Hello guys and gals,
I was here a few years ago, and avidly throwing, but college came up, and with it nearing the end, I have some new found free time. So, of course, I want to revitalize one of my favorite hobbies.
So, what’s new with the community, yoyos, brands, ect?
For reference, my latest acquisition was a TiWalker from vs. newton, and onedrop was the new hip guy on the block.
A lot has changed. Since horizontal play’s popularity has exploded, most yoyos no long have high walls. Most throws are now v-shaped with the weight pushed to the rims. Also, Japanese metals have become super popular, check out YoyoRecreation, YoyoMonster and other Japanese companies and I’m sure you’ll be impresse. Welcome back!
There’s some stuff to read in here:
http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,82717.msg928039.html#msg928039
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Ti Walkers are very sought after throws nowadays (I’ve seen 'em go for near $500), so it wouldn’t surprise me if you get a PM soon with someone making you an offer. 
Let’s get down to what you may or may not have missed. I can’t go through everything so I’ll try and pick out the key parts. Obviously I don’t know the exact date you stopped yo-yoing so I’m just going to cover a few highlights from the last couple ‘o’ years:
WARNING: WALL OF TEXT, HYPERLINKS AND PICTURES AHEAD!
Design:
As was mentioned above, the focus of yoyo design seems to have shifted in recent years heavily over to competition-orientation. New yoyos are usually low-walled, mid weighted(~65-66g), full sized and geared towards performance. Nowhere is this truer than in Japan, where the bi-metal craze is in full swing. We’re seeing more and more bi-metal yoyos coming out from Eastern companies, and the trend doesn’t look like it’ll be slowing down any time soon.
Before I go into the big USA companies, and speaking of Japan, I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t mention the Draupnir.
Yoyorecreation (one of the most popular Japanese companies) came out with their first bi-metal yoyo, the ‘Draupnir’. Incredibly thin walls, minimalistic design and heavy rim weighting at a small overall weight (64g) has made it one of the best performing yoyos in recent memory. I can personally vouch for it and say that objectively speaking, it has the best overall performance (speed .vs. stability) of any yoyo that I’ve ever played.
“Dat Draupnir doe…”
Onedrop is no longer the new kid on the block, but rather one of the biggest companies out there. The ‘big 3’ companies at the moment are:
Yoyofactory
Onedrop
CLYW
They’re overall the most popular and tend to be chugging out new yoyos on the regular (as opposed to someone like General-Yo who, whilst popular, tends to be a little more sporadic with new runs). There are many many yoyo companies out there with even more cropping up on the regular, but for the most part, if one of the above companies releases a new yoyo, you’re going to hear about it.
Let’s break it down by company. I’ll try and be concise:
Yoyofactory:
http://www.yoyofactory.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/about-primary-logo.png
Back in 2013 YYF released their first full-Titanium yoyo, the ‘Ricochet’. Only 500 were made which were individually numbered, and they were released at a comparatively (for a Ti throw) cheap price of $200:
http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/918/YYF-Ricochet
As you can see there are still some in stock showing that not everyone was prepared to drop $200 on a mid/undersized organic yoyo, regardless of material.
Released “The Shutter”, signature model of Gentry Stein in 2013, at only $44.00:
The price, great performance and looks, coupled with Gentry’s success at contests made this one of the best selling yoyos in recent memory. Whilst it was by no means the first ever “budget metal”, it did kick off the current trend of cheaper budget metals, with a lot of companies now offering cheaper options. Since then they have released a bunch more budget and budget-ish metals that have all been met with favourable response:
Shu-Ta - YoYoFactory – YoYoExpert
TooHot - YoYoFactory – YoYoExpert
CZM8 - http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/958/YYF-Czech-Mate-CZM8
Horizon - YoYoFactory – YoYoExpert
They have also ventured into 4A territory by recently releasing their first ever 4A yoyo, the ‘Flight’. With it’s release they have also set up something called ‘Flight Club’ whereby you can earn a place on and advance in rank by competing at contests using a Flight. A clever idea indeed and hopefully something that will give the 4A division a bit more attention on the contest scene.
Finally, YoYoFactory has bought into the bi-metal scene again with the release of the new Tyler Severance signature, the ‘Space Cowboy’. (Fans of the TV series ‘Friends’ will remember that this is the profession of Joey’s imaginary friend ‘Maurice’.)
Yoyofactory has indeed been busy and with a new bi-metal VK (Vashek Kroutil signature), new CZM8, Cyborg 2 and within the past day or so, new Titanium on the horizon (pun not intended), they’re definitely going to be worth watching in 2015.
Instagram - YoYoFactory (@yoyofactory) • Instagram photos and videos
Ask.fm - Yoyofactory (@Yoyofactoryfm) — 7026 answers, 12893 likes | ASKfm
Onedrop:
Here’s a full lowdown of all their new yoyos if you’re interested-
Onedrop have been throwing out quality yoyos on the regular. The good pricing coupled with the fantastic build quality and play means that pretty much anything they release is gold.
In 2014, after 2 years of planning, Onedrop released their first ever plastic yoyo, the ‘Rally’ - One Drop Yo-Yos – YoYoExpert
You can see by my ‘favourite yoyo’ under my name that I’m a massive fan of this yoyo, but it was met with great acclaim by the community at large and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoys plastic/hybrid yoyos.
They also released a range of yoyos known as the ‘Benchmarks’:
A collection of yoyos that share the exact same stats, but differ only in shape. The picture above is the 2014 line which added a 4th shape, whereas the 2013 range only had 3. Onedrop build quality, the freedom of choice, plenty of colourways and a great price have made them a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a cheaper yoyo that will satisfy all their needs. See their YYE page for more information on the different runs:
Late last year they also released the “Markmont.Classic”:
With a lot of build it up (and creative trailer and promotion), it was probably one of the most anticipated releases of last year, and a change of pace from the competition-orientation we’re seeing more often in new yoyos. Winner of the forum vote for ‘YoYo of the Year’ in 2014.
Coming up, we have their new relaxed yoyo the ‘Downbeat’ to look forward to. Heavier at 70g and designed towards chilled out play, I still think it will be very well received. We can all use a little chill out now and then.
Instagram - One Drop Yo-Yos (@onedropyoyos) • Instagram photos and videos
Ask.Fm - One Drop Yo-Yos (@onedropyoyos) — 409 answers, 601 likes | ASKfm
CLYW
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.com/media/brandlogo/clyw2.jpg
Like Onedrop, Caribou Lodge also decided to venture into uncharted territory when they released their first plastic yoyo, the ‘Yeti’. Decently priced and great looking, the first few runs flew off the shelves quicker than a buttered salmon in a soldier’s bakery and were met with great reviews.
Unfortunately, since then the Yeti seems to have given poor old Chris nothing but trouble, and between design issues (it eats through string as it rubs the catch zone) difficult/time-consuming assembly (they have to sand each half down until it no longer wears the string), and the general cost of manufacturing, we haven’t seen many since. The stress and cost of the Yeti seemed to spur on Chris’ decision to temporarily hand over control of the company to the other employees of CLYW and pursue other work. Word is that there is a big Yeti release on the horizon but it’s anyone’s guess of exactly when.
Anyways, months have passed, and now Chris is back running the CLYW ship. He has hired Steve Brown to help share some of the load which has allowed him to get back to doing what he does best, designing new yoyos. We’ve had a lot of remakes of previous throws such as:
Puffin 2 - CLYW – YoYoExpert
Arctic Circle 2 - CLYW – YoYoExpert
New Sasquatch - CLYW – YoYoExpert
Wooly Marmot 2 - CLYW – YoYoExpert
Gnarwal 2 - CLYW – YoYoExpert
And a couple of others like the Bear.vs.Man 2 (now discontinued). The Arctic Circle ‘2nd Expedition’ is also discontinued, with the final run hitting retailers today.
The biggest splash in the CLYW pond as of late was the ‘Bonfire’ - CLYW – YoYoExpert
Based off the Campfire but larger, it came with a very quirky promotional video from Charles Haycock and Jensen Kimmitt in traditional ‘Chuck ‘n’ Jensen’ style:
… and has been well received by players for it’s floaty goodness. Not that any of us actually know how to quantify ‘float’.
Petr Kavka and Harrison Lee both have signature yoyos on the horizon (the ‘Scout’ and ‘Orca’ respectively). A prototype of the Scout was released already but the final design will have some tweaks and changes. Pictures of the Orca (which I believe is coming very soon) are on their instagram.
As of very recently (the last few days), it has been announced that Charles Haycock and Jensen Kimmitt have left CLYW to work on their own project. The Wooly Marmot 2 will be discontinued as a CLYW model and we’ll have to wait and see what comes next.
Instagram – CLYW - Caribou Lodge (@clyw) • Instagram photos and videos
Ask.fm – CLYW (@CLYWOfficial) — 17215 answers, 21071 likes | ASKfm
In 2013, CLYW and Onedrop teamed up to make a collaboration yoyo based off the Cascade and Avalanche, which they named the ‘Summit’:
Charles Haycock filmed the whole design and manufacturing process in the following video, which is well worth a watch as it offers an insight into yoyo manufacture that you don’t often get to see:
A few quick updates on some others:
SPYY, VsNewton and HSpin are no more.
General-Yo
Ernie has released two fantastic yoyos recently,
Prestige - http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/1093/General-Yo-Prestige
Amplitude - General Yo – YoYoExpert
They’re General-Yo, so you know they’re good and you KNOW they’re smooth. Ernie currently has a new yoyo in the works called the “Prophecy” which you can read a little about and see pictures of here:
GSquared
Jake released the ‘Quake’ to great reception:
http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/1081/G-Squared-Quake
Then released a larger version of the Quake called the ‘Aftershock’ to likewise great reception:
He has recently discontinued the Albatross and continues to sporadicly drop funky new colourways.
C3Yoyodesign
The chinese company C3 has been churning out new yoyos and aquiring more and more team members including Grzegorz ‘Plamek’ Wojcik, Shinya Kido and Tomas Bubak.
C3 product page: C3yoyodesign – YoYoExpert
They released two budget metals, the Level 6 and recently the Accelerator. They also came out with an update to the popular bimetal yoyo the ‘Beserker’, called the ‘Berserker SS’:
Yoyorecreation
The Japanese powerhouse discontinued their entire previous line and after coming out with the Draupnir, have released a slightly re-designed Sleipnir, as well as 2 more bi-metal yoyos (Laser and Sputnik). The ‘yoyorecreation appreciation thread’ is the place to go for all your YYR information needs:
http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,46405.msg930344/boardseen.html#new
Yoyofficer
Yoyofficer are a chinese company known for making good quality budget metals. They deliver a lot of bang for your buck, and are often recommended as good options for people strapped for cash or for beginners looking for a first throw. Ryan Gee recently joined the team and has been putting out wacky videos here and there.
There are plenty of other new and popular companies going, but if I add any more I’ll end up violating the forum character limit, so I’m leaving it there.
The Contest Scene:
It would take a long time to go through all the contest wins so I’ll just pick out a few highlights from the 1A scene. I’ll leave others to cover the other divisions if they feel so inclined:
In 2013 Janos Karancz became the first European to win the World YoYo Contest with his unique and technical style.
Last year was the first time the WYYC had moved out of the USA and was held in Prague, Czech Republic. The level of organisation, promotion and the quality of the livestream and contest videos were the highest they have ever been, and the contest truly was something that was great to witness.
Gentry Stein – 2014 World Champion
Zac Gormley – 2014 USA National Champion
Jakub Dekan – 2015 European Champion
Last year 5A multiple world champion Takeshi Matsuura showed all of us that his 1A is just as amazing by winning Japan Nationals and placing 2nd at Worlds. One to watch for sure:
Finally, the WYYC this year is going to be held in Japan!
By the looks of it, it could end up being the best contest to date. Can’t wait. 
Community/misc:
Andre Boulay (owner of this site) has purchased himself a brick and mortar toystore, hired a man named “Garrett” who we all adore, and continues to reign over us all with mercy and wisdom.
TotalArtist, a rather prominent member of this site and arguably Yoyofactory’s and YoYoExpert’s biggest fan, got her own custom run of Yoyofactory ‘TooHOT’s released in her favourite (and custom) colourway. They looked amazing and sold out very quickly.
Lots of new startup companies are popping up that have managed to put some solid yoyos out there on the market, and are run by forum members from right here. A few include:
2Sickyoyos
Radical Seas
Tropic Spins
… with many more in prototype stage. Looking forward to what the future holds for all this intrepid fellas.
Augie Fash left yoyofactory and now works for Duncan as their sales and marketing coordinator. Everyone still loves him as much as ever, because you just can’t help it.
Eric Koloski left Yoyojam and has joined Yoyofactory (and these forums). Alexis JV has joined Yoyojam and is releasing new tutorials every week.
VIDEOS! Tonnes of incredible videos, and you can pretty much find them all in one place:
^ Topic of the year right there.
Me and Andre are currently putting the final touches on a big contest that will be hitting these forums soon. #hype #allaboardthehypetrain
Yoyonews is where you want to go for all upcoming news and video releases:
Riccardo Fraolini is breaking the fabric of space time with his innovation:
…and finally, ‘Billybob’s Bait and Tackle’ is thriving as ever and still beloved by all. THE place to go for all your fishing needs. ;D
…
Within character limit. Boom.
faints
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And that, my friend, is why you’re a Forum eXpert! Well done!
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slow claps
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Well deserved sir. Thank you for the wealth of information, I’ll be going through that today. Professional level quality right there.
$500…wow.
So, even though I’d hate to part with my baby, price check on a one off anodized tiwalker?
Edit: wrong thread