intermediate player looking for recommendation

Yo-Yo Reviews Looking for Help/Recommendation
1

-Do you know how to bind the yoyo?
Yes, I have the basic bind under control and almost have the side-mounted (from trapeze) bind under control

-Do you have a yoyo that you own or played with that you have liked very much? Describe every detail. Eg. what kind of friction stickers you are using, cleaned bearing or not, and so on.
The best yoyo that felt right in my hands and in use that I have played with is the Duncan Pro Z. the Dimensions and exaggerated H Shape felt right. Not a bad yoyo for $10

Also; I also own a C3 Speedaholic and I would say I am not fond of this yoyo. The yoyo is good, but the feel of the organic shape doesn’t feel right in my hand. It is also almost too wide, almost. Also the weight distribution is not what I am looking for. Its not the most stable for learning tricks on.

-Do you have a preferred shape of the yoyo?
I think my preferred shape is the H-Shape yoyos, they seem to have more rim weight and are more stable.

-Do you have a preferred weight or weight distribution? Answer it saying similar to this or that yoyo.
Yes, for stability I like the most of the weight distributed to the rims

-Do you have a price range?
Under $60

-Do you have a certain amount of yoyos narrowed down? List them.
Here is a handful that I am thinking of based on reviews and recommendations on this site.

http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/316/Duncan-Raptor

I also like the Benchmark H but it is right at the tip of my price range so unless it blows away every other yoyo I listed, I would like to hear it.

-Do you prefer a certain brand?
Nope

-Are you looking for a yoyo that specializes a style? Like looping, off string, freehand, etc.
Nope, just one that is stable and long-spinning for learning tricks on

-Do you prefer a certain response syetem?
Unresponsive

-Do you want hubsstacks or z stacks?
nope

-What trick are you currently working on?
I am mastering the binds atm and working on getting the split bottom mount accurate and consistent.

-Do you want a yoyo to Thumb grind or arm grind good?
Not at this point, if the yoyo you suggest can, that’s great but don’t make it a priority.

2

Also, if there are other yoyo’s that meet my criteria and price range that I did not list, please feel free to mention them!

3

I notice that the majority of my listed yoyos are metals and I have been thinking, since I am still learning, I will probably be dinging up the yoyo a bit as I have already hit the ground a few times with my Pro Z and Speedaholic…

Maybe I should concentrate on a solid plastic instead. What do yall think on that? are metals durable enough to learn on if you are still in the intermediate stages?

If plastics would be better for me at this stage, I still want to keep the weight distributed to the rims for a really stable throw (so my speedaholic is still getting benched until I get better).

New Throws I am considering if going Plastic for durability:
Dark Magic 2
yyj Classic with unresponsive bearing
OD Rally
Crazy D
NorthStar
Protostar
Diffusion

If you can think of any others, please let me know

4

For plastic i’d go for the Diffusion or a Protostar. As you probably know the Northstar is a Protostar with more weight in the weightrims (More or less). The older ones were really good but people who’ve played the new ones says that the old ones are far better. Therefore i’d stick to the Protostars.
Rally is good aswell, but plays a bit “boring”.
Crazy-D i tried, but it didn’t really impress me. Classic isn’t as good as the other mentioned IMO, and the DM2 is a pretty old design. Not saying it’s a bad yoyo, it’s just that i find a bit outdated…

As for the metals. If stability you’re after and you don’t mind a bigger yoyo, the Horizon is the way to go. If you want something more full sized then the Shutter and Torque is equally good in my eyes.

C3 Level 6 is said to be really stable aswell.
TooHOT is said to be really good too.

1 Like
5

Eastfield, thanks for the reply! See below for a few questions/clarifications

6

Think a lot of it is preference. I prefer the Northstar to the Protostar. Both are excellent performers but feel cheap compared to the Rally. I think the Rally is far from boring and a big step up in terms of feel/quality. The grind surface of the Rally feels more like ceramic than plastic, plus it has a 10 ball bearing. The C6 I believe has a painted surface so I would choose a bead blasted Shutter over it. Never played the Diffusion so I can’t comment. At a $60 price tag I would seriously consider a Onedrop Benchmark. The H is so awesome! The classic is a lot of fun and you should get one at some point, but it’s not as good of performer as some of the throws mention. What a great value though!

Scott

1 Like
7

Well, yes, the older versions of the Northstar was. But i don’t know about the newer runs, so i’m not confident about recommending it. As said, people have said that they’re not as good. If that’s not so good stability vise or not i dont know…

The Rally is stable and have good spin times for a plastic, and it does everything you ask it to do. It’s an equally good performer as the Protostar, though a bit… uninspiring (?) to play. It might be just me, and for someone with not that much experience it might not matter at all…

The Classic is a REALLY good yoyo - for the price you’re paying for it. If you have 60$ to spend i’d get something better, thus probably more expensive.

About the DM2 vs Protostar i’d get the Protostar. The DM2 is what we call a high wall yoyo, which means that there’s a higher chance of the string rubbing against the halves of the yoyo when playing, which results in the yoyo wanting to tilt. That hurts the stability and spin times. It also means that the yoyo is really bad for horizontal play, but it’s probably going to be a while before you venture into that… So if you have perfect technique and manage to keep the string from touching the yoyo it won’t matter, but if you don’t have it, like everyone one here, it will.
So to sum it up, yes, Protostar wins.

About the plastic vs. metal:
If you’re comfortable about dinging and scratching a metal yoyo, then there’s no real reason to not go for a metal straight away if your economy allows it :slight_smile: If you try to stand as much as possible on a carpet or a soft surface you won’t ding it as much. Most indoors wood floors won’t ding an aluminium yoyo either.

That being said some of the plastics are really good too. So if you’re more “sensitive” to dings and are going to be standing more outside or on hard surfaces like concrete and asphalt, i’d probably go for a plastic like the Diffusion or Protostar.

As for what i recommend: My first yoyo was a Protostar. After that i got a Dif-e-yo Juggernaut, which is a metal. After that i got an Arctic Circle, which is a high end metal.
So by that standard it’s certainly time for you to get a metal aswell!
I mean, atleast for some variation. The plastics are good aswell, but they won’t really blow you away if you compare them to the Speedaholic you already have.
So i’d probably go for a Shutter or Torque.

Hope this helps!

1 Like
8

The 10-ball is a flat bearing, which will for a beginner give you less stability…
The Level 6 is anodized like pretty much every other aluminium yoyo out there. Including the Shutter.
Where have you gotten the impression that it’s painted…?

Benchmarks are probably good too, haven’t played them. But they come with the flat bearing, which i wouldn’t recommend to a beginner for the reasons stated overhead.

1 Like
9

The difference between a diffusion and a classic is probably less than that between a northstar and a protostar.
Also IMO I woudnt recommend heavy yoyos for newer players developing flow and style. Especially the Lv6 which kills the only purpose of its weight by being this narrow.

10
11

Well then i’d probably get the plastic for now.
I’d get the Diffusion. Best one IMO.

12

lolderp wud u plz write your reply outside of the quote block?

no ding = no play
and you probably arent going to use one yoyo forever, and dinging it probably isnt going to render even this one yoyo un playable. Most people who own or plan to own multiple yoyos keep a specific beater yoyo

first world problem is first world

1 Like
13

Well he kinda said in the first post that he wanted something stable to be able to learn tricks on. So i wouldn’t really think about flow and style just yet ::slight_smile: He states that he’s working on getting the binds down…

EDIT: Whatever you do, don’t unscrew and screw together the yoyo alot. Wears out the threads and in a worst case scenario strip the threads. Don’t open it up unless you have to.

1 Like
14

o ok
Stuff like Torque and THot still tho, but it s somewhat derpy that I havent played any of these.
Horizon is about as stable as irony’13 in everything except horizontal hops and tilt changing tricks. Shutter is basically dark magic 3

There was a huge debate in my country about a year ago (right before i returned to yoyoing) on whether beginners’ yoyos should be heavy and stable above all else. I didnt get to hear the outcome, but now the general trend of the year s that 67.5+ yoyos are becoming exceedingly rare in both the beginners’ and high end departments.

Typically nowadays you are not going to find a yoyo not good enough for you to clear the tutorials on this site. I did it with my OG speeder and did not get my first speeder 2 after I landed my first horizontal combo. Today all the Gentry Stein tricks I have learned (around 2/3rd his worlds freestyle) I can do on my diffusion, classic and speeder2, but not my OG speeder.

/end first world problem

1 Like
15

Avoid YYF in that case I guess, and diffusion
their bearing seats are just

1 Like
16

Your country? Norway? Where in Norway?
(Do we have a yoyo forum in Norway…? ???)

1 Like
17

o sorry
I meant my home country China
This was just the position I was used to take when everyone else i m talking to is aware that i m a foreigner, which is the everyday situation i m in. no offense to norwegians
derp phail

but we’d see the day that a yoyo forum will be built in Norway

1 Like
18

Thank you all for your replies!

Sorry about how I was quoting :-[

19

Sweet, thanks to this thread it looks like I will be getting a deal on a brand new Northstar Shaqular Edition and the New Gentry Stein Regen for $45. I think that will keep me set for a while!

I want to thank everyone involved in the discussion, this is a great community!