New player in need of a good starter yoyo!

Hi guys, I’m just getting in to yoyoing because of my friend and I want some opinions on what yoyos are good. I doing the regular 1A (I think?) and responsive or unresponsive works because I’m going to learn the binding as my first thing anyways. My budget is just about anything that isn’t over 70 dollars. I also plan on getting string so it would be nice if people could suggest what type of string. I also want to know if I need lube or should I not bother with it for a while.

thanks guys!

I would recommend the dark magic, or the kick side

yeah, dark magic 2 would be awesome, since it come with narrow bearing and can be responsive. velocity is a great yoyo for learning too.

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Yeah i see the dark magic as the number one recommended but it was also designed by Andre Boulay and this is his site lol. Seemed kinda biased

String - get some slick 6 or slick 8. It’s good all around stuff and will serve you well. No point in going exotic at this point in your career.

The DM is a good yoyo.

what is slick 6/8?

Slick 6/8 is a string type - 50/50 cotton/poly blend. Comes in either 6 or 8 strand. 6 strand is a bit thinner. I prefer 8 because it tends not to cut into my fingers like 6 does. In the end it pretty well thins out with use anyway.

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Get a kickside as a beginner. Just do it and get a kickside.

DM2 would work. Or Raptor. DM2 comes with 2 bearings allows for responsive and unresponsive so yeah.

Alright, thanks for all the replies. I decided to go with the Dark Magic 2 and the Polyester string. SHould I worry about lube and stuff yet?

Lube keeps your bearing silent and safe from wearing out too soon. You choose. I think you can use sewing machine oil or trumpet lube as an alternatate.

I meant to say should I get the lube. I’m not sure how frequently I’m going to need to lube and if I should worry about it at all since I just started

no…just let your bearing break in…it will take a while before you need to worry about lube…

As I said, if you want your bearings to be silent and less likely to wear out too soon, buy lube.

If you just leave it dry, it’ll be louder and it can wear out/freeze up faster.

Yes, dry bearings will spin “longer” but if you break in a lubed bearing, it’ll spin same as long.

If you want dry bearings, don’t care about lube. If you want a lubed bearing, why not get lube?

I would go and get thick and thin yoyojam lube it will last awhile and is very useful

I don’t think a beginner needs to worry about lube, imo. Easier to mess up your yoyo with too much lube than to burn out a bearing, especially if you can barely bind… :slight_smile:

A checklist you may want;

  1. A good, functioning yoyo that is (preferably) unresponsive, that will definatley take you through up to (at the very least) the Advanced Part 2 section. You could get a Duncan Freehand Zero, a YYF Northstar, a YYJ Dark Magic 2, a Duncan Freehand 2 (2010 edition with some silicone stickers), a Legacy, or a YYJ Kickside. Also, if you want a metal at a good price, get a Duncan Raptor.

  2. Supplies. You will definatley need some String (100 packs are the best), bearings (They last WAY longer than a string; 1 or 2), responce pads/flowable silicone, and a bearing removal tool. Stuck bearings are annoying and I got quite a few forcing the bearing into the slot.
    Other things you may need are: Lube (Thin), a Counterweight (for 5a) and a second yoyo (for 3a).

  3. Some kind of trick list. This is really important for remembering all the tricks. Make this as important or unimportant as you want it to be. You simply list all your learned tricks into a notebook also stating where you have learned them. Or, you can write out the instructions for a trick (even draw them out if you are artistic; I tend to do this!). Simply go over them every 2-4 weeks to make sure you know them. This is also helpful for listing killer combos and new made up tricks. You could even make this like a journal with all of your tricks, achivements, new yoyos, e.t.c.

The things you’ve listed is like a full set of things for yoyoing. I don’t have a removal tool, bearings, and I only have 2 strings to use. But if yo get all the things you’ve listed, you don’t have to buy any new replacement every now and then if you buy them all at once.

Gotta go with either Journey,Kickside, or Dark Magic 2. Dark Magic 2 would be the best choice because it can be both responsve and unresponsive, if you don’t mine the price. A kickside would be decent, Journey is too responsive IMO, after you learn basics it will be too hard to learn advanced tricks with it.

Any yoyo can be unresponsive.