We had a few discussions here about undersized yo-yos, but none recently. So let’s bring this up to date for 2018 – what are your recommended undersized yo-yos, and why?
In my humble opinion, conceptually there are three tiers of “undersized” based on diameter:
REALLY tiny, made entirely of very heavy metals like stainless steel or brass. 25mm-30mm diameter or less. This is getting into serious novelty throw territory. Examples: Heist, Flea, Aoda Little.
Undersize, 31mm-49mm diameter – to me, this is “mainstream” undersized today. Tons of examples, C3 Token, TopYo Photon, Mini-Star 2.
Moderately undersize, basically a 2010 idea of diameter and width, more of a “throwback” design – as yo-yos clearly have been getting bigger over time, both in diameter and width. 50mm-53mm diameter. Examples are Veritas Pro, Hexada, Anti-Yo, 888, Marquis.
Here’s a picture of representative family members in each tier:
I’d say the typical / average diameter of a yo-yo today is “Shutter diameter” or 56mm, but sometimes even more. The Horizon is 59mm.
In terms of stability, masamini and it’s not even close.
Too narrow though so in terms of competition undersized Id probably go with the YYR Messiah, I’ve heard the Six is much better by many though but I’ve never tried it myself.
Our “best bimetal” topic got me thinking about this. You can make a strong case that due to the severe size limitations of undersize, bimetal undersize yo-yos are gonna be the winners in all cases because physics – there’s only so much weight you can squeeze into that many millimeters of aluminum!
This is also why I concur that the Mini-Star 2 is one of the best undersize throws, if you can’t get that, get the TopYo Photon which is much more commonly available though it is a bit of an odd duck, being bimetal aluminum (?!), and pretty wide. I can also recommend Recess Snack.
(To be honest, I’m more in the “vote none of the above, moderately undersized aka throwback” camp so I’d pick the Gram (7075, bimetal, 54mm) as my personal favorite. But it’s 10% larger than the classic 888 – which I also love to death – so really it’s not much of an undersized at all.)
I don’t remember the specs so maybe it should not considered undersized. But I love my G-funk. I haven’t played enough to have much say on what undersized yoyo is the best. But that’s my personal favorite of the undersized throws I’ve played
I’d like to try an undersized someday. Like a Dingo, Heist, 66% Shutter or Executive. I wish I lived in an area that had a solid yoyo club, I feel like that would be really good place to try yo-yos.
I’m going to say my stealth ogre 66%
Lol, but I actually haven’t tried really any modern throws undersized or not. My Ogre is actually the only bimetal I have atm, but it runs so smooth.
I love small bearing throws, and that’s why I chose to get it. Actually one of my old throws as a kid was a small bearing Lunatic, and I was lucky enough to find one in the BST less than a week ago. Its also rather undersized, but its far from the best undersized throw, lol. I originally got one because it’s a budget throw, and the thing is just pure rim weight.
Big Bang bandalores makes some pretty good but over priced pocket plays. He makes the quirk and the endeavor. Personally, I like the quirk but both are great and feel like butter and are insanely smooth.
Mini Motu from back in the day. YoYoJam plastic with Nickel rims. Nice player, easy to pocket, doesn’t feel like a heavy lump on a string.
Weight 64.3g, Diameter 48.75 mm, Width 34.94 mm
I’ve thrown a whole lotta ‘smaller yoyos’. Fiddling with undersized yo-yos was/is something I can say without hesitation; I have an awareness on the subject.
I will also not hesitate to say that I have ‘not’ thrown every undersized yoyo that might fit this category for 2018.
That being said; in my personal opinion; there is only one yoyo that I feel gives full size performance in a smaller package. Nothing I’ve tried even comes close…
The good news is that you can buy the ministar 2 re-release right now, and there is a broad consensus (which I’d also agree with) that this is easily one of the best undersize throws if not the best.
If you are an undersize throw enthusiast, I’d get on top of that while it’s still in stock at a few yo-yo stores…
