to do any specific tricks. Use elements you’re familiar with, but do them in different ways. And then when you stumble upon something you like continue that process but with a little more intent. Think about what elements and techniques can be implemented in the position the yo-yo and string are currently in.
If there are certain elements you want to incorporate but aren’t familiar with yet, learn a trick that contains them until you have it down and it becomes ingrained in your head as a tool in your yo-yo toolbox.
I don’t know if this is helpful for anyone, but last time I was deep in the yo-yo game there really weren’t any resources dedicated to introducing those who were beginning to get more proficient to trick creation. Even now there’s not a whole lot. I feel like Scales, as great as it is, would be that much better if instead of just analyzing yo-yo meta, they were directly involved in elevating people to the level where they can engage in that meta.
Yo. Does any of you know who started the whole slack-slap-into-the-gap-of-the-yoyo-to-make-it-redirect-into-a-different-dirrection and then whip it/catch it/bind it?
I really dislike those types of tricks solely because i can’t for the life of me figure how to do them lol.
I can do the first one he did. You do a keychain hook, but you put both strings in the gap instead of one. It snags, then you whip the string around in the opposite direction.
