Since the Made in USA thread at this point has basically just gone in circles over and over, eventually cycling back to OneDrop, I figured I’d make a thread because it seems like there’s at least a sizeable side of the community that has some issue with OneDrop and to have a conversation that we’re having anyways-- just in a spot where it can be relevant to a topic that’s actually been made for this purpose.
I’m not making this thread to cause drama, but I think it’s time someone at least focused on the issue in one thread that brings attention to an issue we see as an issue. Where we can list out the problems we have and really honestly address them. THIS IS NOT A HIT PIECE. THIS IS NOT A DRAMA PIECE. OneDrop is NOT problematic, rude, outrageous, or in any way harmful. It just sucks that I as a consumer cannot consider them as an option anymore.
I grew up loving OneDrop. As a kid, I used to check yoyoexpert’s site, (other competitor)‘s site, and individual companies’ sites like OneDrop just to see if anything new that I’d like was coming. I used to love OneDrop designs and would never pass them up on the thought “Oh they’re OneDrop, they just don’t make things I like” so understand I’m not some OneDrop hater. Some of OneDrop’s designs are some of my favorite yoyos. I love the Rally, Rebirth, Kuntosh, Rev1, Sugar Glider, and Gradient.
So then, what’s the issue?
Well, there are several. Please be sure to thoroughly read through these. For reference: these are the most common issues I see get brought up about OneDrop across several areas of community discussion as well as my own.
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Oversaturation/Fatigue of the same yoyo
Everywhere OD Discourse goes, people are tired of the constant re-releases of the same yoyos. Fat Tires, Deep States, Deeper States, etc. have all seen far more attention for re-releases than most other OD Yoyos. While these yoyos are quirky and have appeal, the fact of the matter is that the market as a whole does not need the saturation of yoyos like these that we have gotten. Several brands release quirky, silly, and or different yoyos at least once a year, most often at least a couple times a year. I.e. CLYW with the Minitee, Sasquatch, and Ditch; JT Toddler LinkX, and the very recent Atmos release the Cephas. OneDrop could very easily be running more standard yoyos just as much as these but they just choose not to. Which leads me to my next point. -
Oversaturation/Fatigue of Quirkiness
OneDrop is overemphasizing designs that have some sort of design quirk or gimmick. Of the past 5 releases (Still Rollin’, The Wizard, Fat Tire 2020, Reboot, Wyvern) only one of them has some sort of “standard” design silhouette; that being the Wyvern. Now you can point out that these are only five yoyos, but these are five yoyos released over the span of about 9 months. If we go to the last 10 yoyos, that being yoyos released since October of 2021 (list before + Kamuraiju, Thorn, T1 2020, Diorama, Aitch) that only increases the “standard design group” by 1, with the addition of the Thorn. To a margin of 10 total yoyos released over the course of just under two years. Quirky releases are fun, they’re there to break the monotony. But, OneDrop has gotten to the point where standard releases are a minority over the course of YEARS of releases. This is made even worse by the fact that these “standard releases” are almost never truly performant yoyos. This leads me to the 3rd point. -
A Performant Yoyo
Taking releases since the beginning of 2020, OneDrop has released 21 different yoyos. Of these 21 yoyos, I’d consider maybe 3-4 of them to be “performant” in 2023 (and to be frank, this is being generous). Simply put: OneDrop just isn’t making adequately performant yoyos. This is despite having a long-standing reputation as being a company that makes performant yoyos. OneDrop hasn’t always been the company they are today. Yoyos like the Valor, Rally, Code 2, and Format: C still stand as modern examples of “performant” yoyos, despite being made, in some cases, 10 years ago. This is part of the issue. If you want a performant yoyo from OneDrop, you have to hunt one down. Most of the time it’s a yoyo either a decade old or nearly a decade old. Never mind yoyos that were considered performant for the time, but eventually just got outdated like the Summit, Benchmark Series, and Gradient. OneDrop’s current image as an oddly collector-oriented quirky-yoyo brand is a new thing. They’re not some small brand that’s specialized in being odd exclusively. They’re a large, established brand that had a very large selection of normal to quirky options (at least several years ago). Other brands of OneDrops size can say they’ve almost always had a fresh, new, performant option to offer. Which leads me to my next point. -
A Performant Yoyo for 2023
I’m gonna narrow the scope from before even more. Maybe this sounds unfair, maybe it seems like I only want one kind of yoyo from OneDrop, but that’s not so. The category of a “performant yoyo for 2023” is a very broad category that is easily achievable with the amount of knowledge and expertise OneDrop has. Yoyos like the MK1 Diffraction, SF Movement, UNPRLD Recog, and JT Jugemu leave stuff like the Wyvern and T1 2020 in the dust in regards to performance in 2023. There is absolutely 0 reason to purchase a yoyo if you’re looking for objective performance from OneDrop in 2023 because they have nothing that could compete in this category. I can’t argue that I want one kind of yoyo from OneDrop because they just haven’t released a single yoyo of this kind. OneDrop has the means to make something wide and rim weighted, they have the means to make it a banger, and they’ve had the means now for years. They simply refuse because they know there’s a base that will always buy their yoyos, regardless of performance. This is despite the fact that a performant yoyo in 2023 wouldn’t even strictly be for “competitive” use. It’d just be a yoyo that can adequately pull off and execute the modern 2023 trickset. To the fifth point. -
The Competitor vs. the Casual vs. the Collector
Yoyoing is a hobby built by several facets and subgroupings of individuals. It’s built by collectors, competitors, beginners, veterans, and everyone in between. OneDrop is basically only making yoyos for collectors right now. While it’s great to appeal to collectors, collectors aren’t the lifeblood of this community. We can argue numbers all we want, but a yoyo with broader appeal will always inevitably sell better than something like the Fat Tire, which exclusively appeals to people who just want something wildly different from the “norm” (which in and of itself is a bad argument that neglects so many tiny details about yoyo design, play, and play feel that I’m not even going to get into right now). OneDrop is entitled to its identity as a “casual” brand, but I’d argue that after a certain point, OneDrop is ostracizing a sizeable portion of the community with this label and their refusal to even try to compete anymore. To an extent, they’re not just ignoring the competitive scene anymore, they’re ignoring the part of yoyoing that simply just likes adequately performant yoyos. Not even strictly competitors, just yoyoers that have a preference towards and tend to enjoy yoyos with performant qualities. Half the reason they don’t have appeal to people who want a “performant” yoyo is because they’re just not really trying anymore.
What can be done about any of these?
Solution to 1: Shake up releases. I recognize a cash flow is needed, but there are other yoyos people want. Bring old stuff that people would love out of the vault and give it a re-release like the TopDeck. TopDeck absolutely popped off when it got re-released. Yoyo history and nostalgia are trendy right now, capitalize on it. Go through the old CAD file folder and find some stuff to split up the Terrarians, Fat Tires, and Deepstate releases.
Solution to 2: Stagger weird releases more in tandem with re-releasing old stuff. Give us small releases of Gradients, VTWOs, Virtuosos, etc. spliced with the odd fat tire run so people have the “quirky” option and the “standard” option.
Solution to 3, 4, and 5: MAKE A PERFORMANT YOYO. Do some market research and design analysis of other trendy current performant yoyos (Protip; wide and rim weighted) design one, test it, and release it. If necessary, even reach out to designers who have experience designing these sorts of yoyos to really make something great. ONE yoyo can fix so many of these problems. The Wyvern was a step in the right direction, we just need MORE, a bit better execution, and a full emphasis on performance and competition. This could be a great time to make a Format: C 2023. A performant yoyo with side effects hasn’t been done since 2017 so clearly, there’s a big enough gap in the market to do that as well. Maybe it’s time to make a Code 3 perhaps?
But why does it matter? If they sell yoyos and make money, who really cares?
Simple: In 2023 OneDrop is falling behind. If a consumer wants a competitively oriented or “performant” yoyo, it’s genuinely to the point where they’re arguably just not considered.
Just to emphasize again: THIS IS NOT A HIT PIECE. THIS IS NOT A DRAMA PIECE. OneDrop is NOT problematic, rude, outrageous, or in any way harmful. It just sucks that I as a consumer cannot consider them as an option anymore.
Time to discuss this in one thread.
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besides, if you read the thread I very clearly clarify that OD isn’t evil, bad, malicious, etc. Nothing wrong with centralizing a discussion people seem to want to have anyways.