My ONE came with 3 strings. The string that was on it was way short. My yo is unresponsive and I am working on my bind. I did not notice another bearing. Yikes, the package went into the round file.
Crayfish
Really either my brother.
Crayfish
I’m coming from the perspective of someone who has grown up on the Smothers Brothers Yo Yo man video(great video, they need to make a dvd of it some day), so I learned the basic tricks from it, I am not nearly as advanced as some of the posters on these forums.
It all depends what you want to do exactly, if you have yoyo-ed before what are you most comfortable with? If you played with duncans, it is not a bad idea to go back to the brand you are most familiar with. Unlike back in the 80’s, today Duncan offers a lot of yoyos between $10 to $24 that have ball bearings and can be used for a variety of play styles.
You mentioned the Smothers Brothers, if you have the Yo Yo Man video, and you have not been able to perform the 10 basic tricks in the video then I would suggest a very basic, a modified shaped yoyo to get started. Those can do all the basic tricks outlined in the video effortlessly.
The tricks I remember from that video that were called basic were: The sleeper, pop the clutch, rock the baby, around the world, inner loop, the ufo, the breakaway, hop the fence
The yoyos that I have tried where I can do the 10 basic tricks would be:
Duncan Pro-Z: $10.99, has the advantage of being modified to perform string tricks as well as looping, comes with a set of spacers. Transforms from a modified shape to a butterfly shape.
Duncan Speed Beetle: Purely for looping, not for string tricks, but it does the basics. Modified shape.
Duncan Imperial: $5.00, the only yoyo I am listing with no ball bearing. It has a fixed metal axle, Duncan has been using that design for a long time and plenty of tricks were invented on it. Imperial shape of course.
Yomega Raider: $15, uses a ball bearing, good for the basic tricks, very good at looping. Modified shape.
Yomega Yo Mod G-R: $20 There are three different versions of the Yo Mod, the G-R version is green colored, it is very responsive. You can do all the basic tricks, even one or two loops isn’t too hard to pull off. Butterfly shape.
Duncan Freakhand: $15 An alternate version of the Freehand 2 v.2010, nothing different from the Freehand 2 apart from the color and artwork. Intended for counterweight style play, but can be used for string tricks. Comes with a counterweight. Responsive, butterfly shape.
Beyond that, I have moved on to the semi-responsive and unresponsive yoyos. I would define semi-responsive as being able to return from a sleeper after tugging hard on the string, where as a responsive yoyo requires a small flick of the finger. Unresponsive, to me means completely dead, no return no matter how hard it is being tugged, only way to return it is with a bind.
Duncan Pro Z: $10, because of the spacers, it transforms from the looping/modified shape to the butterfly shape. It’s semi-responsive when the spacers are used. As the friction stickers wear off it becomes less and less responsive.
Yomega Hyper Warp Heavy Wing: $25, semi-responsive. Butterfly shape.
Yomega Yo Mod Pro Speed: $20 The black colored version of the Yomega Yo Mods, I don’t remember exactly how it played out of the package, but after three weeks of play its unresponsive, it needs a bind in order to return. Butterfly shape.
I too, grew up watching responsive yo-yoing and have returned to the hobby after a layoff of many years.
While I hear your desire to return to the tricks you knew when you were younger - whats the point? Lets face it, we all stopped throwing for a reason and un-responsive play was NOT the reason. Yes, you can find some modern yo-yo’s that play like the old ones, but that is not why we throw anymore. We throw because the new technology allows for tricks that would simply be unthinkable with an even moderately responsive yoyo. Add in the fact that my knuckles are not constantly bloody and bruised; and this modern yo-yoing is starting to show promise.
I say embrace this new technology and leave responsive play to history. Get a Protostar and never look back.
Plastics that I’d recommend under $50 to anyone go as follows with price increasing as the list goes down:
One (I prefer the OG but they’re harder to find)
Whip
Classic
Speedaholic (I haven’t actually tried this guy but C3 hasn’t disappointed me yet)
PSG (The gem series is better but I like the feel of the normal one more)
Prelude
Onestar (This is a must get)
Freehand 2(it’s now pad recessed and although I hate pads it’s not a bad throw)
Lyn Fury
Kickside (Prefer this to the lyn fury due to the hybrid response and overall shape)
Asteroid (Very good but I prefer the shape of the PSG)
Surge (love the heft and feel of this yoyo and would recommend it as well as a must have)
Freehand Zero(although the stock response is meh it’s a necessary yoyo in any collection and performs very well modified and is ok stock)
Pinnacle (This used to be my favorite plastic yoyojam until the surge came out)
Alpha Crash(The one I own is dead smooth and performs horizontal tricks very well)
Flipside (I love the conept behind this throw and although the shape is just ok it’s still very good)
Token(I myself don’t really like the overall size but it plays surprisingly well for it’s price)
Trigger(Although this is plastic I’d choose it over the token but be careful because these have somewhat flimsy rims that can crack if you hit it on something wrong)
Shaqler/northstar (I prefer this guy to the protostar ymself)
Protostar
XLR8(Haven’t thrown one but looks excellent for it’s price point)
Shutter(another throw I haven’t thrown myself but it’s received many rave reviews and I’d personally take this over the rally which I’ve thrown)
Severe(A good delrin throw but I actually think the onestar is a better overall yoyo)
Rally(Excellent player with many awesome reviews but it just didn’t fit with me)
Minute by werrd(another excellent looking undersized throw that I desperately want to try)
Now there’s a couple throws I excluded from this list since they’re not normally sol in the United States and I left out the God-Tricks throws since I haven’t tried those myself and they just don’t appeal to me like most of these other throws I listed.
YoyoGeezer, I sort of agree… except that there’s new stuff being done with responsive play that’s cool, too!
But to the part of it I agree with… I got a yoyo expecting to go back and learn UFO, which I could never learn from trick books. I just didn’t get it from text and pictures. Well, Googling “yoyo tutorial” opened up a whole new world for me, and it’s unresponsive play that got me hooked on it, that’s for sure.
But after some time, I did learn some more of the old-school tricks and started learning some newer responsive play tricks, and I really love that, too. So I would say if you’re returning to yoyo or yoyoing for the first time, “Rock the Baby” isn’t going to motivate you the same way a successful “Matrix” will! You can always circle back and join the fixed-axle responsive play renaissance once you’re hooked. 
You said it better than me. I did not mean to put-down responsive or semi-responsive. I think it is the reward of getting a new trick vs. mastering something that eluded me previously. New thrills always beat out revenge.
I also agree, and it has been cited before, the internet is what keeps yo-yoing going. We know what happens without it. I practice the Sport ladder and use my YYJ Speeder2 with a slim bearing for the responsive tricks. Great throw with a slim or a regular c bearing.
Would be me if my summits weren’t so amazing. I play the rally a LOT though. Best plastic EVARRR.
Protostar is a fantastic, unresponsive yoyo. There are others, out there, as well. If you have a Hobbytown USa nearby you might find one there.
The Freehand 2, to me, is an all-around GREAT yoyo. It is responsive, but it also plays great on the string. Love it.
Both are very reasonably priced.
But there are lots of really good ones out there. I believe if you go to the yoyoexpert.com shop area, you’ll see a category to the left, “Recommended”. Click there for some good recommendations, as well.
I’m a big fan of the Freehand 2. It always reminds me of Playmaxx and the Bee GT from the late 90s yoyo boom which is when I started yoyoing. The ones that I like to play unresponsive I play with a clean bearing and a single silicone sticker but they become nearly unresponsive straight out of the package even if you just take out 1 friction sticker. Playing it responsive I slightly prefer it over a FHZ, I’m not certain but I feel like the gap is bigger and it definitely takes multiple string layers better (may just be a result of the pad recess). I feel like I have to wear in the pads in a FHZ for a while before the yoyo starts playing how I like it whereas a FH2 just seems like it’s always in that sweet spot where it is tug responsive but I can get multiple string layers and do slacks, whips and stuff with pops in it without worrying about it cracking my hands as long as my technique is good