Damage was never a problem, i have my beaters(dv888,bounty hunter) both great but i grab my bounty hunter more. it has scuffs that were there before I added a kk bearing and it plays very well. some damage won’t hurt anyone(hopefully)
Dings still bug me big time, but I try not to let them get to me too much. I JUST bought (about 4 hours ago) a brand new Crucial All You Can Eat and it’s already scratched up 
what’re ya gonna do? I love yoyoing!
I always prefer mint throws, even when most of mine aren’t. There’s something about mint yoyos that just makes the inner perfectionist in me happy as heck.
That being said, I do have designated beaters, but I prefer my throws mint.
It’s like collecting old records. Played and worn records have “love marks” on them from being played so much, but I’d much rather have an almost unplayed copy of an old vinyl release.
My 1979 copy of Unknown Pleasures is not in the perfect playing condition (lots of fuzzy noise), and it bothers me. I’m getting really sidetracked here, so I’ll stop.
Records are a perfect analogy, you want to play them but still keep them in as good of quality as possible. A giant scratch across a record is not normal wear, that is carelessness. Just like a giant ding in a yoyo isn’t normal wear, it’s carelessness.
The analogy isn’t bad, but the interpretation of it is flawed.
So, where the analogy is actually appropriate is here: when vinyl was a commodity item rather than a collector’s item, some small scratches (that didn’t cause skipping, ideally) and dust WERE considered normal wear and tear. People didn’t baby their records; they got fingerprints on them, threw them into commodity record players with less-than audiophile-quality needles, etc. You could actually wear out a record and it would be considered normal and a sign of love that you actually listened to the album.
“Man, I listened to Dark Side of the Moon so many times, I wore it out at least twice!”
So the analogy fits: just as there are record collectors who absolutely must have (and quest for!) copies in perfect condition, there is room in the yoyo community for collectors who want pristine copies of certain yoyos. Nothing inherently wrong with that approach to the hobby. But most of us who remember records weren’t collectors. They were just ways to play back the music we loved, and they sometimes got damaged or worn out.
Things start to diverge, though. Whereas you can (and many people do) make a pristine digital copy of your vinyl for listening purposes, you can’t just clone a yoyo. So, vinyl collectors can g’head and make a copy then put their precious albums safely in dust jackets and never touch them, but still enjoy the music. Not so with yoyos. You can either put them in a dust jacket and lock them away somewhere (which is fine!)… or you can play them.
Where the interpretation (not the analogy itself) is especially flawed is in the extension of it. A ding in a yoyo does NOT affect play the way a huge scratch would affect playback. I think those of us in the “it’s meant to be played” camp would agree that smashing your yoyo so badly that it can’t play isn’t something we’d ever aspire to. 
It’s also not necessarily carelessness. How many of us old enough to have HAD commodity albums got accidental scratches from people slamming doors elsewhere in the house? Or bumping into the player while dancing? Damage isn’t always recklessness or carelessness. As Links said, you can throw over carpet or grass if you want (and I do!), but as long as you want to actually PLAY your yoyos, there’s no guarantee.
Anyhow… thousands of players can attest to scuffs and scratches being a “normal” part of wear and tear… it’s not just carelessness.
As for me, I’d rather play my records yoyos rather than put them in a dust jacket. Cause when I want to play with a particular throw, a plastic or any other throw (beater or otherwise) just isn’t the same. Playing my Classic is no substitute for playing my El Ranchero.
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Yeah, sure. I see what you’re saying. I only find it very bad when you get a yo-yo that is in a condition that was not as described. Now that’s a different story.
Glad to see someone is filling Studio42’s spot, Greg.
No doubt there.
I would recommend not throwing them into a display case. When they reach the bottom, they will most likely shatter the expensive custom-cut crystal panes. Instead, place them gently on a velvet pillow within the case and then, keep them in a dark, temperature-controlled, environment to maintain moisture and light exposure.
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Haha! Not even close. However, I’m a good touch-typist (140 wpm on a good day), so that causes me to write essays a bit…
I collect yoyos, at least some yoyos, just as much to collect them as to play them. But, even if I’m buying to play, I buy mint. Reason? Mainly, I can afford to.
Secondly, because once a yoyo gets some love marks I have no clue what actually happened to that yoyo and I don’t know for sure if it would affect play. When someone can get away with “some marks” as a description, that pretty much invalidates virtually any complaint I’d have about condition or wear because there’s just about no way to objectively describe a yoyo like that. I don’t even want to deal with it.
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I just think it’s annoying that there is some stigma associated with keeping your throws mint. People like to bark up your tree trying to make claims like “You don’t seriously yoyo if you try to keep them mint”… or “You won’t make any progress caring about your yoyo’s condition”.
I get the same annoyance when people try to say they hate completely smooth yoyo’s. They say they prefer them with vibe so they can tell when the yoyo is running out of spin, or that it feels dead on the string. So they will then sometimes go as far as inducing vibe into their yoyo (yes, seriously… join the chat they talk about doing it lol).
The way I see it, if you really can’t tell if your yoyo is almost out of spin (smooth or not) you should probaby buy a light up or something, so you can have a visual implication of when the yoyo is about to die (the lights shut off lol). This will probably get you well practiced in the art of identifying when your yoyo is about out of spin :
Sorry kind of offtopic, but I figure we should address this now anyway…
And on the point of vibe, I think it’s funny how people can justify spending $100+ on a yoyo that vibes. IMO, if you’re spending such a great deal of money on a yoyo (in means of someone making a profit) then it should atleast be a flawless product.
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I get what you’re saying, but there are assumptions being made. The word “try” implies that those of us more on the “whatever” side of things don’t make any efforts. Hey, I don’t WANT dings. In that sense, I do “try” to keep them mint. When I hit the tile floor, my face goes “SKWONK!” and my wife asks “Sssssss… yow… how was that one?”
The difference is, I look at the ding, acquired while having some fun in the kitchen (because that’s where the rest of my family is… I’m not going down into the basement just to play yoyo by myself when I could be talking to my wife and son instead) and say “Ehhh… nothing I can’t live with.”
I also wouldn’t think somebody’s “not serious” about yoyoing if they’re obsessed with yoyo condition. Quite the opposite. I would think that are “TOO serious” about what is essentially a hands-on toy. Maybe there’s some air of superiority in there somewhere… I have to admit, I do feel a bit like I have the “healthier” (and funner) perspective, and it would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. Given the choice between easy-going and stressed, I’ll pick easy-going every time. But then, there’s an air of superiority over in the other camp, too, though… so on the whole, it’s a wash.
I do think that collecting is a perfectly valid way to participate in the hobby. I just think that if that’s really what you’re about, you should indeed have a velvet pillow for each yoyo! This is another path to “easy going”. No stress involved in making nice displays for your collection, showing the items off in their best light, and adding new and increasingly rare pieces. Rather satisfying, I would imagine.
However, too many people want to be “serious collectors” and yet also play with the yoyos. You can’t truly have it both ways, even though you can (and people do) sure try… the proof is in the “stressed out” feelings we’ve heard described. These people wouldn’t be stressed out if they committed to collecting and left them in the case. The middle ground that people are trying to navigate is, “I want my yoyos mint, but I still want to play with them.” It’s just a recipe for heartbreak!
I suspect that when push comes to shove, most of the “mint yoyo” players are slightly happier with playing than pure collecting. When you slip that string on and think, “Man, I love playing yoyo!” that should be the hint for where priorities should lie. And if your priority leans even slightly towards “have fun with this toy that I bought,” you owe it to yourself to stress a bit less about the condition of the yoyo.
As for this “carpet” thing… how many of us watch videos by Coleman, Adam Brewster, Bisagata, or any number of other people with great videos, and feel inspired by them? All of us? The most inspiring of those videos are filmed out of doors. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a yoyo video filmed “only on carpeting” and have been motivated by it.
Anyhow… I’m rambling again. Night!
Just thought I’d throw this out there too;
I don’t really get stressed (or necessarily exert extra effort) about “the act of” trying to keep my yoyo’s mint. I just have a certain finesse and care about my style that I’ve developed.
That being said… Do my yoyo’s hit the floor? Yes, all the time.
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No yoyo I own will be mint… after i’ve had it for 24 hours
that being said… i’ve been lurking in the BST’s for the past couple of day’s … you guys sell used/dinged/vibey yoyo’s for so cheap…
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These types of threads come up fairly often. Most of my yo-yos will remain mint as collectors, but I have a case full of yo-yos that I can beat up if I want. I have the best of both worlds in that sense. Having said that, I do not want to buy anyone’s damaged yo-yo. I like to see how something looks and performs in “new” condition. If I damage it myself after that, so be it, but I would know what it was like new before it happened. Also, whether I pay $100 for something or $5 for something, there is no way that I would do anything to willfully or recklessly damage anything that I own. If it happens “accidentally,” I’m fine with that. But, I’m not into just creating damage on purpose “just because.” I take good care of my things…all things.
As it relates to the BST, I am usually after yo-yos that are no longer available. So, I am still only interested in mint condition if I buy off the BST. Even if I decide to turn the yo-yo into a beater, it makes a difference to me if I beat it up after seeing it pristine, rather than someone else beating it up, and I never saw it pristine. I prefer the former way over the latter. Plus, it makes a big difference how much damage a yo-yo has, because I want to negotiate the price according to the level of damage. If people are vague about the damage, and I accept it, I may end up overpaying. I only want mint yo-yos off the BST. Once you open the door to allow damage, the description of that damage often gets vague.
I agree in most cases. I will although trust a person whom I have traded with as to damage affecting play. I grabbed a chief for $75 because had a ding and besides it being noticeable on a palm grind plays magnificent. I am accepting of dings, nicks and scratches. I will tap them with my wedding ring or “launch them” into my tin ceilings or my toddler may get them (currently wailing on my Adegle Asteroid). Most of these throws never find their way on to the BST as I will own them indefinitely. I can’t stand the vague descriptions… Mint couple of dings or “nonmint” honest trading makes for awesome trading. I am amongst a potential trade right now that has the smallest scratch (the size of a lower case L on my iPhone) and I have disclosed it as I feel anyone should.
I don’t own a mint yoyo. Most of my yoyo’s only have 1 or 2 dings, however I do have a few yoyos with plenty of dings, such as my Raptor and N5. I also yoyo over carpet/tile/concrete/whatever. If you are playing right, your yoyo shouldn’t hit the ground (Unless that’s part of your trick). Most of my dings come from my belt. Why should it matter? It’s going to get used.