A little background:
I’m a complete beginner. I’ve dabbled with yo-yos before, but that was well over 10 years ago. I currently do not own a yo-yo, but I’ve gone ahead and purchased a YYF Fast 201 as my beginner yo-yo for the time being. I intend on rapidly improving and honing my skills with a yoyo, so I want to eventually move away from the Fast 201. Physically, I know nothing about a yo-yo. I haven’t touched or seen one (in real life) in the past 10 or so years. I don’t know much about maintenance or lubing, so a low maintenance yoyo (At least for the time being) is preferred.
What’s a good yoyo and neccessities that can help me transition as fast as possible from a compete beginner to a high intermediate-advanced thrower? My budget consists of about $150. If I have to get more than one, I’m fine with that.
No, please don’t buy these overpriced, underperforming relics. There’s so many great, modern yoyos for the same price. I’d look at the YoYofficer Kilter for $30: YOYOFFICER – YoYoExpert or the YoYoFactory Shutter for $45: Shutter Yo-Yo by YoYoFactory – YoYoExpert .
Don’t buy into the need to start on a responsive yoyo. It’s nonsense. Learning how to bind takes a couple minutes usually, and an hour or so at most. You could also look at the World’s edition Surge if you wanted to dabble with a decent responsive yoyo for cheap. The FAST 201 is without a doubt the worst yoyo i’ve ever played, so don’t get discouraged when it’s an awful, screeching, impossible to use mess, just know it gets better. There’s no best though, any modern yoyo will more than suit your needs, something like the OD Benchmark series is also nice as you can adjust the weight and see what your preferences are then go from there. You’ll never buy your perfect yoyo the first, or even the 10th time, so don’t get caught up on perfection or whatever at first, just try stuff out and enjoy yourself.
@abby1371:
I’ve heard many good things about the Dark Magic II. It popped up a lot when I was researching yoyos I should buy. I’ve never heard of the Legacy 3, so I’ll read up about it.
@NathanC:
That gives me a lot more motivation to yoyo. I was told by multiple websites that the Fast 201 was a good starter yoyo for absolute beginners, so I went with that. I was actually planning on playing with a responsive Yoyo until I was sufficient enough at throwing then moving on towards a nonresponsive yoyo. I’ve been actually heavily looking into the Shutter as I love the design and all around reviews online for it. Nothing but positive things so far.
On another note:
Are there any additional items I may need? Any specific strings or lube for yoyos? I’m still extremely new to this, but I want to jump into the fray as quickly as possible.
As of this moment of posting I’m deciding on the Dark Magic II or the Shutter. Hopefully things will pan out.
I’d recommend sticking with responsive yoyos for awhile you will be smoother later on if you don’t try to use unresponsive yoyos at the start. I would also recommend the velocity because its adjustable from responsive to unresponsive so you can learn and advance your yoyo at the same pace. The metal yoyos up above are nice but will be frustrating for a beginner to learn tricks on. Also if your going to get a metal yoyo I would recommend something from magic yoyo because their cheap and play as good as anything else.
Other than playing around with Yomega Fireballs when i was 11 i didn’t have any yoyoing experience and my first proper yoyo a few years ago was an 888x. Learned how to bind the day after getting it and went on learning tricks from there. Wasn’t an issue at all. I don’t consider myself an overly patient person, but didn’t mind the path i took. I suppose there’s no right or wrong way.
Strings are personal preference and a whole 'nother can of worms. I’d recommend buying just a 100 pack of Kitty String normal in whatever color you want. They aren’t tied, but that’s not difficult, you can also grab the bulk poly strings YYE sells which i think are pre-tied. Thick lube is usually recommended for responsive yoyos, and thin lube, like One Drop V4M for unresponsive, just keep in mind no matter the type of lube it will make your yoyo more responsive, so use very sparingly on responsive bearings, and really one of those small bottles is 100x more than you’ll ever need.
I’d say get a yyj classic and practice with responsive for about a week. Purchase a full size c bearing and yyj response pads for when u want to turn it unresponsive. You can buy yyj thin lube but don’t lube ur bearing unless it absolutely needs it and ask for advice on how to lube first.
The classic and pads and bearing and lube is pretty cheap. I’d suggest getting some regular kitty string to go with it.
If you pm me I have a few plastics I could sell u and some metal yoyos cheap for when u get past responsive. I also have plenty of strings as well. I could set u up well for a good price.