i was yoyoing at my little sisters soccer game and a kid who was walking back from a grids kids football game asked me how much i payed for that i said 75 big ones (ann connolly edition yuuksta) he said “wow thats a waste of money” i pointed at his shoes and said " how much were those jordans" he meekly replies 140$. i walked away with a smile on my face.
When I first got back into throwing since I took a hiatus just after the 1999/2000 boom, I felt a little ‘embarrassed’ or something I did behind closed doors. After stumbling across these boards and seeing that even adults still throw, I felt better. I see it as this: you could be standing around smoking a cigarette and having a beer, or you can be standing around relaxing and just whip out some tricks. I’ll go with relaxing and doing some tricks.
Honestly, when I had the urge to begin throwing, I thought it was going to be a short-lived thing that I would put away after a while. In 2009, I bought a Mosquito after my parents got me an Imperial as a gag birthday gift. I threw for a bit, then once I ‘filled my destiny’ I put the yoyo away. Around the holiday time, I saw some Freehands sitting at Toys R Us. Since seeing them, I wanted one badly but never got around to laying down the cash for one. Since, I checked stores everywhere (that I frequently visit) to see if they had anything other than Imperials. The following year around Easter, when making another visit to TRU (I very seldom go there) I grabbed a FH2. Since, I just stuck with it. I watched a few videos and saw all the fun I missed out on. I got my brother into throwing for a short bit, enough for him to want to get a metal for his first ‘getting back into it’ throw. I ordered one as well. If you wonder, it was a Yomega Maverick. Since (and seeing the lowering prices on metals), I’ve just stuck with it. If I feel unmotivated, I’ll watch a couple videos featuring yoyos that I own and get back to it.
Yuuksta - sweet bro.
I know what you mean about the financial judgements.
I woked with a guy who felt that $10 was too much for a yoyo, yet he spends over $180 Per Week on Beer and cigarettes.
I know a bloke who has spent over $10,000 on 4 sets of Golf Clubs, that doesn’t include Shoes and other golf stuff. And he pays $50 eack week to use the course for 2 hours. Yet he still harshly judges my Yoyo collection.
A sheila I work with spends $28 each week day eating out for lunch. That’s $140 per Week!!! Yet She still Judges… :
D
Well, we have to look at a few things.
First, people perceive the yoyo as a toy, which I have to admit, it MOSTLY is. But, $100+ for a precision machined piece of aluminum with a ball bearing, axle and a silicone response system… However, at it’s core, it’s seen as a toy for little kids.
Golf has a status issue tied to it. Not to say yoyo is different. We buy more and more expensive yoyos(often). Sometimes it seems like the only reason to buy the high end stuff is to impress OTHER people. I’m not a golfer and in fact I have virtually NO interest in it, but it has become a “rich man’s sport”.
Your number aren’t necessary accurate or innacurate for what people are spending. They are realistic.
$180 a week on beer and smokes. Can’t comment, I don’t smoke and don’t drink, so I can’t relate, but I can easily understand the costs. $180 a week? That’s $720/month. I’m not doing any math further than that. $180 a week gets a top of the line yoyo and you have plenty of change left over, and other than the cost of replacing strings, that yoyo SHOULD last you a good long time. One-time investment for the core hardware. Not bad. Who is silly now?
What do they have to show? Cirrhosis of the liver and lung cancer that they’ve invested loads of time and money into. They earned it! They drank it, they sucked it down. Stacks of empty cans and bottles, empty packs and cartons. Oh and let’s not forget that there may be warnings telling you “hey, this stuff ain’t good for you”.
What do you have to show? The yoyo, a lot of skills, a lifetime of enjoyment and perhaps something you can share with others and hopefully your health. The only things you can share with others from those diseases is sorry and misery.
$50 a week for greens fees at a golf course? That’s $200 a month. See above. With the ongoing costs, you come out way ahead with the yoyo. On the plus side, you get to be outdoors with either activity, although yoyo can go indoors or outdoors. But, unless you own your own private course, green fees aren’t going to go away anytime soon. Golf courses are expensive to operate. And don’t even get me started on club costs. It’s true that they can get real expensive fast. Some pros use a single custom set costing way more than that $10K you quoted for 4 sets.
$28 a day for lunch? WOW!! I mean, I wouldn’t spend that on myself for dinner. Granted, the AU dollar rate compared to the American dollar puts our money at different exchange rate, but even so, I wouldn’t spend $28 on a meal for just myself, much less lunch! $140 a week gets a really nice yoyo and cash left over. Regarding lunch, you can pack from home or find less expensive places to eat. After a week, you’re full from lunch. But that yoyo can last a lifetime.
People don’t want to look at the “one time cost”. “$115 for a yoyo? What, are you nuts?” You just showed where people bleed money.
My wife gives me crap for buying mics. I have mics in the $700+ range. I spend $350 EACH for 2 mics that all they do is capture sub-bass. Over $400 each for 2 mics with dual-elements. $1100 each times 8 for each of my wireless mic systems(handheld, body pack with headworn, lav and instrument accessories), $700+ each for 4 channels of wireless IEM’s. I won’t go on, it’s expensive, but it’s something that gets to stick around and unless damaged, destroyed or stolen, it should last me a good long time(10-20 years and beyond), it’s money well spent. Some examples such as the Shure SM57 and the Audix i5 are almost interchangeable mics. They also cost the same. Given a choice, I typically will chose the i5 over the SM57, but there’s times where I’ll reach for that SM57 first. But, in other cases, I COULD use a Shure SM58 or an Sennhieser e835, but sometimes that much more expensive Audio Technica AE5400 works better. Then again maybe an Audix OM-5 is right for the job. Then again, maybe the $240 Telefunken M-80 is a better fit. Then again, sometimes that $85 e835 is the go-to mic for a person.
If you enjoy something, get good stuff if it can help your enjoyment. My wife can’t understand why a yoyo can be so expensive. Me neither, but they are what they are, and good stuff costs. I can’t begin to understand why she needs so many shoes either, or why they cost so much. If you can afford it, then it’s OK. But I’ve got yoyo’s 5 months old(well in my hands) that have outlasted shoes of hers costing over $100 and owned about the same amount of time. Makes that DM2 not so expensive now!
It’s a toy.
It’s a job.
It’s a habit/addiction.
It’s a game.
It’s fashion.
“I gotta eat”
Whatever. Throw, bind, repeat. Don’t let anyone change your mind.
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I started yoyoing my senior year of high school and I would yoyo everyday at school. just throwing binding and catching would amaze random people walking by… no one really asked me how much I spent neither would I have cared if they did freak out on me. so yoyo because you like it don’t stop because someone says it’s stupid.
P.S I can solve a rubik’s cube in about a minute and I yoyo in public, both of those activities catch plenty of attention from the ladies.
Whenever you throw, try to have as much fun as possible.
People who mock other people for having fun are not worth your time.
I am now married and am seeing 30 on the horizon haha and i do not give a rats — what people think. I just went back to college and i yoyo there all of the time during breaks. I even did a performance for my english class for my final project! there’s always going to be someone who thinks it’s stupid or will have something smart to say…but i think as a society we tend to worry way too much about others’ opinions of ourselves. if you enjoy it—do it!(unless it’s doing something that harms another person of course) People can laugh at for me playing with a toy but then they’ll turn right around and play video games…which is yet again…A TOY.
That’s a bit over the top.
Wow, that’s the price of a decent dinner.
I don’t know what the cost of living is in Australia, but the currency is approx 1 to 1.
1 AUD = 1.03470 USD 1 USD = 0.966464 AUD
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No I don’t feel embarassed about yoyoing. Why? I’m not sure. I just figure that most people (adults) act foolish on a regular basis doing things they don’t want to do! Yeah they are just like youth, think they’re different but give in to peer pressure all the time, even when they know better. So if they think I’m a fool, at least I’m doing what I like to do. I just kind of feel sorry for some of humanity lol.
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I yoyo simply because I enjoy it. The yoyoing itself is my motivation. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t throw. I might not spend hours yoyoing or learning a new trick everyday, but at some point there will be a yoyo in my hand. Yoyoing enhances my enjoyment of life and if I ever find it to be cumbersome or just another thing that has to get done, I’ll step away from it and find something else. I’ve yoyo’ed for years and don’t see it ever changing.
Sometimes I get embarrassed cause some people are like “Hey everyone, he yoyos and yoyos are stupid.” That’s what happens sometimes. Most of the time, when I have to yoyo in public, someone is always yoyoing with me. On the 2nd question, I don’t really know what keeps me interested, maybe it’s because there’s always something to learn.
Dude I have got about 10 of my friends into yoyoing and whenever I yoyo at [High] school everyone is really impressed