So, based on some of these comments, I think I’d also like to pick up a nice responsive. Any suggestions? Recommendations for OD have been prevalent. Deep State? What else is out there for a quality responsive throw?
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Basecamp Sherpa. It also comes with a size C bearing for unresponsive play. Once you think you are ready to try unresponsive play just switch out the bearing. The Sherpa is responsive right out of the box, though.
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Has anyone suggested really thick lube (like 20/50 oil or even grease?) and narrow gap yoyo ?
Also search for some videos from Anne Connolly and Tessa Piccillo to get/ keep your daughter into it. I also started when they had the yoyo demonstration in my kids school. But I ended up being the one that got hooked.
When you both can learn tricks together it’ll really be a fun thing you have together.
I learned a lot from the videos here and high speed yoyo.
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Well, I think it depends on what you want the responsive yoyo for. If you just want a responsive yoyo for working on responsive tricks and “casual throwing”, then any of the metal responsives (Deep State, AlleyCat, Confusion, Gamer, Sherpa) will do quite nicely. However, if you want a responsive yoyo for working through the early rungs of the 1A trick ladder, I’d recommend a plastic model with a full-width design like the Sage, First Base, Arrow, or Replay.
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Thanks for the advice! I’d say I want it for a little of both. I don’t know enough about what I’m doing yet to know what my future goals will be; however, I can’t see ever being in a place where casual play with a responsive throw will be something at which I turn up my nose.
That said, I’m also enjoying working through these tricks and really starting to enjoy playing.
Question - I have this Yomega Maverick. How would some of the throws you mentioned compare to this? I’ve got my eye on a Deep State and a Sherpa and might just go ahead and pick up a Replay since the price is right. But, are either of them going to be a significant upgrade over the Maverick or should I just buy strings and keep practicing with this Maverick?
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I don’t know anything about the Maverick apart from its description in the YYE webstore. On that basis I would say it isn’t anything at all like the responsive models mentioned. For one thing the Maverick is an unresponsive yoyo. It is also undersized with a very wide gap width (4.80mm), a combination I really don’t care for as a beginner.
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We must be talking about completely different throws. I’m playing with a Yomega Maverick as I type this and it’s most definitely a responsive Yoyo. At least, I’m guessing it is. Now that I’m looking at a few different sites, Yomega calls it responsive for “less responsive play” and Yoyoexpert has it listed as unresponsive.
I don’t have to do a bind to make it come back up, I can just jerk the string a little and up it comes. I thought that was responsive? Perhaps there are different versions?
Edit - there must be different versions. YYE gets $35 for the one they have here and I got this one in a set of 3 Yomega throws for like $36 total.
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Is your Maverick plastic? If so then it is obviously very different from the Maverick on the YYE store.
In any event, I’d say that if the Maverick is comfortable and performing adequately for you then just stick with that yoyo. Does it have enough spin time to do a trapeze, his brother, and back to the trapeze before you dismount it back into your hand? Is it stable enough to stay on plane through that combo (given a straight breakaway)? If the answer to both is yes, then there’s little reason to switch to another responsive yoyo (for learning 1A tricks). If the answer to both is no, then I’d definitely try something else. If the answer is split yes/no, then it’s a judgment call, I guess.
Even if the Maverick is performing just fine, you may want another responsive yoyo just to have something different to try, or as a backup. I am partial to the Sage, while others are champions of the First Base or the Replay. All of them can be up-converted to unresponsive play with a bearing change (bear in mind, though, that the Replay in its unresponsive “Pro” form has a very wide 4.80mm gap and you’ll probably want to use a thicker string with it to get it to bind a little easier…I learned about this after many days of frustration with my Replay Pro).
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This Maverick is metal. I find this somewhat interesting, now, that YYE has it for almost 3x what I paid and also listed as unresponsive. It isn’t a really big deal, except I really like the way it feels and if there is an unresponsive version, I’d be interested in picking one up.
Edit - not trying to imply YYE is priced high, I’m insinuating that there is probably another version of this throw that I don’t know about and want to look into it more because I like this responsive one.
I’m not far enough along in my tricks to know if it can do that. It doesn’t seem to spin long enough for much, though. Although, that could just be me being new to this and either not throwing it hard enough or not being able to do the tricks fast enough. I did find myself googling “longest spinning responsive yoyo” this morning, however.
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Hmm. I wonder if your Maverick could be upgraded to unresponsive play with just a bearing change. Even if it could, you might want to leave it in responsive mode just to have a responsive yoyo on hand at all times. And to be honest, I don’t think replacing it with a Deep State or a Sherpa is going to benefit you a whole lot right now in terms of using it for learning/practicing 1A.
The thing about spin time on a responsive yoyo is that the features which make it responsive work against long spin times: a narrow gap and thick lube in the bearing (which will need to be replenished when the yoyo stops returning to your hand as it used to). Having said that, it should be possible–after enough practice–to do the simple combo I mentioned and still have just enough spin left to get it to return to your hand.
If you like the feel of a metal yoyo, then when you feel ready to work on binds and unresponsive play I’d suggest getting a metal unresponsive yoyo and not bother with a plastic one. The sweet spot in terms of performance and value right now seems to be $45, and there are a lot of excellent yoyos at that price to choose from.
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I have a bit of an addictive personality so hobbies that involve collections often cost me a lot of money early in the game. That said, I’ve already got a OD Top Deck on the way as well as a Replay Pro. Was just looking at filling the gap of a quality responsive throw right now. However, if I won’t gain anything other than losing a little more money, I’ll hold off and stick with the Maverick for now. I have an unresponsive Yomega that I’m thoroughly unimpressed with. Even with a perfect throw, it still makes a bunch of noise and vibrates A LOT. I’ve got an easy bind down and look forward to seeing the difference once the Top Deck shows up.
Edit - to keep this thread on track - I bought a Yomega Brain for my daughter and it’ll be here on Tuesday. She’s PUMPED. She also got her Duncan to sleep this morning so she was pretty excited about that.
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That’s awesome!
The first thing to master is the gravity pull since every yoyo trick starts and ends with a throw and a return. The second thing to master is a sleeper since 99% of tricks involves a yoyo that is sleeping. Sounds like she’s well on her way to yoyo mastery!
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The Maverick was originally a responsive model but I they began selling unresponsive models a few years back. If I recall correctly, it’s the same yoyo, just with an unresponsive bearing.
With that said, the Maverick should be fine as far as responsive yoyos go. Upgrading to another metal responsive like the Deep State won’t make much of a difference at this point.
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There are some sherpas for sale on #buy-sell-trade and it is a really cool responsive being hollow metal so I can definitely recommend that.
Also any responsive can be easily converted to unresponsive with a slightly longer axle and any old standard C bearing. (Swap our the shorter axle and the slim / narrow bearing)
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Actually yomega brain lube or 3-in-1 oil make a yoyo fairly responsive. Some 2A players have used grease and/or modified the gap to be narrower. There are a number of threads around about modifying yomega raiders to narrow the gap.
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Forgive my ignorance - what does “narrowing the gap” accomplish?
Thanks!
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Makes the yoyo more responsive. The closer the pads are together, the more grip you get, more response.
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That makes sense. Why would I do it on the Raider? Just asking - it’s already responsive… Wouldn’t that keep it from spinning as long?
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People generally modify raiders to be more responsive for 2a. 2a requires much more response to perform well than with responsive 1a.
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All else being equal, narrowing the gap makes the yoyo more responsive. 2A requires properly tuning the yoyo to be responsive for reliable loops, yet maintain spin for other phases of the tricks.
Stock Raiders, while generally responsive are not responsive enough for serious 2A players.
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