Throwing is falling out of the limelight for me, gonna keep my life (the A-RT kind) and just sell these off. Also got hella kendamas and keyboard gear for those privy to that.
Prices are in USD and don’t include shipping/pp fees. Turnaround times range anywhere from 1-10 days, rep thread in my bio. Extra pics are to show damage or unique features of the throw. Discounts on multiples.
The throws:
OneDrop Wyvern (Chameleon cerakote, mint in box) - $80 70
YYF G5 (1of100 Blue Star yoyoguy.com exclusive, satined rims) - $70
Duncan Freehand Zero (ENYO Purple Intrique yoyoguy.com edition, comes with three sets of caps, silicon recess, lip removed, mint, super smooth player, and beautiful chameleon effect -
Life’s are like a non-se MMC, a very stable full-size organic thanks to the lip while still maintaining nimbleness (also lets you IRG!). The stability is why I kept this as opposed to the grail. The Wyvern is decent, but when I play it the flat rims not having a greater angle on the outside rim in the catchzone leads to more issues with catching and overall gets in the flow of things, as well as the response step being more of a recess as opposed to a bump makes it annoying to grab out string wraps (which I get into a lot from sloppy, flowy freestyle where I’m trying to think less and throw more). In the end when I play it I feel like I’m playing a less satisfying summit (which was what I was hoping it would play like when I first saw the thing, like a summit with a bit of Chik! blood in it), which is a bias for sure, but one that I have regardless-- as opposed to thinking it’s an objectively good throw. I instead think it’s “good enough”, which isn’t very inspiring for my style of play. When you’re not throwing for clicks, you end up with a far more psychosomatic thing going, and if your idols aren’t tech players then you’ll come to value other aspects of throws (see: https://youtu.be/MfGv474CzWI?si=CWMXokSy87JDuVOR )
With the life on the other hand, there’s a sort of verve I get from it from being a comfortable and effective shape, having the gripper well behaved dad pads, the G2 bearing that’s endlessly smooth, and being particularly special in this specific instance. It’s one of the painted teal runs. I immensely respect Jensen and his philosophies (I have some of his art inked), and this one in particular was the one featured on their insta showing off the run. There may be thirty or so of them out there, but this one is the showpony. It scratches that collector itch, it’s a great throw, and I feel like I’m playing with something special, which inspires me to try and do something special with it that I don’t get from other throws, even if they maybe even more collectible, or objectively more valuable like with a titanium throw.
The only throw that may come close is a 000 54se, that one played incredibly and I do regret giving it up considering Jeffrey said he probably won’t make another run, but there’s a reason that one went and this one stayed. For the record, this one went at one point too, but I ended up reaching out to the guy I sold it to to buy it back, which I haven’t really done before.
I’d still love to hear why you think the Wyvern is more solid though
To be honest the argument i have isn’t nearly as extensive as your statement was. Also to be honest I haven’t played the Life but all A-RT I have played has been sub-par to even just straight up kinda bad. It also doesn’t help that I’m not a huge organic fan (I like more comp-based throws personally). The Wyvern is just more my kinda throw and also I know for sure that the people at A-RT have done something that kinda made me disappointed with them as people. I don’t remember what it was (therefore i assume it wasn’t something like catastrophic such as, say, with Mazel Tops) but still they did something that rubbed me and others the wrong way. I just personally kinda have a vendetta against them and a dislike of organics i guess. If you like Life I’m more than happy to accept that it might be a good yoyo and i just haven’t tried it. Either way I hope throwing doesn’t go completely out of your lifestyle and that you enjoyed it while you did it.
I will always have throws around me yeah they may have garnered a few PR hits over the years, I can see how that can bleed into someone’s experience of a product.
But the main point I gauged from your answer is the idea of competition vs play oriented throws. An example would be a draupnir being perfectly oriented to tech and multiple wraps needed for complex manoeuvres, but there are so many examples of throws built like this at this point because they maximize trick density and performance, it’s like if pi was solved. Where a throw like a 420 would break your knuckles an eighth of the way into such a combo with how grippy its built (less of a response bump, high walls, it’s huge). But because the yoyo isnt built for that style, or a style most people are used to for that matter, the throw forces you to play a different way then you are used to and will in itself open new avenues that you may have not explored otherwise by forcing you out of your comfort zone.
Albeit the 420 is a bit of an extreme and not the most I’m line with me, the life being a happy medium between the two, I’ve always liked A-RT because many of their throws would be this sort of play oriented design, where it encourages you to push past the limitations of the design, improving your execution in the process. Their stuff is more of a toy than an instrument. It’s like ritalin vs weed. Shredder metal vs flamenco classical. A Porsche vs a hot rod. What may be bad design to some might be organically beautiful to others, what may be uninspired and formulaic can be a feat of engineering.
It’s why I don’t think I’ll ever fully drift away from throwing, there are so many different threads to this evergrowing tapestry of a hobby that are all beautiful in their own right, perfect or not
That said, What’d mazeltop do? I always thought he was so wholesome
It’s not good for PR if you call someone the hyper-bad f word (the one that rhymes with maggot). That’s what Mazel Tops did. And all i know is that in yoyoing I’m definitely the shredding metal fan in your analogies lol.
