I would like to start up a discussion. I have recently noticed there are several European brands that don’t get alot of hype. Some I have noticed are 9.8, throw down and a fee others right off the bat.
So, what is the deal with Europe? ??? I understand that we are for the most part in North America so we may not have an ample supply of foreign brands, but we still give hype to most of the Japanese brands and a few European (Illy, x3 and B!st… However that is about it).
Do these yoyos play worse?
ILYY and Bist were hyped for years, especially when the E1NS came out. I have no idea what 9.8 is though. And Throw Down… You mean who made the Luchador? They haven’t made yoyos in years…
Can’t forget the Pyro.
cold metal for russia
Cold Metal was not so great. I believe they changed the name and are still around, however.
HSPIN got plenty of well deserved hype when they were operating.
Their stuff was all good.
Too bad they shut down.
I KNOW! I loved their company so much…
Yeah. But I wasn’t a fan of the model I own. The envy64.
Just because of some of the older techniques used. Like pads vs recess and small gap so on.
Other than the gap and pads i love it. Maybe a angled gap and recess, LIGHTBULB-awesome!
Was throw down a European based company? I didn’t know that.
I’ve seen a decent amount of love for x3’s La Goutte, but in general I agree that they seem to get overshadowed a bit.
I didn’t either… But the surname Weddle originated in the UK so, it’s possible.
Small gaps in HSPIN? Both the G&E 4 and the pyros came with a 5 mm wide bearing. That’s larger than the std “C” size bearing. I believe that was their standard bearing across the line. Can’t speak to the Envy, never had one.
Well, good lord, the Envy is old (by today’s standards).
I would agree that your observations seem correct, from what I have seen. But, I wonder if European brands have plenty enough hype on the European forums, in European stores, or elsewhere overseas. I also wonder what kind of hype brands based in the United States get elsewhere. I also wonder if United States based brands get the same amount of hype in Europe, as the European based brands get here.
So, yeah…good question. :-\
Throwdown was not a European company. Unless you are talking about a company other then the luchador maker
I can’t speak on factual data or scientific data… Just by the handful of polish yoyoers that I’ve talked to in the bst and what they owned this looks like what is hype with the polish
- CLYW
.2 YYF
And a small amount of mixed others but those are the two major companies Ive seen in a very small sample group (5 different polish bst between here and the Facebook yoyo groups).
Very interesting Snafu…YYF does not surprise me. CLYW, in terms of popularity, is even bigger than I once thought. They have quite the momentum going.
06/07 the oxy 4 had a ridiculous amount of hype that I’d say was the peak of it’s time
07 the e1ns also had a large amount of hype and so did the noctu
07 hspin was also considered amazing with the pyro
X3 had some hype at the beginning
I think the main problem with these companies is they don’t produce enough new products to keep the hype going
CLYW has had their ebb and flow since the initial release of the Peak. I think the popularity took a major upswing when "Ben’s Complete History of the CLYW Peak" was released. It seemed to spark a feeding frenzy for not just the Peak but for all things CLYW. You are 100% correct, they have a huge momentum going. What shocks me is that it has not slowed. Every company eventually slows down but CLYW seems to be gaining in speed.
As for Euro brands, I have noticed the lack of news for them as well. They seem to still be going strong on some fronts but it almost feels that even in their home market more European competitors prefer brands from North America and Asia. It is a darn shame, I have played with the new ILYY Nile and it is one heck of a player.
A lot of it is marketing. The Euro brands have less involvement and marketing outside their region.
X3 and ILYY are both great brands that are generally underrated or at least overshadowed by more hyped North American brands like CLYW and One Drop.
Most of the other European brands aren’t even available outside Europe so don’t really have the exposure to generate any hype. The brand the OP mentioned 9.8 looks to be big in Russia. I remember checking out their catalogue online in the past. Some of their yoyos appeared to possibly be rip offs of existing designs and others looked like they may have just been rebranded Chinese designs, though not too sure on all this. Another big Russian brand is Aero-Yo. I know many of their throws in the past were just rebranded Aodas (selling at much higher price points), but I think their newer designs may be originals. They also seem to be linked to Cold Metal who are an older Russian manufacturer. Would love to hear from someone more familiar with the Russian scene about these brands.
Some other European brands that I’d love to know more about are the Czech brands Barely Legal and Floutek, the Italian Roo-Yo and Roll-Out (not sure if either of them are still around) and the Turkish Vortex Yoyos.
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