Sengoku yo-yos….time line….puzzle

General Yo-Yo
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So, about 10 years ago Julio decided to design a yo-yo.

Every boutique Shop has to have some kind of theme. Julio decided to name his yo-yos after notable Warlords and such, from Japans Feudal past.

He didn’t punch out designs like a cookie cutter. He is very methodical and a perfectionist by nature.

Feeling no urgency, he dialed in each design until he felt it was ‘ready’.

Julio, a perfect example of the learn by doing, method, each design considered what he identified as part of the solution and avoided even the smallest factors that he felt shouldn’t make the cut.

Different shapes, weights, materials, monos, bi-metals, tri-metals, etc. from really small to really big.

He has released some pretty excellent playing yo-yos over the years.

There is an old saying, ‘Everything you learn, comes to serve you some day’.

So, now it’s been 10 years and counting. Sengoku released probably the Best Sengoku and quite possibly the very Best yo-yo you have never tried.

The Armadillo wasn’t released with any.huge fanfare. Julio didn’t post up any Sensational high performance yo-yo video to ramp up enthusiasm. He didn’t post up any advert, claiming how good the Armadillo was/is…

The yo-yo was just released and nobody got excited. Julio was no doubt, very pleased with how the Armadillo came out. His optimistic nature led him to conclude that, why ‘push it’, just let the yo-yo do the talking and the word would get around.

But, the mustard fell off the hotdog. The Armadillo didn’t ’sell out in a hot minute. It hardly sold at all. There was no Buzz. No> check out my video with my new and amazing Sengoku yo-yo. Nobody posting up, ‘Hey guys, who else is going to get one of these New Sengoku yo-yos?

Julio has a great touch in designing yo-yos. But, it ‘seems’ he wasn’t naturally blessed with effective marketing/promotional skills.

…There is another old saying, ‘There is no such thing as too much good information’.

So, I would like to ask any or all of you, what do think Sengoku should do in order to raise the level of awareness about his quality yo-yos?

I am not asking anybody to help. ‘Reinvent Sengoku’. But, I figure after 10 years in Business, and the Best playing yo-yo he has ever designed, just sits on shelves and collects dust, maybe some suggestion can Crack the Code and help propel Sengoku to a higher level or recognition.

The Armadillo is an Amazing yo-yo. Seems, few people know that. And the few that do, don’t step up and say much.

Thanks for any thoughts.

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‘Tis indeed a lovely thing. Utterly wasted in my hands. But there’s nothing wrong with being an underground sensation. There is so much good stuff constantly coming along it is hardly a surprise when~if some get overlooked.

That said, an endorsement from the good Doctor will probably get it - and others in the range - a higher profile.

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I currently own only only 1 Sengoku. It is….a weird one like most of their yoyos. Bishamonten.

I got to play the proto at Worlds 2024 right off Julio’s belt. I loved it…but the proto was $180 and I could not afford it at that time.
(pic off their website)

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Ended up buying one during his sale a year later. It is very good. His designs are….unique.

I’d really love to give the Raijin that he’s made a try being an avid 5a player at the moment. That yoyo seems MADE for me.

Samurai Armadillo is another one that looks real cool for 1a for sure.

My buddy Phil ( @yoyo_philq76 ) is on their team and he says it’s a banger.

That said….I’ll put it bluntly….their marketing is terrible.

They have a couple of great but fairly low profile players that hardly put out any content. And from the company itself not a lot of direct communication comes out either.

If my buddy hadn’t gotten one for being on the team…I’d probably not even have known the last two yoyos they made had come out.

If he wants to do more…get some yoyo in the hands of people who have a bigger online presence. Maybe start making stuff themselves. When a new model comes out…have someone who knows (maybe Julio himself or someone else who’s comfortable) do a video about the design and playfeel. Similar to what Philip from Yoyofriends does.

Robin Stricklin (@nightshadow )is one of my favorite players out there….but he’s got a busy life.
I know there’s other players they have….but they’re not even on the website.

They just have almost no online presence no brand personality other than “the guys doing weird yoyos that are named after Japanese things.”

Then there’s a an ick…..the very obviously Ai designed posters.

Agree with it or not…it turns a lot of people in the yoyo space off.

There’s a lot of artists or artist adjacent people in the yoyo space. They’ve for the large part been very vocally anti A.I.

So when the first thing people see about a new design yoyo is a very obviously generated A.I. poster of an armadillo in a Samurai suit of armor. That doesn’t always land well.

I’m no marketing manager…or Social Media Guru. I think they’re an amazing brand design wise.

I should buy another one soon….

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Thank you very much for all the good information.

Your response is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for

I mean, think of it this way if I knew the answers to help Julio down the road become more effective in his business. I certainly wouldn’t need to ask anybody.

My position is kind of like a guy that’s a pretty good car mechanic and recognizes there’s something really wrong with the car. He’s working on, but just doesn’t quite know how to solve the problem.

I’m pretty sharp on a number of subjects if I do say so myself… But one of them isn’t developing excellent and effective business models for small businesses

I mean, I feel like I’m on the edge of being able to give Julio some good information. But that being said I know most likely I just be guessing. And even though guessing is better than nothing. Guessing is just what it sounds like… Not necessarily based in facts.

No doubt I have been frequent in this forum for probably around 15 years or so. And no doubt any of us that have been around for a while know that Mo can make some quite long winded oratories

And I’d like to think that for the people that take the challenge of reading through them, that they get something out of them that will serve them in the future.

But that being said, I also know that I’ve never learned anything while I’m speaking. You only learn when you’re listening. I mean when you’re speaking, you may reinforce things in your mind so that they stay etched in our subconsciousness . But you never learn a damn thing when you’re speaking.

Another thing that I’ve learned over my years on this forum is that even though I’m probably older than most of your parents, so a lot of you seem like kids to me… There’s some pretty damn smart kids on this forum.

Sometimes in some of the threads, it’s just a bunch of us, taking turns clowning around utilizing various levels of humor or at least attempts at humor, while attempting to be helpful.

But when somebody starts talking about computers or advanced, mathematics or CAD, designs, or other things that are no joke, and takes some real brains to master, I’ve noticed on this forum that there’s no shortage that’s a pretty damn smart people. And I don’t mean just a few. A lot of very intelligent people frequent this forum.

And that’s why I started this thread. I personally don’t need to help because I don’t have a business. But I recognize that Julio needs some help because he has an ongoing business and I think he’d like to continue before deciding to throw in a towel.

And I know there’s some people here, like you for example that have excellent thoughts on the direction he should move in to help him get down the road.

So thanks again to you and anybody else that adds a thought or two, we all take turns helping each other and I think right now Julio needs a little help.

Not to be too redundant, but as I’ve said before, there’s no such thing as too much good information.

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I’ve been wanting one!

Its the only thing I want for trade on my FS thread.

I love many of their designs, but something about the Samurai (Armadillo) caught my eye.

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it was 140 :stuck_out_tongue: thank you for your words, it was a blast to see you at worlds!

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man, thank you, made me feel a bit embarrassed, lol! im just a regular guy who likes making yoyos. That being said, the new team is great, (a mixture of old and new mebers, but it is revitalized) just assembled it last year. Thing is, there is a limit what team and owner can do to communicate if a yoyo is good. I think you have the answer, people like you, who are customers and be neutral and respected, are the most efficient means to spread the word. One of the problems with the Armadillo is it looks so different that some people would think is a gimmicky yoyo and people looking for performance would pass it. So, just a word of mouth ig uess. Much appreciated!

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thx. that pic is great! the glassess match the shape and color vibe.

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I don’t have anything to contribute to this conversation, but this thread just sold me on the armadillo. I was already on the fence with it but now I’ve got one on the way :sign_of_the_horns:t2:

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I spent a good bit of time with the ERCIM, but I just could not get it down…

Armadillo will be my second Sengoku model for sure!

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I’ll take your word for it :wink:

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@yoyodoc It’s really great to see someone who cares so much about the brand and wants to see it grow and succeed. As a team member, I can tell you that we are working on increasing our reach and growing awareness of the brand, but we also want to honor the idea that the “yoyo speaks for itself”. We also recently started the Sengoku Samurai Club, which is a trick learning club, on our Discord, which has been a really cool way to meet people in the community and introduce them to Sengoku.

We are certainly interested in feedback or ideas on how to share the Sengoku wizardry with the wider yoyo community. We appreciate all the support. We are certainly consistently wowed by @NeoHamster and his designing genius!

You can follow us on various platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sengokuyoyos/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sengokuyoyos/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sengokuyoyos8359
X: https://x.com/SengokuYoyos
Join our Discord: Sengoku Yo-yos

Sengoku Yoyos are also available on multiple retailers including YoyoExpert, and others, the official store, and a few other smaller ones internationally.

Following our team members on socials is also a good way to get updates and info. I am @yoyodad76 on all the platforms (FB, IG, TikTok, etc) and I also post on the Throwers subReddit regularly. Other team members who are here in the forum can post their links, if they want.

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I’m really hoping to try an Orochi someday so I can add something to this thread. Something about it just calls to me.

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Honestly, probably the best organic I’ve ever played!

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I’ve heard only good things about it… but similar to what @DocPop brought out, there’s not a tremendous amount of talk about it.

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that was kind of you doc to bring this subject to our attention. i feel like sengoku is the best brand you’ve never tried. i saw the armadillo pop up the other day and it really piqued my interest. it’s a beautiful and intriguing shape, and it will probably blow the doors off hella bimetals. but, i also am not a performance player generally - i’d like to be maybe, but i enjoy chill sessions. that said, maybe adding some traditional folks to the outreach, not necessarily the team. also, i enjoy the bst and trying new yoyos, but i’ve never been offered one in a trade. i’m supposing they are that good no one wants to let go of them. everything i’ve seen by sengoku looks unique, and fire. but overall, i don’t see a lot of ‘fanfare’. you can hire social media managers (some in trade for yoyos ;p ) that will organize your content for you. or, simply pick out the hashtags you want your players to use to stand out, and stick to them. pretty pictures also go a long way. there are so many good amateur photographers across the boards and ig. creativity in presentation too… like in the pictures, showing off all of the features, different backgrounds and positions… i think that would really grab some attention. videos are great, and i like a good trick video, but i think those only have so much reach for getting someone to buy it - unless the video is tailored to the audience. speaking of, who is sengoku’s audience? everyone? performance players? collectors? maybe trying to dial down who your audience is on each platform and ‘speak’ to them about your product. be visible! there are really good yoyo companies that have a relationship with their consumers, their people on the ground that are freaking out at the drops. getting involved is tough when you’re a busy yoyo guy, but a little bit can go a long way.

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@fatguysnacks247 Thanks for the kind words and some good feedback as well. I will be mentioning your ideas to the team. We don’t have a social media team or anything fancy like that as we are a small brand, run by one guy, and everyone on our team has full time jobs, families, etc, but since reorganizing about a year ago, we are working to broaden the Sengoku reach as far as awareness, and at the same time, defining our “target audience”. This is tricky in yoyo and we are a bit of a niche within a niche as we don’t make anything that is cookie cutter and we also try to buck the trends of popularity and focus on innovation. Every brand is unique in their own way, but Sengoku tries to take uniqueness up a notch or two, but also focusing on playability and performance. We don’t have world champions or social media influencers to blast the community with marketing, so we rely on word of mouth. We are working hard to increase our visibility on social media platforms with pictures, videos, and coming soon, a merch shop. We did suffer a big loss in our photography with the passing of Shawn Garcia (yotoyimages) and we are working with a new photographer now. I’m glad @yoyodoc made this post and looking forward to this conversation and hearing people’s thoughts and ideas.

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If your a fan of Mini yoyos like me they just posted this on IG. Its on my want list but I never got to try the MasaMini V2 but I was a big fan of the OG. So I imagine the MasaChibi will be amazing too. MORE MINIS! :joy:

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Sengoku definitely has some very unique throws. I picked up the Bish and Armadillo over Christmas and they are just awesome in every regard. I really don’t know how to increase the marketing of a product with the exception of reviews - I typically will watch reviews now before I buy throws - the longer I play, the more I understand what I want and really rely on reviews before I spend $150 plus on a yoyo. I have yet to be disappointed with any Sengoku that I own and I feel that they are easily recognized as a great brand, but trying to increase marketing in such a small community is pretty hard.

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After all that Sengoku talk….I had to pull my ONE goku off the shelf of course.

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And in the absence of owning the Raijin I’ve given him a temporary Big Beautiful Babe to play with for 5a.

Thread needs tricks.

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