I have YYF PGM2 that I dont play anymore, mainly because it takes broad pads and they aren’t made anymore. Otherwise I would Play it.
I won this yo-yo at states in like 08-09 and it will never leave my collection! It has way more sentimental value to me that the $20 it’s actually worth.
(WARNING: a whole lotta words in the following post. If you find looong posts mentally taxing or short on adventure, turn back now)
I have several yo-yos I don’t really throw…. But I would not sell…
I have both original Hspin Earthquakes sent directly from my friend Chris Kayatz. Just gotta keep those.
I might be off by a year on this one, but I think it was Worlds 2006. I hadn’t been to Worlds since 1999. Because I was pretty heavy into modding yo-yos way back when, I was talking shop a lot with guys that were in to designing yo-yos ‘alot’. One, being Mr. Kayatz.
He asked me to make my way to Worlds. He said he was coming over from Switzerland and it would be cool to actually meet in person and discuss yo-yo related stuff.
I told him I could not fit that into the program but he was determined to get me there.
Hspin put the word out that they would be making a very limited number of Black Pyros(10, I think) to be auctioned off for some fund raising cause.
He challenged me to make it to Worlds and he would personally hand me a Black Pyro the moment he saw me at the Event.
I told him what a great offer, but I just didn’t see that happening and the conversation faded into the past.
Being one of many on Team Yoyojam at the time, it was common practice to talk with Dale Bell every week about yo-yo related stuff. Several Yoyojam players were going to compete at Worlds.
Dale suggested I make it out that year so we could talk shop and also to cheer on the players.
My good friend Frank Difeo also mentioned he was going to make it and I should get on a plane and spend a few days hanging out.
As the days went on, it seemed the number of reasons I should go to Worlds was far greater than the number of things holding me back.
Next thing ya know, I’m walking around the Rosen Plaza Convention Center, meeting literally dozen of people I had never met before in person. And a good number of friends I had made at various Nationals Events already.
There were so many people in the Lobby area, it was Amazing. Whoever was tearing up the stage back then, was within the range of your eyes. A beehive of activity, indeed.
So, here I am meeting and greeting and see this one guy cutting around the small circles of people conversing and seemingly coming right towards me. I never met him in person but I knew what he looked like. Somebody said something to him and he stopped to talk for a moment.
I was distracted by something going on in the Competition room up on the stage. I asked, ‘What are they doing in there’? Somebody was spreading the word that they were auctioning off Rare Hspin Black Pyro yo-yos…… the only way you could get one. I immediately thought, ‘Wow, I could have gotten one just for showing up at this event🙀’.And then my brain caught up with reality and I thought, ‘Uh, don’t look now, but You are at this Event, lol’.
As I switch back to talking with the people in front of me, somebody steps up right in front of me.
It was Chris Kayatz. He had a big smile on his face and he said, ‘You made it. And I told you I would give you something if you made it’.
He handed me a small package, shook my hand and said we would catch up later and he went on…
The general attention seemed to shift to the Pyro auction and our group conversation sorta went on hold so people could hear the bids, etc.
At that moment, nobody was paying any attention to me, so like a little kid, I decided to see what was in the package? Well, it was a tube and in the tube was a Black Pyro😲
One of my most treasured yo-yos, but unlikely to ever be sold.
The next keeper would be my Original Silver MG yo-yo. Many years ago when Steve Brown was on Duncan(he kinda was Duncan, lol) he was traveling all over the planet promoting yo-yos.
When the MG was released, he was obviously in a perfect position to have a few at his disposal.
Steve, being the adventurous, innovative, fearless player, had zero concerns about creating love marks on yo-yos in the name of entertainment. Yo-yos bounce off things, ok. Yo-yos smack the ground,ok. A little off string with a few hundred dollar yo-yo, no problemo.
Fear was not part of Unkle Steve’s’ vocabulary.
His traveling MG bounced off things all over the World for at least a few years.
I used to tell him now and then, ‘When you decide your done beating up that silver MG, I will gladly take it off your hands’. Just a perpetual wish on my part. And time marches on…
Several years later, Steve sends me a box of ‘modder fodder’ ( misc. yo-yo parts for me to fiddle with. The box was stuffed with a whole bunch a parts. As I set the halves, etc., out on the table, at the bottom corner was a piece of cloth. I grabbed the cloth and set it on the table. I unwrapped the cloth and it was the OG silver MG! No message, no nothing. Just a well loved MG.
Seldom thrown but not for sale. One of my most treasured yo-yos.
I have a few more stories. But that’s enough I guess for now, lol…
Deth did the same thing to me and I did finally return the MG, with a box I might add. Silver was my favorite.
You cant tell us these stories and not post pictures of said throws!! 
. If you find time id love to see them!!
Awesome post Doc.
Great stories!
The original yyr’s. they tarnish faster than solid sodium in air and i store them in mineral oil
What a cool story. I remember hearing that sometime I can’t remember before, but I enjoyed reading it again.
Here’s another long post to this thread. Read on if you’d like.
Ok, upon further reflection, I have two yoyos that fit into this list.
1.) My very first yo-yo. A yo mega brain type thing. It doesn’t work anymore, and it’s my first yo-yo, so I won’t sell it.
2.) My second yo-yo. A Yomega Dash. It’s bearing is shot, and it’s a weird size bearing, so I don’t really throw it either.
But I definitely throw everything else regularly.
Here’s the thing. I’ve been trying to put my finger on why having a lot of yoyos that you don’t throw bothers me. And I think it’s because it has the connotation of being such a “perfect condition” nut that you can’t bring yourself to use a nice yo-yo, even carefully.
I remember there was a thread on here that got me thinking a couple weeks ago. It was talking about whether you throw your really expensive yoyos at all or not. And look, I get babying your $300 titanium. I’d want to keep mine mint as well. And collectors get laughed at for being overly careful and hesitant to throw yoyos all the time.
But talking about whether to throw your yo-yo at ALL?? That means you’ve crossed fully into the territory of caring more about buying a rare piece of metal than the process of practicing a skill and improving (the yoyoing part).
And I get that we’re all part of this community for different reasons. Some people are hard core competition guys that drill new moves for 8 hours a day, and don’t care about vibe. Some are guys that throw 10 minutes a week, and have a basement full of antiyo. And that’s cool. I love you all. It takes all types.
BUT, we all throw yoyos. Most every yo-yo is a toy meant to be used. And it bothers me to hear some discussion moving in the direction of talking about whether you throw your new nice yoyos, not rarely, but at ALL.
And I know some collectors do throw occasionally, but only their less valuable stuff. But given that they usually spent the vast majority of yo-yo related time on acquiring the rare throws, it seems like they might put the fruits of their labor to use. Even if there are better performing yoyos on the market.
So, I say go grab you rare mid size organic from 2007, measure your string length crafully, get over a soft carpet in a cleared room, and carefully enjoy your yoyo. 
itd be cool if you could post some pics
I read the whole thing and like your thoughts. Maybe some people look at some yoyos like stamp collectors and certain stamps. Sure stamps are made to be used for sending birthday cards, letters, holiday cards, and bills but collectors put some of them in albums and would not dream of sticking them on an envelope.
Right, I think that’s it right there.
I think that viewing yoyos like stamps a rather odd thing to do.
And not using your yoyos is a bit like treating them like stamps.
My first yoyo: A spintastics torch yoyo. I rarely take it out and throw it these days, yet it holds value to me since it is what I learned all my basics on. Lots of busted knuckles and broken string along the way, but it was all worth it. Now I am not so scared of most yoyos I throw today since I learned how to duck quickly and control the yoyo so it doesn’t hurt as much on a wayward bind.
why do people collect anything? bottle caps, stamps, spoons, action figures still in boxes… i think it is deeper than why collect yoyos.
i think if i had to make a guess, i would probably relate it back to our ancestors through DNA. why do people collect? well why did people collect things 5000 years ago. berries, plants, foods etc… its probably more impulsive in some people. throw into the mix a dash noatalgia and emotion- bam- bobs your uncle. collectors of things, useful and sometimes not.
thank you so much for the kind words. It’s been an ongoing journey of emotions, and definitely changes one’s perspective on a lot of things.
my antiyo business, but only since i can’t remember the last time i played it. i rotate my cases and displays regularly, and if i have a case out, i’m usually throwing quite a few go figure out what i want to keep out.
my general yo hatrick, so beautiful, undersized organic and heavy, probably the throw i have thats most me, but i only have one so it tends to sit in the case, and i could never part
This Fluchs proto. I throw it occasionally but it doesn’t really fit a standard bearing so all my normal Cs make it responsive. Still a beauty and a great piece of history
I think you fail to understand the mind of a collector which is perfectly reasonable since you aren’t one. You seem to think that collectables that have a use, a purpose other than collection should be used for that purpose. But for collectors, acquiring the collectables is the fun of collecting, it doesn’t need to fulfil any other purpose for it to be fun. Sure, it may be wasteful to not use the item for its other purpose, but using it will inevitably damage the item in a way and most collectors do not want to damage the item they are collecting. Think about the wide variety of items that people collect, like figurines, bottle caps, trading cards, comics and crystals. You’ll find that they will never use the item but just put it on display for people to see or just keep it somewhere safe. It’s the same with yoyo collectors. I’m pretty sure a lot of the collectors here would appreciate if there were less “go play with your yoyos that you have been keeping pristine, that’s what yoyos are for” comments. Can’t we decide what we want to do with our yoyos? We obviously have beaters that we don’t care much about that we play a lot, or have a duplicate of the yoyo we like that we have made an edc. Sure, we won’t get to experience the yoyo, but we don’t really bother, we are much happier keeping the yoyo smooth and free of damage than playing with it. Plus who knows, maybe that pristine throw that we have kept may fetch a high price one day.
Would you say you’re a collector yourself? I’m familiar with the collector mentality that you just described for sure. I’m friends with many collectors myself. And as I’ve said before, I love you all, it takes all types. I would even call myself one to an extent, given that I’m looking to get as many undercut throws that I can afford/find.
But again, I get them to use. I hunt down yoyos because I want to see how they play.
Of course it goes without saying that I know y’all can throw your yoyos or not as you see fit. I’m not going to go to your house, and force you to do tricks.
But, as I said before, yoyos are designed to be used. They’re skill toys. In that repsect, they are quite different from action figures/crystals, etc. Those are DESIGNED to display, what else would you do with them?
