Re-Newbie! Questions + Order

Yo-Yo Reviews Looking for Help/Recommendation
1

howdy all. I was in to yoyos back in 1998 till about 2002. i had plenty of Duncan, but my fave was my Team Losi Cherry Bomb (had 2). i also tried my friends Plamax Turbo BumbleBee… it was beyond awesome. solid, good weight, long sleep. So i am not a newbie, more like… a Re-Newbie lol

cut to November 2013, out of nowhere, i thought (i want a yoyo again). then i found out that yoyos kept evolving lol Thanks to yoyoExpert and youtube, i have learned a lot about all the new stuff, but i still don’t know much.

first yoyo i got was last month. i wanted to try a metal yoyo (back in like 2000, there were a few metal yoyos, but i remember they were like $100+) I wanted my first Metal yoyo to be a DV888, but it wasn’t in my budget (college). so i looked up some reviews and got a $15 metal yoyo off Amazon when i was getting stuff for school anways, just to tack it on to my order.

It was a Magic yoyo N9.

…It sucks. especially on someone who had never heard of/done a bind. it sleeps like 25seconds, and is WAY off balance. the thing bobbles.

So i thought back to my friends bumble bee, thought i would track one down. turns out Duncan makes them now. i got one (again from amazon), and it wasn’t how i remembered. kind of light, and sleeps about 30ish seconds. wasn’t even the black/yellow i ordered. it was green lol. it is only $10, but it isn’t like i remember my friends. (i think the Turbo BumbleBee back then was like$20-$30?)

i may try and track down an original Bumble Bee, just to compare, see if maybe it is better, or if my 11 year old self was just uber impressed with it.

so, now i find myself coming into new monies. first things first, i wont be buying yoyos off amazon again, i intend to use YoYoExpert Exclusively.

I’m looking at getting:

loop 1080 + SLick 6 50/50 strings (for learning looping/responsive)
Hubstack Afterglow + Polyester strings + extra set of white pads (for learning unresponsive and binds)

i also wanted to get a good bearing for the Hubstack Afterglow. im just tired of 25-40 second sleepers lol never played anything better really. I was looking into Ceramic, but im not sure im comfortable with those prices at my current level.

so i was looking at the Center Track Type X 10-ball, AND the Twisted Trifecta. i might also be interested in getting a bearing that will make my Hubstack Afterglow responsive, like the normal Hubstack is (Which i haven’t seen on sale here yet).

so, my questions are…

  1. are the Center Track BEarings different from the ones YoYoFactory uses, and, would i see an improvement with either of bearings i was interested in over the stock YYF in the Hubstack?

  2. what bearing would i get if i wanted to make the Hubstack Afterglow responsive? is it the ‘YYF SPEC BEaring HAlf’?

  3. are the strings i chose good for the corresponding yoyo i chose them for?

sorry, for the long intro, it is my first post, so i just wanted to tell my experiences. lol any help would be GREATLY APPRICIATED.

2

Welcome aboard!

I quite like a long detailed post. Gives us more information to help give you the best advice =) Anyway, to answer your questions:

  1. Yoyo Factory (usually shortened to just YYF) yoyos using size C bearings (more or less the industry standard these days for unresponsive yoyos) usually come with either the flat SPEC bearing or the centre trac (the product listing will usually say, if it just says “size C bearing”, odds are it’s the flat). The whole, “which bearing is better” debate pops up every so often around here and can get quite heated. Some people insist that the flat bearings are better, while others favour shaped bearings like the centre trac. Personally, I slightly prefer the feel of the centre trac but as far as spin times go, you probably won’t notice a huge difference. Best way to improve spin times is, like pretty much improving everything else in yoyoing, through practice. Don’t worry too much about getting crazy long spin times. If you can get it to spin for around a minute, you can get through pretty much any trick with plenty of spin left to bind.

  2. Not entirely sure if the Hubstack Afterglow will take a half-spec bearing, but if it does, then yes that would make it tug responsive. Wouldn’t nearly responsive enough for looping style tricks but it would be responsive enough that you wouldn’t need to bind to return it.

  3. Sounds like you’ve done your homework on the strings. They’ll do just fine for what you plan on using them for.

Hope that helps!

Yuki

3

The n9 is a pretty good yoyo. Once u work on ur throw and learn to bind u will like it I’m sure.

4

If you want the yoyo to be responsive, just lube the bearing. No need to replace it. A shot of sewing machine or 3-in-1 will do the trick.

5

thanks a bunch yuki!!! well, i know that the normal Hubstack (the non-LED/Glow one) is responsive, and it has a half bearing that makes it responsive. i would ASSUME that the normal and after glow have the same dimensions/molds, just one has LEDs. but i just wanted to make sure.

idk, jbritter3, maybe mine is a bootleg or something, because it is beyond wobbly.

jhb8426. well, i would prefer another bearing so that i can keep the original for unresponsive.
plus, i would like to try some weird hubstack/responsive stuff.

but i just have to have the Afterglow version XD (which only comes unresponsive)

6

there’s no bootlegs of the n9 as far as I know, some people consider that whole brand itself a bootleg, but regardless if shouldn’t wobble like that unless that’s the way you threw it. When it’s at the bottom of the string see if it evens out by touching your finger nail to it.

7

yeah, that did smooth it out. and i can get pretty smooth throws from time to time. i assume my throw is my problem XD

8

ding ding ding, not the throw, its the throw, lol get it? nevermind anyways yeah it’ll work just fine once you get consistent good throws.

9

lol, i get it. but it still doesn’t sleep very long. and i have no clue how to take the bearing out XD

10

The stacks on the N9 will contribute to noise and wobbliness… you can also remove those if you aren’t useing them for tricks.

11

the stacks will slow it down, you can take those off or just throw harder lol

and the center bearing? just unscrew the yoyo and it should just pop off or you may need to use pliers, just be careful lol

12

The Hubstack Afterglow will take a half spec. Are you aware that the only difference is that it glows in the dark? Both have the fancy lights though.

A ceramic bearing isn’t necessary. For a beginner, if you wanted a profiled bearing, a CT might not do the trick. It makes a very slight difference designed for competition level play. Look into Concave bearings, they will help more.

The Hubstack is a good beginner choice. Be warned though, it’s LOUD.

13

The hubstack afterglow is pretty light and has a good amount of centerweight so if you’re having problems getting a good sleeper out of the N9 the afterglow is going to perform worse most likely.

Take it you got a dragonfly. I personally dislike this throw but I can hit plenty of combos with it pretty easily without losing sleep time. It was great for it’s time but is outdated. I have an OG TBBBGT and it still plays poorly compared to current yoyos.

Best responsive throw in my opinion is the yoyojam classic and it’s a pretty fun little yoyo to play with since it has a fairly updated design.

Your string choices are good though and the 1080 is awesome for 2a but is pretty fast since it’s competition oriented. If you’re getting a centertrack just buy a gacek edition one. It comes with a centertrack and a slim bearing for $10. The speedaholic is a better unresponsive yoyo but is going to be difficult to throw like the N9 since they’re wide and run with low walls. This is a popular design since it makes horizontal style much easier and allows for faster play but sacrifices stability that beginners want. That wobble is more noticeable on these since your throw isn’t very good. A yoyo with lots of rim weight and is thinner would make things easier along with higher walls.

14

first thing i did when i got the N9 was take the stacks off XD

actually, nardcopter, i think you may be wrong about the Hubstack. not only have news sites/other stores made no mention of the regular Hubstack having LEDs (in fact, they specifically note that is does NOT have LEDs), the packaging doesn’t state it:

nor does it light up in the official YYF video:

i never played the GT (isn’t that the butterfly version?) just the Turbo BumbleBee. and no, i didn’t get a dragonfly, i got a duncan bumble bee (unless they are the same thing, just rebranded?)

thanks for all the info guys. still haven’t decided on a bearing (other then a YYF half size C), but im set on the yoyos/strings. ill look into the koncave, but till then, i still have the Center Track X 10-ball in my cart lol. i won’t be placing my order till the 27th, so i have some time :stuck_out_tongue:

15

i’d go with the concave if I were you, that’s my personal fav.

16

The dragonfly is just a rebranded TBBGT which was the butterfly bumblebee

Totally forgot about the normal bumblebee

17

lol. yeah, the OG/Duncan noraml BBs are the only i have used.

hmm… konkave you say? i will look into them. pretty expensive. (well… not that much more then a 10-ball center track lol).

18

You can clean it when you’re ready for unresponsive play.

19

i would rather just buy a half size bearing. i may want to swip-swap multiple times in one day!!!

20

Is it just me, or is the text on the packaging so hilariously outrageous!?!?

Feel The Gyroscopic Power!
Spins Up To 10,000 RPM!
3 bearings for longer spins! (VERY misleading.)

Funny!