Hey
I’ve recently gotten into yo-yo’s as a hobby (Like in May-June). The only decent quality yo-yo I own is the Duncan Metal Zero. I’ve no problem with it, but I’m looking to get another one. I don’t really know what yo-yo’s are the best at what price though haha. I was wondering if anyone here could point me to one that was reasonable in cost (50-60$ at most) and effective. It can be un-responsive if they’re better then responsive yo-yo’s, but I don’t have one so I don’t know…
Thanks 
First of all: wrong section
Second: Try the protostar. Plastic, $35, plays better than nearly all $50-$60 yoyos.
Uh sorry. That’s a problem every forum has
fixed 
Posts such as yours always leave me bewildered because to create an exhaustive list of all the throws available in your price range, and even some that are lower than $50 that IMO would be a step up from the Metal Zero would leave the typing fingers cramped. Every list someone would create would differ from the next persons opinion, some adamantly so.
Just within the Duncan family some of their introductions of this past year or so such as the Raptor
and Echo are excellent throws within your price range. I personally prefer Duncan’s plastic Freehand and FHZ over my Metal Zero, but maybe that’s just me. YYJ has some fantastic products such as Dark Magic II and their new Cerberus which are outstanding throws well under $60. YYF has the DV888 which I really like at around $45. Their plastic Protostar is certainly great yoyo well within your price bracket, better than many metals with larger price tags I believe. None of these are necessarily recommendations you understand, my point is for 50-60 bucks there is so MUCH to choose from. And the preceding is just my humble opinion. You just have to shop around and when you find something you think looks inviting make the leap of faith and go for it.
Now almost everything I just mentioned are unresponsive throws and that is certainly a step each player will need to take if they desire to progress in the sport. That said, if you currently don’t have much experience binding be prepared to work through the learning curve with patience, it can take a bit before you get the bind working smoothly for you. It is a skill each must master however, so the sooner you go to work on it the better.
I didn’t really know this would be such a big deal. I don’t want to spend $50 on a yo-yo when there may be a better choice around. Even just reccomendations as to someones favorite really helps me get a bearing on what to look for and why. Haha, thanks for the input though! It’ll definantly help.
As to the wrong forum, I don’t see the big deal of putting this in a general forum. That’s the definition of general after all…
if we had an idea of what your preferred specifications are we would be better able to direct you in your purchase. Like Banjo said there are so many to choose from in that range. So we need to know your prefs, i.e. size, metal/non metal, weight. These are all things that can better narrow down your search to something more compatible for you. So, make a list of what you want in a yoyo and we can go from there. Personally i would also recommend the Dark magic 2 for you. Its a great throw and gives you the ability to play responsive or unresponsive. Good luck!!
That’s the problem 
I don’t really know what my pref. is. Hehe. I would like something for string tricks mostly. Non-Responsive would probably be the best, so I can have something entirely new to try. Hum…
I don’t know the difference between plastic and metal, so either is fine.
I was looking at the Dark Magic II. It’s good to have someone’s opinion though. Thanks.
I love my Dark Magic two, but the northstar plays just as good if not better than the DMII and for a fraction of the price.
The Dm2 is a great starter. The Dv888 is also great. I think just get something. If you don’t know your preferences, how could you go wrong?
And then some. It is capable of going as far as you are able with it.
It was my starter, it’s still my favorite. The Speeder 2 just arrived today, and I immediately took out the slim bearing and put the YYJ Speed Bearing in. Stable, solid. Wow.
But, when I respond to someone wanting a yoyo, especially to someone who has been throwing as long as I have, is to try to go back a bit and remember where I was.
There are a few things we all need to know to be able to offer any sort of answer:
1: What do you have? Of what you have, what do you like or dislike.
2: Assuming string trick yoyos, are you into responsive or unresponsive play? Willing to learn to bind.
3: Similarly, length of time throwing and interests. String tricks vs. Looping mainly.
4: Budget.
Knowing what you have and budget can go a long way, which is the strongest part of how the OP started this whole thread. With a budget of $50-60. that allows for way too many choices. Having so many choices is great, but at the same time, trying to figure out what is best is really a shot in the dark. Short of some hands on time, you MUST rely on all us other virtual strangers to hopefully provide some sort of usable advice. Assuming $50-60 being TOP end, how much is shipping factored in? What about bulk strings? Lube? Response pads?
I recently got a Protostar off BST for a great price. Just got myself a Speeder 2. Both are great, both are under those prices even at a new price. There’s also decent metals in there, such as the dv888. The Northstar is another good yoyo I have my sights on getting, as is the dv888. If you’re into glowing, the Dienasty is another recent item I’ve gotten which feels good too. Then again, I’ve got a growing collection with yoyos ranging from very inexpensive to high-value items. I’ve even got a Metal Drifter, and one night I was too lazy to go upstairs to get it, so I threw it for a night and had a blast. I get a lot of enjoyment out of a YYF ONE as I do with a Gnarwal or even my DM2. Maybe it’s just my attitude or enthusiasm, or just my pure enjoyment of it, but the way I see it, no yo is a bad yo.
My collection is growing with a wide variety of shapes and weights, brands ad sizes. Variety is good, in fact essential. I will purposely just grab a yoyo and say “that’s what I’m using today” just to force myself to NOT get too used to anything. When you get a bigger collection, you’ll have the option to do that.
You’re taking a big step up. It’s going to be a tough decision. But, if it was me, this is my recommendation:
The Dark Magic II is heavily pushed on this site. Lots of people have it and lots of people like it. I have one, I love it. The main selling feature for me at the time was that it is responsive with the pre-installed slim bearing. When its time to move up, you replace the slim bearing with the included YYJ Speed Bearing and you’re ready for unresponsive play with a yoyo that has the capability to take you as far as you can possible go. For the price, it’s a fantastic deal. It’s on the bigger side of things and maybe it’s on the heavier side of things as well. It’s below your $50, but you can get a 100-count of 100% poly YYE strings, which I like. You can get some lube and ship it, but then you might be a bit over the $60 ceiling. I think it’s a better “starter” than a Speeder 2. It does inner ring grinds, thumb grinds, arm grinds, hand grinds and just about anything else you can think of doing that doesn’t require hubstacks.
For $50-60, you can get yourself into a LOT of trouble. Prepare for overload. Just don’t rush in.
Hum. That was a helpful post man. Just to answer your 4 questions at the top:
It’s fairly intimidating to buy one of these. It’s kind of expensive for me right now, so I don’t want to buy the “wrong one”. So yeah. And I didn’t really know where to start.
I just got some string, so I don’t think that’s needed at this moment. How important is lube? I’ve never used it on a yoyo before.
Thanks guys.
1: Yeah, the Audley, you might look at a Hong Kong site to get the model(PM me if you need a pointer for it). But, I won’t be traveling to Vietnam for at least a couple of years. If I don’t need to bring any yoyos with me, I can use that as an excuse to buy a few. Where in Vietnam? Saigon(HCM?)?
2: Opinion, but I like unresponsive a lot better, but I do have responsive yoyos to help see how “on” or "off I am. I’d say since you can bind, you can ignore some stuff and it’s up to you if you want to choose something like the Dark Magic II, which is still a great yoyo, just immediately remove the slim bearing and put in the YYJ Speed Bearing. I didn’t do that when I started because I got it like 3 weeks into yoyo’ing, but I’m binding fine now. Regarding the Speeder 2 I got, that one, the slim bearing came out before I even even threw the yoyo. I’d say for the yoyo itself, you can stay below $50 easily.
3: While we started at about the same time(me, mid-May 2011), you’re WAY past where I am. But that’s because of multiple factors. Some things I’m having issues with, I’m older(I bet) so it doesn’t come as easy, AND most importantly, I’ve had a serious lack of time to practice. But, if you’re hanging in advanced, you’re in an area where you can really feel free to pick and choose what you want based on budget.
4: Regarding your budget: I don’t think you’d need to change it by more than $5 tops, and that’s just to cover “misc” expenses, mainly shipping, which many people don’t factor in.
The dv888 seems to be well received ant at $45, is a good deal. I’ll be getting one in a couple of weeks, along with a Northstar if they have the colors I want in stock at the time.
I still recommend the DM2, but for $6 less, you can get a Protostar or Northstar, which are mostly plastic but play like a metal(so they say). I really like my DM2, I recommend it quite highly. But, there’s some good stuff in Buy/Sell/Trade, and I’m getting a custom FreeHandZero any day now, which at $30 for what was done to it, is CHEAP. It’s been custom painted, the bearing cleaned and had 2 silicone recesses made, plus a shmoove ring and has been said to be “smooth and dead unresponsive”. Considering a regular FreeHandZero runs anywhere from $18-23 retail, that’s not a bad yoyo on it’s own, but needs some “help” to be great.
Another option might be Aoda, which despite controversy there, seems to make some good stuff in my opinion, IF you don’t mind their slow shipping and taking their time getting to your order. While I have 3 Aodas, my preferences are for other brands. Don’t get me wrong, I like my Aoda throws, but I like other stuff a lot better.
Yet another option is buy/sell/trade, but the pickings are kind of slim right now in the “affordability” department. There’s some guys selling high end stuff at FAIR after-market prices. It is a good way to save money if you don’t mind previous ownership.
I hear you about being worried about buying the “wrong one”. But I’ve got so much variety right now, the “wrong one” hasn’t been found yet! I like them all so far!
I also get the “kinda expensive” issue. I mean, going from a Duncan Reflex and Imperial for less than $12 total, to a DM2… quite a jump. But once you see what you get for the money, you’ll understand. That’s really the only way I can justify it. You do get what you pay for. Then again, I have a Gnarwal, a BVM and some other CLYW throws, and other stuff in the $100 range and time and time again, I keep going back to the DM2. Of what I’ve gotten recently, the Code1 and Speeder 2 are the only ones giving the DM2 serious contention for that #1 position!
Lube is a matter of opinion. There’s the camp that says “clean your bearing, run it dry” and the camp that says “No, clean your bearing, but lube lightly”. Some bearings are meant to be run dry, such as the Terrapin X bearings, which I really like. Most of the rest, well, the truth is, if you lube them, it will slow them down a little, but the lube will help maintain the life of the bearing. A drop a month or so is all it generally takes. Bearings are fairly inexpensive, but not so inexpensive where I want to burn them up, but even then, to destroy a bearing by running it dry should take months, if not YEARS to really do that. As for what I do, I lube unless I am using Terrapin X Bearings. For you, YoYoJam thin lube is the best, or perhaps One Drop VM4 lube(which costs a little more). In general, the YYJ stuff is great. I got the VM4 since I have some One Drop yoyos(Markmont Next, Code 1, 54), so I want to stick with what the manufacturer says to use.
Some people don’t even bother to clean their bearings. Some people de-shield their bearings and never replace the shields. I de-shield my bearings to clean them, lightly lube, replace shields and clips and re-install the bearing into the yoyo.
Heh, I was in Vietnam on a study tour in June and our group was walking down the street back to our hotel and we passed a yo-yo compeition going on in a department store. I had to go back and buy one, you know. I could never find the model though. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Rex Hotel in central Saigon, but it was like a block from there. Heh.
I think I’ll end up getting the DMII. It’s bigger then the Metal Zero, so it’ll be a nice change. And changing between responsive and non-responsive will be really neat. I also like how it can let you go as far as you are able. Seems like the perfect choice for me.
Thanks for all your help man. I think I have a better idea of what everything is, haha. Now, I just need to know what kind of additions I should get (Strings, lube, etc.) I just bought 10 strings, so I think that’ll be enough. Would you recommend any other additions besides string?
It seems like you invested a lot in yoyos before you even knew if you’d end up liking the hobby haha. That’s pretty neat. What “level” are you on, so to speak?
Thanks again, really helped make up my mind.
I’ll ask a cousin of my wife(she’s Vietnamese and from Saigon, the cousin still lives there) when I see him in November(he’s visiting family relocated to near Disneyland) on my Disneyland trip if he’s familiar with the hotel. I might have him do some buys from me, which gives me an excuse to lay some extra cash in his hands anyways.
Well, for day job, I do data communications, but where I make my money is in professional entertainment services and media transfers, but mostly doing live sound concert production. I love what I do, but the gear is too big, heavy and expensive to have all that I really want, so I decided one day “yoyo, that’s what I’m gonna do” and was serious about it. I figured, Duncan Reflex and Imperial, good start. If I like, then buy more. I liked, I bought more. Bought some cheap stuff, some good stuff, then earlier this month did some big spending, mostly off BST(buy/sell/trade). Good deals! But, I’d still rather do audio production all the time as I really love it. The break due to yoyo is a welcome diversion.
OK, additions:
I cleaned my bearings using mineral solvents(commonly available), and then a drop of YYJ thin lube. Regardless of what you get, the bearing WILL need to be broken in, which is a good excuse to burn up the string that comes with the DM2, which isn’t a bad string by the way. So, my suggestion would be a vial of the YoYoJam THIN lube, and maybe 1 or 2 sets of response pads, or you can use flowable silicone, which I hear the DM2 is compatible with.
Regarding strings, hey, buy in bulk. 100 cotton strings is the same price as white Slick6’s, and the same price as 100% poly in white. 10 strings won’t last long. I have bought 100 cottons, which now my kids use. I bought 100 Slick6, which are a good string. I’ve recently bought 100 white 100% polys and 100 neon green 100% polys. I like the neon green better, NOT from a performance perspective, but from the sight perspective as I can SEE it easier. Not that my eyes are bad, mind you, I do wear glasses for my near-sightedness, but I find I just can see what’s going on better. The colored strings cost a tiny bit more.
Also, some people burn through strings faster than others. MORE is always better.
Here’s my logic. The DM2 cost around $40.80. 100 count of 100% poly in neon green is going to run you $12.99. YYJ Thin Lube will run you $5 and a set of response pads will run you $3. We’re at almost $62, and estimate shipping at $6, which puts you over budget. But to save money, a neon green 25-pack of 100% poly will run you $4.99, and when you do the math, at 75 strings, you’ve bought a 100-count, so why not just spend more now, and since you won’t have to buy for a while, you don’t have to pay for shipping for string. That’s my logic. I order bulk string on every order just to stock up, even if I don’t need it.
Oh, feel free to substitute any color of string. If you choose 100% poly in white, subtract $2 from the 100-count price. Also, your response pads will last you months, so maybe drop that $3 off your order. Now we’re back in the $63 neighborhood. Shipped. Otherwise, we’re closer to $70 shipped. If you want, you can drop the lube off your order, but I don’t recommend that route. You can use sewing machine oil or trumpet valve oil instead, but you’ll end up spending around the same anyways, so might as well get it here.
You can always watch a video on how to use flowable silicone, and get a tube either here at YYE or at an auto parts store, which no disrespect to YYE intended, its a bit less expensive at the auto parts store and you avoid shipping and can do it on your own schedule.
So, trying to hit your budget might be difficult.
OK, my level:
Keep in mind I started with an hour of practice a day with a neck injury pinching a nerve running down my right arm. My doctors said “knock it off”. So I did, and then went back, and then had to stop again to rest up for some events, and then have been slammed between that event and now, so throwing was pretty much non-existant. So, I’ve been throwing since May 12th(I have the receipt!), but haven’t had much practice, so right now, I’m kinda sorta stuck between drop in the bucket(trouble with this but have done it) and double or nothing(getting smoother every day). For the time I’ve been able to put in, it’s not too bad. Considering I went down from an hour a day to an hour a week, to a few weeks with NOTHING at times. Buying all these yoyos has given me an excuse to throw more.
There’s another question haha. What exactly do response pads do? Actually, I don’t even know which to get.
The Rex is right in downtown Saigon. There’s a really large building with lights all over the tip top near it, it’s the tallest building in the city. It’s right around that area. It was a cheap yoyo, maybe about 13 bucks (like 200,000 dong) but the guy selling them was trying to close so I had to just pick one and run out so I don’t know the quality of all of them haha.
Double or nothing will eventully happen even if you don’t do anything. It just seems to do it naturally haha. I still have issues with drop in the bucket, it always seems to land on the outside string :<.
The real challenge comes with the one and a half mount needed for the roller-coaster and Buddha’s Revenge. That’ll take quite a bit of energy to almost “unlearn” Double or Nothing since you have to land the string in a different place.
I meant to say "Double or nothing will eventully happen when you throw it as if you didn’t do anything. It’ll become second nature I guess.
Hang in there! You will get it. A good way to practice the 1.5 mount is to learn the And Whut? trick. It has a 1.5 mount right in the middle and it isn’t going as fast so its easier to land it.
Good choice with the DMII. You really can’t go wrong.
Response pads are the little rubber/silicone rings/pads/discs inside the yoyo. The string rubs against those to bring the yoyo back up, or on the way down the unwinding helps to great spin. They are super important.
Shops in Vietnam seem to close early, open late, run sloppy. Every downstairs in Saigon is apparently a shop of some sorts. The cousin of my wife’s I mentioned earlier… well, they are running a shop of some sorts from what COULD theoretically be a garage for a single car(and they have some scooters, which are the Vietnamese version of the SUV).
I hear mixed things about Audley, but mostly good stuff.
I think I’ve seen the Rex then. It’s right near this big traffic circle where people drive through slowly blasting their horns the whole time, right?
Right now I’m not worried about Double or Nothing. I CAN do it, just not as consistently as I’d like. I just need more practice. Drop in the bucket is having a hard time landing on the right string, but I notice it’s mostly my throw is the issue because if it isn’t perfectly straight, I have issues. I usually end up having it spin out on me, which is odd because on other side tricks, I have no issues, but then again, they are shorter, but I’m still averaging well over a minute on sleep times. Just more practice.