Hybrid/mixed response systems

Still going through my old stuff and a question… other questions… arose.

I have a few old throws that have a mixture of response systems, typically one side has a starburst and the other has an o-ring, sticker, pad, whatever.

  • Firstly, why the mixture ? Why not pick one and go with it ?
  • Secondly, when did this approach lose favour ?
  • Finally, did anyone just combine their favoured system for the yoyo they actually wanted ?

An example for you all; a Yoyojam Dark Magic.

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@AndreBoulay can probably explain

I know people stuff indeed do halfswaps to make the same system on each half

I remember @DocPop saying that one of the big things he pushed for on the original Bolt was for it to have an entirely o-ring response, so people could easily silicone both halves of their yoyo.

I couldn’t answer why hybrids were so common (other than the obvious assumption of the company gets to sell twice as many yoyos), but some people just prefer the feel and play of hybrid response. Maybe Doc can shed a bit more light on why people liked/disliked them and why they were so common.

Bingo!

When did we all become so cynical ? :flushed:

I mean, for me it was sometime in late 1995 but I wonder about the rest of you.

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There was a short period that YoyoJam made a few of those. I bought a YYJ Black Knight and fell out of love with it quickly. Fortunately so did Twitch. He and I agreed to swap halves. I got the o-ring halves…
I also had a hybrid response Hitman. Didn’t care for that either.

The black knight is probably the only yoyo I’ve ever hated.

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Yes, I didn’t care for it either, even with o-ring response.


I unfortunately still have mine.

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a) I should see about lending you my Rev-G and letting you really learn about hate :rage:
b) any particular reason for the hate ? I find the hybrid response yo’s just too unreliable, too inconsistent in their play. Semi-responsive should not be a thing.

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I particularly didn’t like it because it was a bad choice for a second yoyo for myself.

It felt too heavy at the time when I was pretty new to yoyoing after having messed around with a chain reactor for a year, and wasn’t very stable, hurt like a son of a gun when returning to the hand and would snag constantly doing any trick I tried that needed multiple wraps.

It was just a pain to try to learn new tricks on because of said snags most of the time, and thinner string wasn’t something I could get easily. I was using the red and yellow cotton string from yoyoguy, and it was just a really bad combination.

Also, the Rev-G reminds me of the Henry lizard I used to have.

This sounds very familiar.

The Lizard is a paragon of virtue in comparison to the Rev-G.

Is the Black Knight a Monty Python reference?

I don’t know. it doesn’t seem like it to me because it just looks like it’s trying to be a cool design, but I could be wrong.

Yeah - on the original Dark Magic for me it was personal preference to go with hybrid response. The other thing to remember is at the time - the black o-rings were not nearly as consistent as silicone o-rings so in many ways the one black rubber o-ring with the starburst allowed me better control especially when it came to regeneration tricks. It also allowed me to keep a tighter gap for better binds and more powerful spin I felt - it might have all been in my head though - haha.

As Dark Magic II came out the silicone o-ring had become standardized - and I do remember it took me awhile to get used to - but eventually I did embrace it and it is my preference now. But I think its part of the natural evolution of response system from starburst to rubber o-ring to silicone.

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And what is the DMIII going to have?! :eyes:

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magnetic e-brakes, haha!

If only there was a response system that automatically returned to your hand… :thinking:

Maybe they could call it the Smart Yoyo… or The Cranium. Hrmmm…

That would be a response system that sold really well.

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I mean, yoyoballs exist.

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They could call it a responding yoyo or a Brainiac.