I feel like you just speak your truth. Nothing wrong with that
I read the first dozen or so comments and the last twenty-ish. So forgive me if this has been said before, but dang this thread has blown up quick lol.
Tbh, I see why people might take this as negative, if I hadn’t talked to you before I’d probably take it that way too but I know you’re a pretty positive guy. But you might want to be careful saying
because essentially, you just said “don’t make a review if you’re not skilled enough.” I know you went on to explain that you’re not against people making other kinds of videos about yoyos, but the actual words you used made a big distinction between skilled yoyoers who can make reviews, and less skilled players who shouldn’t make reviews. So please don’t take this wrong, I know you mean well, but dude, think about the words you’re using before posting. This almost couldn’t NOT be taken wrong, when you mean one thing but say almost the opposite.
All that said, I fundamentally disagree with your initial post anyway. I get less from a Brandon Vu video than Throws N Brews, Casual Throw, etc. Why? Because I’m not Brandon Vu. He can do things with a Duncan Butterfly I could only dream of doing with the best yoyo ever made. It does me exactly zero good to know what an amazing professional yoyoer can do with any yoyo, becuase I will never be anywhere close to that level. Instead, the reviews that help me are people who are moderately skilled, not great but not newbies, who can talk about how yoyos are different to a layperson in an informative and entertaining way. Tom from Throws N Brews, Adam from Casual Throw, Nate Martsolf, those guys are more my speed. Tbh, those guys are better than me, and can tell a difference between yoyos way better than I can. So I trust their opinions, because I know what they like and I’ve tried those throws and I like them too. Heck, the Guitarist is one of my all-time favorite throws, and it’s Tom’s second signature from RCS, after the Metalhead which is my favorite V shaped throw.
All of this is to say: I don’t agree in gatekeeping who can review yoyos or not. You’re entitled to your opinion, if you want to only trust Brandon Vu or Gentry Stein then go right ahead. But you started this thread saying that only people with a certain level of skill should call their videos “reviews” and I believe, with my completely subjective opinion, that is ridiculous. For me, someone with a medium skill level, it’s nice to hear from other folks with a medium skill level (or slightly higher, because let’s be real, all the guys I listed are way better yoyoers than me) so I know what it’s like for a normal person to play with this yoyo. I don’t care how far a god like Brandon Vu can push a yoyo. Maybe you do. It really doesn’t make a difference to us mortals who won’t ever reach that level. A fellow mortal can tell me what I can do with a certain yoyo, and that’s what I care about.
Just want to say this once again, please don’t take this the wrong way. I know you’re a generally positive fellow, and I know you meant no harm. I just respectfully disagree.
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Alrighty, sounds good to me.
Now let’s all head over to my goofy car/yoyo comparison thread! 
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Every time I see this post I think of throws n’ brews YouTube channel…
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In your first post you said: " I feel like alot of yoyo reviews are misleading because after I actually try those yoyos they aren’t like any of the reviews"
I think that perception is key. If the reviewer had been throwing a 67g throw a lot then reviews a 65g, to him it may feel light and floaty. But when you receive it if you have been playing a 63g and then try the 65g from the review, it may feel slow and heavy. Also, as mentioned a throw that we might find negatives with when we first try it, then we like it months later. All that being said the perception of how a throw feels even from a experienced thrower might not have the same feeling to each buyer due to many factors.
Just my random thoughts
If you want some entertainment. Check out Lorenzo’s reviews. I love his style and wish he was still making them. Plus he’s very skilled to me.
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Ah I see. I just found that a lot of people are always mentioning that they want to see more negative reviews since most of the reviews are nearly fully positive so I wanted to address it.
I agree fully! So many times I have been looking at a yoyo and then wanted to find people’s opinion of it and there’s nothing. I made a YouTube channel in the past to try to review all those yoyos that people don’t usually review, especially small yoyos. I collect so many small yoyos and for most of them, it’s basically impossible to find any opinion about them since most people just don’t really bother about small yoyos. I stopped doing the YouTube thing a long time ago when I found that people didn’t really like it (most of the videos had more dislikes than likes), and I didn’t enjoy doing the videos as well. I see, I am the same. I skip out on all the new throws that don’t really appeal to me, and only look at yoyos (be it old or newly released) that fit my preferences. That’s awesome, but sometimes I get disappointed because the throw that I got didn’t play like how I expected it to play from the specs and the shape, which is why reviews are still useful.
Yeap, I agree. Most of the time on new throws, like those hyped A-RTs, G2s, One Drops, RSOs and MFDs that’s really all you have to go off of, because they’re going to sell out before anyone puts out a review. Absolutely.
That is very true, but I find that sometimes yoyo reviews can change my opinion on whether I want to buy a yoyo I’m going for. Things like how it feels on the string and how it handles are very important to me, and as I mentioned before, sometimes a yoyo can play like the opposite of what you expect it to play like from the specs of the yoyo, so yoyo reviews are still a good resource for me to make a more informed decision on purchasing a yoyo. I have been turned away from some yoyos that I was going to purchase after reading reviews about it, so I wouldn’t say that reviews would ultimately confirm our bias. It’s why people still want informational and analytical reviews, these reviews provide them with valuable information that help them make their decision. So yeah, we don’t need yoyo reviews to make a decision, but they are still very helpful, especially when it comes to those oddball yoyos that somehow don’t play like how their specs describe them to play like.
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Okay guys I think we’ve really beat this topic into the ground. I disagreed with Cotton at first too but he’s clarified some things at this point. And even if he hadn’t, the dude might have a slightly different opinion than you, that’s OK.
We all know Cotton is a hell of a guy and a fantastic, kind member of this community. There is no reason to continue coming at him because no matter how much you may disagree with what he’s saying he clearly doesn’t want to discuss this topic anymore.
Let’s just leave this one where it is.
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This thread motivated me to do a review myself on a yoyo. I’ve never done a review or yoyo youtube content so maybe this would be a good start
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Oh it’s okay I’m not mad at you. I completely respect you and your opinion. Keep up the great work with your company. You’re amazing. Sorry if my post came off the wrong way. I did try to articulate my point a bit better saying that it’s not so much of them making a review, but more about them talking about things they don’t have the skills to talk about. I absolutely love throws and brews, casual throw, nate ,etc. I support all of their videos and am subscribed to all of them. They seem like incredible people
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Great post!
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Can’t wait to see it! I know it will be fantastic. You have a very nice style
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Thank you! Appreciate your support!
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Whoa cool I just sprained my foot yesterday and my board got robbed the same da y:cry:
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I watched and enjoyed that review, even though I had no intention of buying that yoyo!
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My biggest and primarily only criticism with nearly every yoyo review/ person reviewing, is the reviews are almost always 100% positive about every aspect of every yoyo. Every time.
I think it’s due to the fact they want to keep from offending these companies so they can keep getting free yoyos, for the ones that do receive free prototypes, free A grades, B grades, etc. Or even if they have to send the yoyo back. They want to keep that gravy train going. And frankly, I can’t really blame them. However, it inherently causes the reviews to be bias.
So ultimately I’ve stopped watching most reviews. There’s a couple people I’ll occasionally watch because they are fair with their review. I just feel you can point out a yoyo model’s strengths and weaknesses without being overly critical or downright rude.
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This is what I meant when I said I’d like to see more negative reviews. I feel like any time a review starts with “[insert company here] sent me a yoyo to review…” it can be assumed they’re going to hold back on saying anything that might prevent them from sending another one. It is what it is. I’ll keep watching em anyway.
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Just saw this thread and as a manufacturer wanted to give my input:
To me, I like to have a variety when it comes to yoyo reviews. Yoyojoe, Brandon Vu, Nate from G2, etc are all great players and can give a lot of information about a yoyo, which is great, but let’s be honest, 80% of the player base will either never get to that level for any reason (Speaking for myself Ive gotten a little worse over the past year just from a lack of time to throw) or will take years to get to that level.
Having some lesser skilled yoyo reviewers take your yoyo for a test drive can kind of give clarity to what that yoyo will feel like to the 80% that is newer/just starting out/doesn’t have time to practice for hours every day. It also gives me as a designer a chance to say hmm, I didn’t realize that X aspect of my yoyo may give some people trouble. It’s all about perspective to me.
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Great perspective
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Tbh most modern yoyos are good. None of them are bad unless they are designed to suck (like Rain City Dumpster Fire). Also most of the things you need to know about the yoyo can be easily identified from its design. Thin walls-Thick/Bimetal Rims, rim weighted and good for long combos. Low walls, good for zontals. Jacob Gross’s LCAYY is excellent for knowing about the design of a certain yoyo or just learn about yoyo designing in general.
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I personally think it’s more about experience than with skill.
When I see a car review is rather have someone who’s driven a bunch of cars and can notice nuances than say an F1 racecar driver. The experienced reviewer may also be able to put the review in terms to better understand and are more likely to give me an experience I would have similarly with the product.
Edited for the duvet typo
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