First yoyo?! Get Duncan Pro-Z with understanding if they become a world champion then you will buy them a Ti throw!
Replay (responsive)
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So my first metal was the magic yo-yo v3 and it seems to fit all your needs it comes with two axles one short for responsive and one long for unresponsive as well as 2 bearings one responsive and one unresponsive it also comes with strings and a little bag for holding the yo-yo it is cheap around 15 dollars on a certain big box store website and it can take an absolute beating, limited colors might be your hang up here I think it only has two colorways
I’ve heard good things about the Replay and Replay Pro. I’ve also heard that it’s heavier than most? I’ve never used one, so I don’t know. Seeing the weight listed in grams isn’t the same as feeling it on the string and in your hand. I went for the Wedge, but I was specifically looking for a plastic to practice finger spins. Personally, though, I really dislike how the Wedge feels in my hand. It feels really blocky. In that respect, I’ve heard the Replay is the better choice. I’ll have to check around to see if a Replay can become a Replay Pro with a bearing/brake pad/axle swap.
@yoyodoc When you say “New Freehands”, do you mean the one that was released recently-ish? Whenever I Google: Duncan Freehand, I get so many different variations that it’s hard to know which is which.
@Jae The paint pen idea is BRILLIANT! My wife is exceedingly protective of them, though. I’m sure she’d let us use them for such a worthy cause 
. I was actually just looking at the Arrow Elite. I could be getting my throws mixed up, but I feel like they were out of stock. Maybe it was a different version. Shooting Star is definitely a strong contender. The K2 Plus Crystal is nice in that it comes with a yo-yo starter kit. I don’t I’ve seen one that had a finger spin dimple as part of the plastic. My only worry with that is the shiny surface. Unless it’s a silky smooth plastic, wouldn’t that shiny finish snag for grinds?
It’s often listed as just the “YoyoFactory Arrow”. I see them now on their site: YYF Arrow Listing .
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@yoyodoc is referring to this freehand. It’s the remake of the original with some updated guts. It’s honestly one of my favorite recommendations for new players. They’re super fun. They come mostly tug responsive out the box, but can be made unresponsive if you clean the bearing or buy an A-sized centering bearing. If your sons are serious, this will make them want more.
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Though I’ve never tried it, I think the yyf Velocity would be a good choice. It has this knob on both sides of the yoyo that pushes or pulls the response pads in or out, making it either responsive or unresponsive. So basically, you don’t have to take it apart to change between responsive/unresponsive. It’s also only $16 USD.
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You can’t buy them anymore, but my first yo-yo was the basecamp Sherpa. I had a similar idea about being able to switch between responsive and unresponsive. I had a great time playing responsive, but was completely flummoxed when I tried to bind. I ended up with a horizon, which I would highly recommend for starting unresponsive. It sounds like maybe I just chose the wrong yo-yo as a beginner. Once I figured out how to bind and had a lot more experience I didn’t have quite as much trouble with the Sherpa, but as an unresponsive yo-yo, it’s challenging because it’s organic and isn’t heavily rim weighted. I wish mine weren’t so badly damaged.
Even if you don’t have to switch pads, its feels really troublesome to have to do anything before you can start throwing. I’d say get something that you can be sure will play well unresponsive, and get a real cheap plastic responsive, like the Duncan Butterfly XT. If you put some traxxas grease in the bearing it’s very responsive. I have also tried the Fast201, and my girls didn’t like them. They’re really noisy, and I had a hard time balancing the response system with the adjustable gap.
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Mk1 Contact
I don’t really have a recommendation for a convertible yoyo. My first yoyo was a One, but I never bothered to use the included kit to convert it to an unresponsive. Instead, I followed up with a Replay Pro and a Silenus, soon after.
I do think that when they are ready for a metal unresponsive, the new Shortcut from Yoyofriends is a solid choice. It’s readily available, comes in several colorways and is only 34 bucks, 30 for the solid teal. The only difference between it and their more expensive models is the use of 6061 Al instead of 7068. I really like mine.
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It sounds like your budget is big enough that you shouldn’t even consider getting a yoyo that you can switch up. There are a quite a few that do that well (my picks would be the Recess First Base, iYoyo Shooting Star, Magic Crystal K1 or YYF Arrow), but I’d rather have one responsive and one unresponsive. There are sooooo many unresponsive options, that it’s hard to recommend one, but I like the suggestion that @zslane made to let them pick their own (with either a budget or a pre-selected list of known good choices).
The responsive yoyo I learned a lot of the trick ladder on was the Yoyofactory Whip (recommended by @Xanadu above also). It’s unbelievably great for the money. It might actually be too good because there were quite a few tricks I could do on that that weren’t possible for me with any other responsive throw I tried at the time.
For unresponsive, I’d look at all the budget options available and if you want great value, focus on TopYo and R2FG. Recess makes a couple of slightly undersized options under $50 or so. The best value unresponsive imho though is probably still the Magic Yo3 Hertz.
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I might have missed it somehow, but did you ever mention how old your sons are?
The answer could allow better suggestions.
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They’re 12, and 10.
Wow, I had some serious catching up to do!
@sergchz Thanks for linking it! I really like those ones, and definitely seem to be a popular starting option.
@Lido I wanted a convertible one in case their interest fizzles out. At first, it seemed a simpler way to do it. One throw that could be either with a simple bearing change (maybe axle and pads, too). I hadn’t really considered some of the down sides until just recently when I was catching up on the latest suggestions. Like what @safetypin brought up, about it feeling troublesome to have to do do something extra before you start throwing. The first time, obviously I’d set them up for them so they could see how easy it was, but that it still a very valid point. Especially with their ages. You kinda just wanna do the thing you want to do…not get ready to do it, first.
Also…what happens when a bearing, axle, or whatever gets devoured by the void, or stolen by the sock gnomes? Which is far more likely to happen on something that is convertible. I can keep their extra’s, but it’s a matter of time until they want them so they can change the responsiveness at will, without asking dad to get the bearing. I find this new revelation particularly frustrating because I was finally starting to narrow it down 
One of each may be the way I go. A very inexpensive responsive, paired with a solid budget metal unresponsive—of which there is an endless ocean to choose from, meaning a whole new round of…what the heck do I get? Though personally, I’m a HUGE fan of the Throwback Arcade. It was one of my first unresponsive throws, and is one of my top favorites to date. It’s comfortable, organically shaped, just a tad undersized, with more than enough power for learning string tricks.
@Yoyo_baseball19 I actually have a Velocity that I’ve let my 10 year old use several times. He likes the size and shape, but doesn’t really care for it beyond that. I’ve noticed a delay when it’s responsive, but I could try playing with the dial today to see if I can get rid of that. I just wish the dial wasn’t so stiff! It takes some oomph! to move it 
One of my goals for today is to come up with my final list from the top suggestions here, and time (and life) permitting make a decision in the next couple of days.
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MagicYoYo has been suggested a few times, and they’re a company I’m highly unfamiliar with. The reviews seem all over the place, and I was wondering how you guys would rate them quality wise.
For starter yo-yos it’s not such a big deal, I’m mostly just curious in this regard.
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Iyoyo Passion plays pretty well in both regards. And it’s beautiful.
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Yeah, I came across this one yesterday. There’s been a ton of awesome plastics recommended, and there are definitely pros in this situation. This thread has made me look more closely at them, for sure. The Passion is probably in the lead right now for a metal one.
I’ve made two of our 5 speedaholic xx throws responsive. It does need a shorter axle as mentioned already and needs thicker pads to play truly responsive (I used green yyf thick 19mm pads). Plays amazing like this. With all of this said, speedaholic makes a responsive throw as well that sells for 10 that plays great! It’s a little harder to find but there are some out there online on at least one site that I know of (PM me if you would like this site name). The downside is these responsive versions can’t be converted to unresponsive. I haven’t tried this with the one we have but C3 specifically points this out on their site. If it were me for my kids, I would get at least two. Get one for responsive and one for unresponsive. Both my kids are into throwing as well. My daughter(7) is still playing responsive but my son(10) is on to unresponsive play.
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My son’s first metal throw was the magic yoyo y03 hertz. Under 20 and plays absolutely great! I still borrow it from him sometimes. Lots of fun for such a great price. It is strictly unresponsive though.
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Left to right, Speedaholic XX blue/red (we half swap them often between the 5 colors we have), Speedaholic XX gray (glows blue), myy orange/black.
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I REALLY like the Speedaholics! Thank you for posting the pics, by the way. It’s sometimes hard to gauge what the size, or even shape/profile is online. Depending on the site.
I definitely think my 12 year old would love them. They’re edgy, have a name with the word “Speed” in it, and come in a very Joker-esque purple and green color way that he’d love.
I think there was someone earlier who linked to the YYE store to show me there was a purely responsive one. White, or gray, I think. It definitely wasn’t the coolest color way. I’ll shoot you a DM for sure.
I’ve heard nothing but great things about C3, and the Speedaholics are officially the second most recommended (and closing), with the first being the iYoYo Shooting Star. Which…I really wish they’d give that throw some awesome splashes, washes, or fades!
So what throw did I choose?
…Almost all of them! 
So, not actually all of them. But several. I was able to work out a trade on #buy-sell-trade. I got them Shooting Stars, Ones, a couple of budget metals whose names now escape my aging mind, a Crystal, Atom Smashers, a bunch of string and some other bits and bobs.
The Crystal that’s coming will be my first experience with a MagicYoYo. I’ve heard good things overall about that specific one, the downside being the finger spin dimple is kind of a gimmick that overstates the yo-yos actual abilities. But, that’s pretty much it as far as downsides. It’s been recommended here at least twice, as has the Hertz. Which leads me to believe I should probably give them a fair shake before continuing to dismiss them.
As silly as it may sound, it’s their naming style and consistently low price point that has made me weary. To my mind, YYF pretty much set the gold standard for “Budget Metal” with the DV888, which isn’t expensive. MagicYoYo goes with simple alphanumeric designations and is somehow cheaper. I assumed that could only be done by skimping where they shouldn’t. The simplistic designations giving me the vibe that they don’t particularly care about the models they put out.
Is there a purpose to their naming system? Does the ”V” in V3 designate a series, year, design feature, etc?
There is only one Shooting Star, though it is very likely that will be remedied shortly after I’ve been able to play with it first hand. I’m also considering the Speedaholic as very near addition to their newfound, and as of yet unknown collection.
One of the two metals was chosen because it’s said to be very similar to the Colossus VI. Which will be going to my 12 year old right out of the box. He has his bind nailed! Only took a single broken axle, too
The input, recommendations, and advice from all you guys was totally indispensable! Thank you for all your help!
If anyone is interested, this whole thing made me look into just how many convertible metal throws I could find. Whether still in production, or not, though most are. I thought I’d write up the list here in a post. Maybe it helps some other dad down the road, along with this thread.
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