Ok, so I’ve actually ran into this situation several times and today kind of really highlighted it. I was waiting in line at my local amusement park, playing with my Yeti when this father and son from the next line segment over watch me. The father tells his son “Hey, look at that” (points to me). The kid then says “What is that?” The father then tells him that “It’s a yoyo.” The kid then watches me finish my trick and tells his dad “Ooh, I want a yoyo!”
I feel like this classic toy that everyone once knew is falling into obscurity especially with the younger set these days. Sure they will all know what an iPad is or any other electronic gadget but I feel like the days of kids playing with things that are simple, don’t require batteries, software updates or storage space are long gone. And as we all know, a yoyo is one of those toys that would be just as much of a staple as a doll, play-doh, etc…but because you can’t really find yoyos anywhere like you could way back when…
This not a rant. It’s just a well developed observation on the status quo of our shared hobby.
9 days out of 10, I have a similar experience.
Especially when I travel. (Which is a lot.)
Only one solution pops up in my head. Instead of only seeing Imperials and Butterflies on store shelves, add some F.A.S.T. 201s, Classics, and Replay Pros. Better starter materials need to become easier to find. It would also help if they came with a good amount of learning material, or a link to a tutorial website.
I have nothing against the Duncan Imperials/Butterflies. I just feel that if higher quality starter tools were commonplace, it would help young children enter our hobby. Everytime I go to a toy aisle I see great starter kendamas. Looks like it’s working for them…
Luckily we have Yomega and Duncan that both excel in the mass market game. You can find those anywhere.
If you go to any Toy’s R Us, Sports Authority or ■■■■■ Sporting Goods you can find YYF Velocity’s, ONE’s and maybe a WHiP.
I don’t have any kids of my own yet, but I’ll be sure they’ll own a yoyo. I think it’s great to throw one in public places, it’s like a free advertisement for yoyos and gets kids and adults interested. Fun doesn’t have to be plugged into a TV.
This happens to me all the time. Kids not even knowing what a yoyo is blew my mind at first, but now it has happened so much that I’m used to it.
Heck, even when I was teaching a children’s yoyo class, there was only one girl who had a sincere interest in learning what I had to teach, the rest of them didn’t even bother learning the gravity pull, they all just talked about video games and apps the whole class. Needless to say I loaded the girl up with string and pointed her towards YoYoExpert.
We’re not referring to you specifically. We are simply discussing the vast swabs of children growing up today that don’t know much about modern yoyoing.
I guess it depends on the city. I’ve traveled through much of the southwest, southeast, and a bit in the Midwest. I have only found yoyos in sporting goods stores once in Santa Fe, NM. It was at a Big 5. They had a Duncan Flying Panda.
At Toys R Us Duncan and Yomega rain supreme. However their yoyos are rarely brought up when discussing the best starter plastics. I’d love to walk into a toy store and see a Classic or Replay Pro. Dragonflies and Fireballs are a bit outdated.
It would also to get Walmart back in the game. I remember picking up a Mosquito from there when I was 12. I loved it. Now when I walk through all I see are Imperials and Butterflies.
This isn’t to say those yoyos don’t have a place in our hobby. They just don’t allow children to explore the possibilities of ball bearing string play.
Well, I’m not surprised by this but, I just find it sad. Honestly I think part of the problem are the parents not showing this stuff to them earlier at least for rainy day fun. When I was younger my mom bought my brother and I Duncan butterflies and let us have our fun for the rest of the week. Mind you I was like 6 at the time but, still.
When I was a child I played the heck out of video games and yoyos. I still play the heck out of video games and yoyos.
I think when we start seeing virtual headsets in every living room… Depending on how good the games are… Then yoyos are in real trouble. Along with a lot of other toys and hobbies.
I wrote out this long reply about how the same thing happened to me at a store and then for some stupid reason, the browser acted like it couldn’t load the page, and now I’m mad, and I’m not re-typing it. So lets just say, Same thing happened to me. But at the store.
We need to spread the word and get this new generation on the band wagon.