Meaningful yoyos in your collection?

General Yo-Yo
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My two arctic circle second expeditions. I wanted one for Christmas, and I bought one but canceled the order since it was not the color I wanted. (Bronze speckle for Ashberry) I guess somewhere along the way Chris made a mistake and sent both. When I got the Bronze Speckle in the mail I was confused. Then I got the Ashberry and everything made sense. I emailed Chris and he said I could keep it since I told him. So I got a cool little extra Christmas gift from clyw that year.

Next up for my Summit. I got hyped for them but couldn’t buy on Yoyoexpert at that time. I found a bunch of change and biked really far to the only store in 50 miles that sold them. More to this story about how we counted it but I’m sleepy so I’ll update this tomorrow.

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What an awesome thread Jrod. Thanks for sharing those two Code 2s, I’m glad to see you still have them.

Although I have a few sentimental yoyos, the yoyo with the most ‘personal meaning’ to me is probably my blue C3 Halo. It has traveled the world with me and I take it on every trip, whenever I am away from home. I especially love the response, organic shape, full size and simple design. Because it’s white delrin, it hides dings well and matches everything. :slight_smile:

A few of my Halo’s stamps in the passport:

Hvar, Croatia

Krakow, Poland

Beijing, China

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barebones - by dif-e-yo

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14528317/barebones2014.jpg

thank you for the mention, jrod’. i’m humbled…

durin’ the summer of 2005, while havin’ lunch in the college cafeteria - i saw this kid doin’ eli hops at the opposite end of the hall. i wasn’t sure what it was initially, but as i approached him i realized - he was yoyoin’.

his name was kaleb. and he’s the reason why i started to yoyo.

he had a dif-e-yo sportster at the time, that was well loved. and i got my barebones shortly thereafter. he taught me my first tricks and we would always talk yoyo when we ran into each other. i remember those times fondly, and that’s partly why i cherish this yoyo.

he has since graduated and moved away - but i will always be thankful to him…for showin’ me the gift of yoyo.

mgodinez

cloudy…

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I got my John Narum Prototype Equinox in the mail today and thought I would post a picture to supplement my earlier post. Here’s the picture. Also featuring the new Super Sticky Kendama jrod hooked me up with at a good price. Everybody give jrod a round of applause for being a real stand up guy.

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Wonderful thread!

I have a several yoyos that have special meaning to me, though none make for terribly interesting anecdotes. Mostly just connections to specific time periods or people or places or events.

It can work negatively as well; a loved one’s health scare began on the same day my ILYY Zwei arrived in the mail, and the mental association between those two occurrences pretty much ruined that particular yoyo for me. I got rid of it as soon as possible, but not without a lingering fear that I had passed some sort of “cursed yoyo” on to an unsuspecting victim.

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I think I’ve posted a few of mine in a similar thread.

One is a Model 10 gift from YoyoExpert, my favorite store. ;D It’s red, and with a black string, it matches the YoyoExpert editions. It came with a nice letter on YoyoExpert letterhead, and the letter was even better than the throw, if you can believe that! I always support YoyoExpert, and their vision, so I feel like part of the team, in a customer kind of way. That was a kind gesture from the best store ever.

Then there is the Dark Magic II from Andre Boulay, my favorite person in yo-yo. It’s a one of a kind, but it has the National Yo-Yo Master caps on it. Andre set it up for me the way I like it, and sent it with a note. That was so cool!! Everyone knows he’s my favorite, so imagine getting a cool gift from your favorite player ever. A very special throw. Mr. Boulay is awesome!

Then, there’s a signed Trinity from Andre. Before I met him, I asked him to sign it and pick the color for me. He signed it and picked the color. It was a surprise what color I was going to get in the mail, so that was neat. He signed a few throws for me over time, and they’re all great, but that signed Trinity has the best story.

I got a one of a kind Aviator from Ben McPhee of YoyoFactory. Everyone knows the Fact’ry is the best, and I have nearly 100 of their throws in my collection at this time. I consider Ben, in my opinion, the very best in marketing yo-yos, and responsible for making me a fan of the brand. How thoughtful of him to send me this Aviator in my favorite color scheme. What a truly nice guy, knowledgeable of all things yo-yo, and great 2A player! He’s a very busy guy, but he took time out to say “thanks for your support.” And it came with a YoyoExpert velvet pouch signed by Andre. That was so awesome. I cried happy tears. :o ;D :’( ;D
Ben also sent a white Northstar prior to that. I was looking for a white one to complete my YoyoExpert color plastics case, and with a black string on, it fits in perfectly. Ben was kind enough to find one for me while on a trip overseas. Very thoughtful, and it’s a special Northstar for that reason.

I got a Duncan Profly from John Higby. We hung out a few weeks ago and it was a cool gift. Later he let me have his cool Genesis that he masked at YoyoFactory. I’m going to put stacks on it today, and still trying to decide between red, blue or white. It’s always a pleasure to meet a legend, share a meal, and have some of his work gifted to my collection. John is a class act. I saw him again today too, what a super nice guy!

I got a Protostar from MikeEff on the forum. Mike is a stand up guy here on the forum, always generous too. He sent the Protostar with a note, because it’s in my favorite color scheme, and he knew I’d like it. I had a bad day at work that day, but I opened that mail, and it really brightened my day. ;D I never met Mike in person, but he’s at the top of the list of people I’d like to meet from the forum. I enjoy his posts, and think he’s such a nice guy. The Protostar will always be in my YoyoExpert color plastics case.

I got a throw from Chimera and YoyoBrothers. I got a wooden yo-yo from Chimera that has the museum of yo-yo history logo on it. I got a Duncan looper from YoyoBrothers with the YoyoBrothers logo on it. They’re like my big brothers in collecting, so when I met them and they handed me a throw, it was like the passing of a torch to the next generation. I’m just kidding, but seriously, there aren’t many of us collectors out there, so it’s cool to meet these gentlemen, and I have fun watching their progress. A very kind gesture to add a throw to my collection, and to have it given to me in hand was even better. A pleasure to meet them both.

And, I got a gift blizzard Avalanche from an anonymous party. I posted on the BST and listed a reward for anyone who could help me find one. Someone bought it for me instead. When I find out who got me that Avalanche, we will get married and invite you all to the wedding. :wink: :smiley: Now, that one is very special!!

I have some other meaningful yo-yos, but those are stand outs. :slight_smile: It’s not like me to post without pics, so maybe I’ll get around to link them later. :wink:

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This Auldey bootleg Kickside was bought in early 2006 right after the end of blazing teens season 1 as my first unresponsive yoyo. Auldey actually made the gap wider than the original YYJ KS, so although the market was flooded by bootleg yyjs from all kinds of companies at that time this model was recommended by many players of the time. It is also surprisingly smooth. I landed my first bind with this yoyo accompanied with my first poured flowable silicone and a concave bearing sanded down from a flat one. At that time there were rubber weight rings designed specifically for this one yoyo but unfortunately I didnt keep and photos of those. After getting better yoyos for 1a I kept this thinking I could use it for 5a or even 4a. It was beat to herpderpistan but still quite smooth. I left this yoyo in my home when visiting China this summer.


This photo of the OG speeder was taken in 2009 as for some reason I have lost all my pictures taken in 2007. As seen from the picture the rings had already tarnished by then. This was my first real high end yoyo but it didnt get much use as I havent beeng throwing a lot in the past 7 years. Still, it accpomanied my first concave bearing, ceramic bearing and silicone response pads, and was my only fully functional yoyo when I picked it up again in March this year. I learned all the expert and master tricks and also my first horizontal combo on this yoyo until I bought a speeder 2 in May. I brought it to WYYC this year to get a signature from Hiroyuki, fulfilling one of my childhood dreams.

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My 64 is a big part of my to young experience. It’s the yoyo that allowed me to cross the threshold of ametur yoyoing into competitive throwing. My first contest was MA STATES 2011, and ever since I loved it. The 54 has a ton of love marks, and I still use it. Such a great yoyo, with so many great memories. It’s just the best :slight_smile:

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I’d have to say my Markmont. Next. I bought it here on the BST, which I’m extremely thankful for working out that deal.

It’s meaningful to me for a couple of reasons. First, although the MN engravings stand for Markmont. Next, they have a double meaning for me. I’m a born and raised Minnesotan, through and through, so the MN engravings also stand for the wonderful state that I live in and love.

Second, I saw old posts and pictures about the Obsidian Next. I thought that was such a cool idea, and thought that the way the black patina changes over time was really special. I found out that you can patina pretty much any nickel plated throw, so I decided to do that to my regular Next. No, it’s not an authentic Obsidian Next, but it’s special to me because I did the patina myself. My patina is a bit lighter than the actual Obsidian, and it’s definitely not as evenly applied, but the irregularities look awesome to me.

It’s now my favorite throw, and it goes with me absolutely everywhere. I hope to be able to snag a nickel Classic when they drop, because I really want my Next to have a big brother, and I really want more nickel throws to put a patina on.

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I have a number of them that mean something to me one way or another…

In the first pic, top row, a Higby Journey, YYF Hectic, YYF Frantic, TheYo.com YYF 888 and a Glow Hitman. These were gifts from YoMike and will be treasured always. The Journey and the Hitman in the bottom row are nothing special in themselves, but the caps were presented to me by none other than our esteemed moderator jrodriguez.

In the second pic, center, is a Dif-e-Yo GTO, the first metal I ever owned, the start of the slippery slope. Chimera may recognize it ;). Top row left, KC Jewel Tom Kuhn No Jive, a gift from KC Jewel. Right, a Tom Kuhn Mandala No Jive. Bottom row, a blue/gold YYJ DM II, and a mint blue/gold Hitman. I just have a thing for blue/gold yoyos. Interestingly, the Hitman was purchased from Alex Kim. Probably one of the few deals he made good on up front.

The third pic is my trusty BC Spitfire. It gets used a lot and goes most everywhere.


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It’s a long story, but they both came from the owner of my favorite company…


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A metal drifter that got me into yoyoing in 2010. It’s been through every thing imaginable. I’ve set it on fire, played offstring, been modded multiple times. it has so many dings it doesn’t even look like a yoyo any more. Sadly I had to put it to rest a few months ago when the axle and bearings broke. Also a John Higby Coffee profly that made me truly ask myself why I yoyo, I learned that I like to make tricks and do silly tricks and have fun with a toy that has brought me so much joy.

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After reading some o the replies in here I think we need a story thread.

I think the one with the most sentimental value to me is My Ash Berry Canvas. It was a surprise from my grandparents and was such an amazing gift. My grandparents do a lot for me and give a lot of support so this was just such a nice throw. I use it every day. Love it.

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I might’ve replied in here with some yoyos that had nostalgic value but if I did, those yoyos have been sold lol

I just keep what I throw a ton and sell stuff as soon as I stop picking it up regularly. The longest I’ve owned any of my current yoyos is a Blink I got in late Nov/early Dec (it is the 3rd Blink I’ve owned, though).

Some of my Playmaxx stuff has nostalgic value but I also don’t really consider it part of my collection.

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My YYF Shutters play a big part of me being where I am today.