Question on John Ando and Paul Han's choice of Northstars

General Yo-Yo
1

When the Protostar came out, both John Ando and Paul Han were featured in the promotional video of this amazing new throw (and it seemed to suit their style of fast paced 1A yoyo play, with this throw being the signature throw of John Ando), and Paul Han used it many a time in some of his earlier videos.

But last year, Paul Han used a Northstar in his 2011 Worlds prelim performance (when the string snapped and hit one of the judges) and also used it in one or two of his other videos. And recently, John Ando has approved and adopted of the Northstar (in the form of the Shaqlerstar for team Shaqler) as the representative throw for his team instead of his signature throw, the Protostar!

My question to you guys is what do you THINK the reason for two of these amazing players to shift from the Protostar (which is lighter than the Northstar hence plays faster and floatier; and seemed to suit their style of fast play) to the Northstar (which is heavier than the Protostar hence plays slower and is more stable) is?

Your opinions are encouraged and will be acknowledged. Thanks.

2

Id say due to preference changes.

or perhaps because i feel since the Northstar has more Mass
and well, if you have a lot of nerves, and you play faster than you normal pace
a heavier throw, would slow you down a bit.

but who knows? these are just Theorys

3

Maybe it is a marketing strategy?

Sent from Ice Cream Sandwich Eatinā€™ Optimus V

4

I donā€™t think so. I think itā€™s just preference change.

5

Preference.

6

My guess is due to preference changes. As players, we all evolve. For me, I do have preferences, but I play anything I got, even if itā€™s way outside my preferred preferences.

The Protostar is lighter and faster, so more flash and wow. The Northstar(whatever) can also be pushed fast and it will respond, but itā€™s heavier and prefers not to be used at breakneck speed all the time, allowing for a bit more reaction and focus on tech.

I have both. Itā€™s nice to be able to change depending what I feel like at any given point in time. Both are great yoyos. The advantage of having both is you retain the same shape and throw, but get different performance characteristics. Both are excellent and both have a rightful place where they are.

So, I think heā€™s changing up from speed play to a still fast style but with a bit more tech, which requires play to be a touch slower.

Having both a Protostar and a Northstar, I have no desire to get the new ShaqlStar or the new Champions Protostar, but thatā€™s because they arenā€™t needed for me. Iā€™d say if you donā€™t have one or the other and want something a bit ā€œspecialā€, these latest ones would be great to have.

1 Like
7

Preferences. Paul had once said in his Facebook that Protostars are one of his favorite yoyos and Northstars are in the same place.
Plus, itā€™s a yoyofactory product. And they are sponsored to promote those yoyos.
Nevermind, Iā€™m not making sense.

Though itā€™s quite amazing how 2 or so gram difference in weight made a huge difference on two almost identical yoyos.

Chris, it is worth mentioning that I was told by someone from YYF that the molds in the ShaqlerStar was tweaked to prevent the cracking evident on the earlier Northstar runs. It feels more ā€˜solidā€™ than the previous Northstar runs because of that.