Just got thinking, do you have a Luftverk Daytona? Outside of a smaller gap the Daytona has a very similar shape to Walter. I’ve got a rubber shield bearing in my Daytona, gives it a similar feel/play to Walter.
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Which AlleyCat is the superior responsive model? I see a lot of praise for the 650b but it isn’t available anymore.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the narrow shape of all these metal responsives make it much harder to land string tricks? It seems to me that metal responsives are really for advanced players who are good enough to land string tricks even with an old Imperial!
There is a learning curve, but the slim design of most responsives these days will improve your overall playing. After a while the narrowness of the yoyo, or gap, isn’t that big of an issue. I think everyone should own one.
I think the 650B is just sold out, I thought I heard there are more on the way. For me, I love both Alleycat’s, have multiples of them both. I’m really partial to the original as I’ve put a lot of time on that yoyo. The 650B is a little smaller, a little narrower, has a tighter gap, but is rounded and lighter than the original. It’s great for flips and stalls, and fixed axle style tricks. The original is bigger, a little heavier, slightly wider gap and more angular in shape. I don’t think one is better than the other, just depends on what you want to do.
I can see the logic behind that. My follow-up question, though, would be this: at what point in a yoyoer’s development would practicing with a slim yoyo like that be most beneficial?
I would think that introducing it too early in a newbie’s development could be detrimental since they are still trying to get a handle on the fundamentals, and trying to land string tricks with something like an AlleyCat so early on could just be frustrating enough to make them quit. But at some point, a slim design can really tighten up one’s technique. The trick, I think, is in knowing when the right time is to make that tightening up a goal/priority.
Thoughts?
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I think it’s completely up to the player. For a lot of us this style of a yoyo was standard for years. Playmaxx Bumble Bee, Spintastics Tornado and a Renegade were my main yoyos until around 2013. And many of us are still playing.
Plus a yoyo like the Alleycat isn’t that crazy of a shape, or size, that it should be difficult even for a beginner to get a handle on.
Also, there are plenty of people that have no interest in yoyos like these, and that’s perfectly ok too.
For reference the gamer uses a 21mm pad. At some point in time we should be seeing more of them 
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You should try the yyf confusion! Crazy grabby pads so ultra responsive 
and it’s in my top 3 Metal responsives.
I do have a Daytona (got lucky) and I like it a lot.
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I’ve had a Confusion for quite a while, got one before their official release. I like it better with the flush pads and more lube in the bearing.
The first Alleycat is… not a good yo-yo in my honest opinion. The response system is kinda busted, the shape isn’t great, and that (pointless) hex key axle hurts a lot. The 650b is very recommendable, the original is … uh… not.
It’s a really, really good yoyo. The response is perfect for the yoyo, also giving you the ability to use the yoyo unresponsive, it’s brilliant! Also, with Duncan just throwing away all of their friction stickers (thanks Duncan 
), CoreCo went the extra mile and designed then manufactured a silicone friction sticker, which btw works great in Freehands too. Not sure what you’re doing that you’re getting hurt by the hex key in the center. The name “Alleycat” is a term in bike culture, The hex key can actually be used, and is an homage of sorts to the big yoyos of past (Renegade & No Jive).
Some of the biggest names in responsive play helped in the design process of the original Alleycat, and I’m sure they all had input in the 650B as well. Ed Haponik, Drew Tetz, Nate Sutter, Randy Jensen all put their two cents in. They went through a number of prototypes with different bearings, and I believe response systems, weights, etc. and these guys all agreed that the original AC was the best for what they were going for. I’ve been playing responsive yoyo for around 30 years now, I wish I would’ve had an Alleycat years ago. I’m really hoping that the Alleycat becomes a constant for CoreCo, maybe something that every other year or so they do another update, and eventually we’ll have a number of different shapes, sizes and weights.
I was blown away by the original AlleyCat when I first tried and bought it. The small bearing was key and the pads were fine for me. The shape was not terribly attractive but when I tried it I had to have it. Then it was like they read my mind with every change on the 650b (except for the finish).
For the record, the sharp hex key does hurt me occasionally. I don’t recall what does it. I’ll try to go hurt myself sometime and let you know how I did it. It looked great but I’m glad they removed it.
Also, does anyone know if the 650b is also 7075 like the original?
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I didn’t know the original was 7075. I know I’ve beat up my main OG and one of my 650’s pretty good and both seem to be able to take a pretty good beating. My 650b had a day where I was in a pretty bad mood, just lost my dog and was the 1 year anniversary of my grandmother passing away, I was outside playing with the 650b and got pretty emotional and started playing in a way that I was trying to really bust up the 650b (sorry Randy), didn’t destroy it, and it still plays smooth. I launched the thing 20’ or so a number of times and it landed on concrete didn’t even dent all that much 
Cool Alleycat video 
Supply and demand is a tricky thing in a niche industry. CoreCo may one day get around to making more 650Bs, but in the mean time, new customers (like me) are unlikely to just wait around and will get something like a Confusion instead. Whether that lack of supply results in lost business ultimately depends on whether or not customers are inclined to invest in more than one of this type of yoyo (picking up a 650B when/if they ever become available again).
7075 was definitely the claim on the original at one point… but I’m failing to locate this. I thought it was on their blog.
Another store claims that the 650b is 6061. Guess that puts that to rest.
They just announced on Instagram that more 650b’s will be released on Friday 
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Aha, I found it! RandyJ. Could have changed the design since then, beats me.
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Personally I would not sweat it, I feel the deep state and confusion are both better options than the 650b. That said the 650b is still very good and a dramatic improvement over the original!
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Well that depends on where you are with unresponsive. If you are a beginner at binding then I would reccomend the YoTricks Sage or even the Oracle (if you like 2A). If you are already doing Gentry Stein’s Ballistic (which I can’t do but it is my favorite trick) I recommend the normal Replay or the DV888 (if you are into small yoyos)
I’ve tried a couple responsive metals. I’ve set up many of my unresponsives to be semi responsive or fully responsive. For some reason I always get rid of the metals and come back to looping yoyos for it I currently use a profire for responsive. Sometimes a G5 with a slim bearing as well.
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