Must everything be made in China?

Most vibe nowadays is negligible, compared to years past. I would have killed for some of the plastic that is out today, imagine a Speedaholic in '99; with the being said I still have a fondness for Super Renegades and Fh1’s and Super Spin Factors.

Curious, what yoyo was that?

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It’s a good yoyo. But the lead up is too negative to say. The only yoyo I’ve ever felt the need to talk bad about is the yomega oochyo. I really hate that … thing.

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Like I said before, look at the sponsorship for US Nats this year. Yoyofriends, C3 and Topyo, that’s majority I think. Here at yoyofriends we always want to give back no matter how small we still are.

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I didn’t read this whole thread because I’m an impatient, inattentive American. BUT I feel that comparing a hobbyist like yourself @Glenacius_K to any company who sponsors players and has an established brand, drops, etc. is unfair. You make good stuff! And you most certainly should be charging more for it! You should not have to drop prices to the level of an outsourced manufacturer. Look at a company like G2. They outsource and STILL charge you boutique premiums. Yes Jake does a hell of a job with quality control, but he’s not making anything nearly as unique or ‘artisanal’ as your stuff. To gripe about Chinese manufacturing, instead of capitalizing on your own magnificence seems futile. You should make us pay for how good your throws are, and how much time, energy, and material you put into it. People will very likely pay for it.

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I’d have to say that in this day and age of “cheap” this above comment is very unlikely. Yes, there are people out there that would pay when they see the quality and workmanship involved. I’m that way, one of the big reasons I purchase most everything from smaller shops. But in yoyo, you’re dealing mostly toward kids and people who are trying to build a larger collection. If they see a similar product for $30-40 and Glen is selling it for $90, guess which they’re most likely going to go with? Sadly, you can talk til you’re blue in the face and cheap will most always win out.

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Yea, im pretty sure I wouldn’t buy a $90 wooden fixie. Industry standard prices have been set, for better or worse, and charging overly much isnt going to sell them. As for those new plastics he has been building, those are definitely worth $90. Any more than that feels like a lot of money to spend on a plastic yoyo.

Yeah, I wasn’t commenting on a specific yoyo of Glen’s. I honestly have no idea what he charges, the $90 was based on the yoyo he has in the BST right now.

Wasn’t saying he has a $90 fixie, which if he did and is selling them is AWESOME! I’ve been wanting to sell some yoyo’s I’ve designed, but when I sit down and do the numbers the price I feel I’d have to sell them at to make it worth it I’m not sure people will buy them. So I’ll most likely make them some day and just give them away to friends :joy:

I feel you. You are right that he wouldn’t sell 100 of them, but he also isn’t making that many. He can definitely sell the amount of throws he makes for what they’re actually worth. Survivalists are definitely worth $90-$100, and Harbingers could easily take a $15 price increase. Not sure this would even come close to paying Glen for his time, but closer for sure, and very feasible.

When I bought my Harbinger from him it was $50, and I think at the time the Ballsy was $60. Not sure if these prices still apply.

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I feel like there are certain items that justify the made in US price tags. Yoyos on one hand aren’t. When you compare Chinese made and US made, the difference is negligible. Where as US made furniture is a different story. There is a huiuuge difference in craftsman quality furniture vs mass made Chinese furniture. Kitchen Knives are another great example. Japan makes some of the best knives in the world, and can be relatively cheap for the quality. Compared to the very few us made cutlery, I’ll much rather buy a nicer blade from japan over a us made just for the made in u.s.a stamp. Although I think it would be pretty cool if, as mentioned near the beginning, we could have a larger mass production machine facility here. Unfortunately I don’t feel as though the demand is high enough for yo-yos to justify the cost of a facility that size.

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Japanese blade craftsmanship

Thanks for the kind words Ed /love

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$100,000 for a CNC lathe :slight_smile:

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My $90 plastics are acetals (with the exception of the polyester one I just made). It’s not often I see them at a price that low. Even the Onedrop Cabal is over $60.

That’s $90 Shipped. Shipping costs me a minimum of $12 included in the price. That brings the actual price of the yoyo to $78. My acetals generally take me a minimum of 4 hours to make. They take a lot of time and extremely precise turning to have them smooth and a shape that isn’t extremely basic.

I’ll never sell a fixie for $90 unless it’s made from unicorn horn. I’m aiming at offering a model at a cheaper price; the Skinflint at $35 shipped.

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Holy heck that’s a lot… how much do u think 2 halves of a yoyo take to machine?

How long? Well there are two operations because you can’t finish a half in one go (you have to cut it off the bar stock and then finish it on a second machine. That second operation is hand loaded one at a time. The average first operation time per half is around 7 minutes. And the average second operation time per half in 2 minutes.

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