There you go, all fun yo-yos that are in demand so you decided to continue making them for the public. The result being that your company makes more money and the BST prices are dirt cheap because most people will buy them new… the BEST scenario for a company to be in.
I’m sorry you are not happy with the criticism of your company’s decisions. Since Steve said on the CLYW Ask.fm page that YoYoFactory is behind all the sales and production for Basecamp I can only assume it was your idea to limit a desired yo-yo to one run and hamstring retailers with unwanted bundles. I know it has been said the bundle was because the supply is limited, but there are enough for you to sell them sans bundle direct from your site… so really, how limited can they be.
The Moonshine is a great yo-yo to play just mess around with and gives an excellent bang for the buck. Yes Ben, you read that correctly, I used the word GREAT to describe a product you had a hand in. After also reading the CLYW Ask.fm post on the Basecamp design process, Chris and Steve should be commended for the work they put into it. It has it’s ever so minor flaws but at the end of the day the Basecamp is right up there with the Flying V, which is exactly what I hoping for when I purchased it.
At the end of the day I have to say thank you Ben for coming by and responding to this post. It is so great that the community has a place to interact with company owners such as yourself, Shawn and David from One Drop, Ernie from General Yo, Chris from CLYW, Jake from G Squared… the list goes on. While the interactions may get heated at times, this forum is one of the best reasons to support YYE. While it is impossible to do so without a bundle, now can you see why I wanted to purchase my Moonshine here instead of direct? ;D
Nope, I pointed out what I thought was a bad decision while still praising the yo-yo itself. I also asked if he could see why I wanted to spend my money here. Nothing more to it.
Sometimes I miss out on a special deal and sometimes I win. Too bad-too sad. I was lucky enough to buy a Moonshine and after I put in the non-responsive bearing I loved it.
I asked before - How do you like yours?
Sorry, I must have missed you asking how I liked it.
The Moonshine is a great yo-yo. I have no beef with it at all. The only design issue I have with it is with the overly tight bearing seat, which made it quite difficult to remove the slim bearing. Other than that it lives up to what it was designed to to, be an extremely comfortable and fun to play yo-yo.
That last point is the one which baffles me the most. How could they underestimate a yo-yo marketed as fun, sold it at this price point, and be a collaboration between these two companies? How could they not know that it was BOUND to be in demand? It is like they don’t even see the hype around their own brands. The owners of these companies are NOT stupid people, so even at $45 they are probably making money, especially since they are machined in China to keep the cost down, so it is kind of insane not to make another run and sell them outright at as many stores as they can. Heck, make it the flagship yo-yo with a catchy slogan:
“Is the Summit looking a little too far out of reach for you? Sit back, grab your Moonshine and have some fun”
Part of the hype is the fact it won’t be made again. Personally I’m a fan of companies who do that sorta thing. It’s boring to just flood the market with every Yoyo people want.
The hype for the moonshine will encourage people to buy their new models, keeps basecamp a fresh company. I know I’ve said this in the past but it’s what the company Supreme does, for the hardcore fans the hype will never die out because it’s always something new.
A tip for removing the half spec- remove the axle and gently use the other bearing seat to pry it up a little, then you can use the bearing removal tool. Works really well for me doing that, if you are gentle you won’t damage the seat at all.
I am familiar with how to remove the bearing, the half spec bearing makes it difficult since there is less to grab on to. A slightly looser seat would have made removal easier.
Moonshine hype may encourage future sale but at the same time the forced bundling may sour future sales as well, especially from stores who were slapped with it and may now order less stock of that brand.
Judging by the prices of the other two in the Basecamp line, plus the fact that it has an extra axle and bearing, plus it being a small run, I would change “probably” to “doubtfully”, and “especially” to “even though”.
Then maybe we should trust that they are making the best choices they know how, in the situations they find themselves in. Even if some of those decisions might be in error, it’s up to them to learn from them.
I would be willing to do so if these were rookie companies. Instead we are talking companies with a combined total of couple decades worth of experience.
Now here is the funny thing, I was accused in this thread by Steve of having so little faith in Basecamp and the Moonshine that I wouldn’t buy it direct. Not the case, I had faith that Chris and Steve could design a good yo-yo so I did purchase one just not through you. Since my "faith’ was questioned, let’s flip the script and as about yours. Do you have such little faith in your yo-yos selling that you have to inflate the hype through artificial means? Do you have such little faith in your other models selling that you force bundle sales through retailers in order to make sure the sell through rates of the other two more expensive models stay high? Finally, do you have such low confidence in yo-yo retailers that you force them to bundle so that you can drive more business to direct sales model?
Again, thanks for taking the time to interact with the community.