Reviewing my Collection

[Blieske]

I want to try to review all the yoyos in my collection. I will keep the reviews here and will include a tier list.

Before I do so, I want to share a few things about myself to help anyone who reads these reviews to understand how I perceive yoyos.

I have been yoyoing for over 10 years and have played over 100 yoyos. I have decent skill but I have only competed in amateur divisions in online tournaments. I am working to improve my abilities through learning more modern tricks, but I do not intend to grow to the level of a real competitor. I do not currently know any horizontal tricks, so my reviews will not be addressing horizontal.

I am used to yoyos that are between 45-48 mm in diameter with good spin times. Because of this, I may have a bias against yoyos that do not fit within these parameters.

I have experienced two yoyoers of equal skill level use the same yoyo and describe its play completely different, so you may disagree with my conclusions. That being said, I will try to include both objective and subjective information.

My reviews will include the following categories:

Performance: I rate performance based on four things, spintime, stability, binds, and catchability.

Fit and Finish: I will share my feelings on the quality control of the yoyo. Things like smoothness, finish, colorways, and unboxing experience may be included in this section. I don’t normally purchase multiple of the same yoyo so my experience may be different than others. I also buy secondhand frequently so that may affect my experience as well.

Tendencies: I will share how a yoyo feels to me in terms of speed, and weight. I will compare the yoyo to other yoyos I have to try to make this objective, but this is where I feel like most people differ when evaluating a yoyo.

Personal Opinion: I will share intangible characteristics about the yoyo, and share what I like or dislike about a specific design.

conclusion: I will share why someone may want to buy or may want to skip a specific yoyo.

[Blieske]

G2 Loadout:

The G2 loadout is G2s flagship monometal. It is described as the best all around yoyo by the company itself, and is made to appeal to the majority of yoyoers, while being the most accessible design from the company. The G2 Loadout has a release every Tuesday at 12pm eastern time give or take a few minutes. This makes the loadout the easiest yoyo to buy new from G2. It is also fairly accessible through the BST. The price ranges from 85-125 depending on colorway and can be bought secondhand from 75-110.

Diameter: 55.75
Width: 46.65
Weight: 64.4

Performance: The loadout fits within the accepted range of popular, competition models allowing it to be reasonably catchable. I don’t notice having a more difficult or an easier time landing tricks when I compare the loadout to other competition models. The loadout has good spin times but you may be searching for a little extra spin in situations where you make mistakes during a combo. That being said, I feel comfortable completing my longer combos on the loadout. Binds on the loadout are good to great. I don’t experience snag with the yoyo, and difficult binds are easier to execute than many other yoyos. Regens from those binds tend to be pretty consistent as well. I do occasionally experience slipped binds on the loadout though. The stability is good but I would not put it at the top tier of yoyos. When the yoyo is at the end of its spin, it tends to tilt more often than other competition models.

Fit and Finish: G2 is known for their quality control. I have owned three yoyos from G2 and all have been in the top tier of smoothness. That being said, I can detect the most miniscule amount of vibe on the Loadout. The colorways on the loadout are diverse and beautiful, you should not have to search hard to find one that blows you away. The finish is very smooth and great for grinds. G2 has a great unboxing experience including multiple stickers, a highend string, and a manly smelling air freshener.

Tendencies: The loadout has a medium light feeling on the string, but you can still detect some power in play. I prefer playing the loadout at a medium speed despite its lightness. It has a pleasing float that makes it less desirable for extreme speeds.

Personal Opinion: I quite enjoy the loadout. It feels very premium and performs quite well. I love the colorway and will probably keep the loadout in my collection for the forseeable future. That being said, it has not moved its way into being one of my favorite yoyos of all time. It lacks an intangible satisfying feeling for me that would catapult it to that level.

Conclusion: If you want to try a G2, or if you are looking for something premium, with great colorways that can handle competition tricks, this is a great yoyo to get. Also, if you are a fan of the free solo, you may also like the loadout. They have very similar shapes. The Loadout is lighter, faster, and smoother while the free solo has a slightly heavier, old school feeling.

[Blieske]

Yoyofriends Shine

The Yoyofriends shine is a monometal design from Yoyofriends. This yoyo is the signature model for Drake Bogataj. Yoyofriends has released quite a few yoyos in the last year and the shine seems to have gone under the radar. It has a very simple looking design with common specs. A new shine costs $45-50 depending on colorway. You can find a used shine for $20-35.

Diameter:	55.96 mm / 2.2 inches
Width:	45.96 mm / 1.81 inches
Gap Width:	4.50 mm / 0.18 inches
Weight:	64.8 grams

Performance: The shine is a performance yoyo. It is made to be used in competition and it can be felt. The yoyo, though simple in design, has very impressive performance. It spins long enough for me to complete my longest combos even if I make mistakes. Though it has a great spin time, there are other yoyos that spin longer than it. The yoyo also maintains stability even when the yoyo is at the end of its spin. The Shine has incredible binds. Though I feel like I execute binds just as frequently with other yoyos, the difference is how perfect the binds feal. This allows me to more confidently complete regens off of difficult binds.

Fit and Finish: Yoyofriends may be the best in the business at producing inexpensive smooth yoyos. I received this yoyo as part of their new years mystery monometal sale. The shine cost me $23 dollars including shipping, and I don’t think I have experienced a better value. The yoyo is very smooth and the finish feels nice. Colorways are all very simple though.

Tendencies: The Shine has a medium feeling weight on the string, and plays at a medium speed. This makes the shine very predictable and very controllable.

Personal Opinion: The shine is a very good option for an inexpensive, competition monometal. It is extremely consistent and controllable in play making it easier to focus on trick execution. That being said, it is not an extremely unique yoyo. I have quite a few other yoyos that do almost the exact same thing so the shine doesn’t add that much variety to my collection.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a top tier performer at a cheap price, the shine fits the bill. If you are wanting to experiment with interesting and risky binds, the shine is a great option. That being said, if you have yoyos like a recognition, an emotion, a cadence, or many others that fit in the category of reliable, monometal competition designs, then you may want to save your money for something a little more unique.