What I mean is, it is such a good design and good in so many ways, so universally acknowledged as a great throw, that it’s almost like it became boring to people.
Right after it launched everyone thought it was amazing and one of the best throws ever, especially for newer throwers. And then soon after when people would ask for recommendations it was “Everyone will tell you to get the Shutter but I personally like yo-yo XYZ” It’s like people just got tired of it being recommended so much.
I know it’s older, I know the throwing community is always looking for the next great throw, but I think that if the Shutter had ever existed and a yo-yo company released that exact design right now people would go crazy over it.
I’m glad that the wide angle shutter at least has people talking about it again.
That has to be the strangest marketing move ever. I honestly got mad at first because I felt like it was designed to trick people into believing it was a Bi-Metal.
I don’t think it was done maliciously. IMO the Shutter doesn’t seem to need help selling. I just think maybe it wasn’t the most well thought out decision and certainly wasn’t received how those who made that decision intended it.
I don’t think it was so maliciously either, I just think it warranted a little more thought on the way it was being marketed and how that marketing would be both received and perceived.
You’re right! The shutter was my first unresponsive metal as I rediscovered yoyoing 3 years ago. I have lots of other throws now and many that I like a lot but I still really enjoy the shutter. I stepped away from it for a while - I picked it back up a few weeks ago and it has been a main throw again. I really love the styling and all the rims cut into the cup make it like the “swiss army knife” of throws for pretty much every type of grind! Overall it is a really impressive monometal design that performs well.
My only complaint is that the two halves have aged differently. The ano on one side has stayed nice and matte (blasted) while the other half started to wear about a month in and turned to more a glossy finish. Has this happened to anyone else?
So I’ve been kinda chewing on this for awhile now. I think there are a number of factors involved—anti-YYF bias, trend of the community to always be looking for the latest hotness, lack of rarity, etc—but I think the biggest issue is probably that the OG Shutter doesn’t fit into the current meta well but is modern enough that it doesn’t feel like an old school throw. It’s a decently wide (IMO) with a really functional H shape and tons of rim weight but it’s heavy, moves a little more hesitantly, and feels stiff if you’re used to the light, agile throws that seem to be the mass-appeal design these days. But because the design’s held up so well by modern standards, you don’t get that nostalgia hit of playing with an older-feeling design. I think that’s why some people who were meh on the OG took to the Wide Angle. WA basically just makes the Shutter conform to the current wide, light meta. The OG just kinda doesn’t really have a niche.
I honestly feel like this is the same issue with the OD SK (and IMO they feel a little similar). IMO it’s a safe, middle-of-the-road design that just doesn’t really fit into the current meta but also isn’t different enough to stand out.
Sounds like a good problem to have? Gentry/YYF have put a LOT of quality yo-yo’s out there and made yoyoing look like a rad thing to try for a ton of new players. If they’ve done so well as to lose their “punk cred” among some throwers by becoming the standard, I bet they’re pretty ok with that. And if it’s such a victim of its own success that YYF feels they can invest in putting the Replay, Voyage, and Go out to a wider beginner demographic, I’m kinda thinking “victim” is not the right word.
You may be onto something, @nonja121. The Shutter isn’t organic enough to be a retro, old-school throw delivering on nostalgia. And it isn’t new enough to feature aggressive design, though as you point out the Wide Angle does scratch the aggressive design itch by being too really wide. The Shutter falls in between the cracks of today’s two biggest trends: nostalgia-driven organics and designs that appear to push on some boundary. The fact that it is an ideal general purpose EDC throw is just sorta taken for granted now, and isn’t very noteworthy anymore.
U right. It doesnt take sides, therefore people who dont gravitate to either side are more likely to like the shutter, but those people are rate to come by. (I am in that middle ground and I love the shutter)
Yeah I think the vast majority of the backlash against Gentry/Shutter/YYF is just that - backlash. I think people who say he’s overrated don’t have an objective view of how hard it is to get as good at the competitive aspect of yoyoing as he has (or stay near the top for so long). Those who say the Shutter is meh are mainly considering its hype/ubiquity as opposed to its merits/value. And those who complain about YYF tend to assume it’s some Duncan/Flambeau-sized corporation and overlook all that it’s done for yoyoing on a grassroots level.
So yeah, I’d say harshly and unfairly all around, but I don’t think any of them would trade what they’ve achieved over a little shade on Facebook or Reddit.
I see so much of this that it can’t be left understated. I watched Gentry’s video on his tour through YYF the other day, and it proves the reality that they are more of a small business than a major “lifeless” (I see this term disparaging them fairly often) corporation. They invest far more of their lives into yoyo than your average boutique company like G2 - no offense to Jake, but yoyos aren’t how he makes a living.
That said, ive never owned or played a Shutter. It has been on my “to buy” list for quite some time, but there has always been something that piques my interest a bit more and then my yoyo budget gets tapped out.
Crunchbase (they gather corporate dat) says that their annual revenue is $4 million dollars. It also says they have approximately 48 employees. So by the time they pay their employees and after what they spend on sponsorship and advertising etc there probably isn’t a ton of money left.
There are restaurants with a higher yearly revenue than that, so it is illogical to think of them as some huge corporate behemoth. .
