Standout modern yo-yo timeline?

General Yo-Yo
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Does anyone have a year-by-year timeline of modern yo-yos that are standouts? By standouts I mean, as recognized by the yo-yoing community, yo-yos that are unique, innovative, popular, horrible, etc. I’m thinking of mainly just one or two a year (or 3, or 4 :)). Beginning arbitrarily at 1976 when the Duracraft ProYo was introduced by Donald Duncan Jr., here is a start from my collection database (laughably incomplete, please fill in/correct as appropriate; also dates tend to be introduction years, but may also be announcement/patent years):

1976 Duracraft ProYo
1977 Tom Kuhn No Jive Maple Leaf
1978 Tom Kuhn No Jive 3-in-1
1979 Tom Kuhn Big Yo, Duncan Wheels
1980 ?
1981 Duncan World Class
1982 ?
1983 Russell Coca-Cola Super
1984 SKF ball-bearing promotional yo-yo, Yomega Brain, Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet
1985 ?
1986 ?
1987 Tom Kuhn Mandala
1988 Tom Holmes Wooden Monarch, Hummingbird Nature in Motion, Bird in Hand tournament
1989 Yomega Fireball
1990 Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet 2
1991 Yomega Raider
1992 Tom Kuhn Sleep Machine, Tom Kuhn Roller Woody
1993 Doble Ariel, Doble Calypso (first patent date)
1994 BC/What’s Next Apollo, SuperYo Cruiser
1995 Spintastics Technic, What’s Next BC Classic
1996 Playmaxx Pro-Yo II
1997 Playmaxx Turbo Bumble Bee, Henrys Viper, Came-Yo Moonstar
1998 YoYoJam SpinFaktor, Playmaxx Cold Fusion, Came-Yo Mondial, Hspin Handquake, Yomega Wing Force
1999 SuperYo Renegade, Revolution Rev-G, Aerobie Aerospin, SuperYo Samurai
2000 YoYoJam GatorJam
2001 Duncan Freehand 1, Tom Kuhn RD-1, YoYoJam Patriot
2002 Duncan Freehand 2, Spintastics Eclipse, YoYoJam Matrixx, Oxygene 3
2003 YoYoJam Hitman, YoYoFactory F.A.S.T. 201, Dif-e-Yo Sportster
2004 Hspin Good & Evil, YoYoJam Lyn Fury, Duncan Freehand Mg, YoYoJam Dark Magic, AntiYo Fluchs, Oxygene 4
2005 Dif-e-Yo Bare Bones, Hspin Pyro, Matt Schmidt Underdog, SPYY Radian, Kyo TiPhiter, Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet 3
2006 CLYW Peak, AntiYo Bapezilla, SPYY Addict, BrokenYoyos Plugin
2007 One Drop Project, YoYoFactory eight8eight, CLYW Bear vs. Man, Russell Andert Dert, ILoveYoYo E1NS, BrokenYoyos Plugin 2
2008 General-Yo Torrent, Doctor Popular Bolt, One Drop M1, Zamstrom Black Death, BrokenYoyos Plugin 3
2009 Chico Yo-Yo Company Bulldog, YoYoFactory ProtoStar, YoYoRecreation Sleipnir, SPYY Pure
2010 One Drop 54, YoYoFactory Loop 900, YoYoJam Dark Magic II, vsNYYC Sky Walker, General-Yo Hat Trick, YoYoJam Phenom
2011 vsNYYC TiWalker, CLYW Chief, Turning Point Positron, TMBR Irving, Bandai HyperInfinity (motorized)
2012 YoYoFactory Loop 1080
2013 YoYoFactory Shutter, YoYoRecreation Draupnir, Spencer Berry Walter, Sterm Panzer Stealth Ogre
2014 YYF Space Cowboy, One Drop MarkMont Classic
2015 Luftwerk Evora, One Drop Terrarian
2016 YoYoFactory Edge, MagicYoYo Skyva, A-RT Grail
2017 YoYoFriends Hummingbird
2018 Edge Beyond

I don’t have a clue after about 2009 as I haven’t kept up. :-\

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Draupnir should be on the list but I don’t know the year.
Also Loop 900 was a pretty big deal, also don’t know the year.

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When did shutter come out? 2013? 2014? Also the edge in 2016

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4

Just curious why the Draupnir? To me, I’d put a YYJ in there for first bi-metal, then whatever yoyo was the first V shape, not sure I’d put the Draupnir in there, but maybe?

Also, I’d probably add the Duncan Butterfly to the list, which was around 1958. That’s a huge step for yoyos going to the butterfly shape.

Others:
1968, Duncan began making the plastic Butterfly (first mass produced plastic?) with a metal axle.
1997/98 - ProYo Cold Fusion - world record holder for sleeper
2004 Duncan Freehand Mg
2007/08 - DocPop Bolt
2010 - One Drop 54 (first side effect yoyo)

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Hmm, I’d think that being one of the most popular/well known modern bimetal, it counts as ‘standing out’? I don’t think that standing out have to be ‘the first’, but it depends on what OP is asking for.

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Few off the top of my head…

2008 M1, started “budget metal” trend
2009 Sleipnir, uber popular; protostar, “death to metal”
2010 54, first side effects yoyo

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No, doesn’t have to be the first. I would think the Hspin Handquake (circa 1998) qualifies as the first bi-metal, but I may be wrong. The Draupnir passes muster because it’s so wildly popular in the community, similar to the way the Bape and Hitman were in their day.

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Dark magic or dark magic 2! It was such an iconic yoyo for so many years :slight_smile:

TiWalker? I honestly don’t know about this, just throwing it out there.

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The summer of 2014 I think? Also called the Summer of Titaniums. Seemed like it was kickstarted by the YYF Dream project, which in turn caused One Drop to release the Citizen, and I think Jeffrey Pang was already planning on releasing the Evora at that time. And now there seems to be a new titanium release every time I look on facebook.

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I would have to add:

2011 - Ti Walker.

to the list.

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2004 - AntiYo Fluchs
2013 - Walter

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IMO the skyva should be on the list. I have never thrown one but they seemed to have sparked the widespread trend of fingerspins. I swear, everyone was fingering for a couple months there and every new yoyo was for fingerspinning.

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2011 CLYW Chief needs to be added to the list.

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2011? - Turning Point Positron.

Not sure of the release date. But, definitely a standout.

Should there be a TIMBR release that started the whole “Year of fixed axle” phenomenon too? I have no idea of the models or release dates that might qualify though.

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Not to sound self-important, but 2005 TiPhiter, the first titanium yoyo that actually worked.

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Hi Kyle, you bet, I still have mine! :slight_smile:

https://tinyurl.com/y93gjwww

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A specific yoyo that needs to be placed on the timeline is the Yoyojam Patriot.

This yoyo was first introduced in 2001 after the 911 attacks, being named patriot with the colors of red, white and blue. The reason it needs to be added is that it was the first yoyo to use the large bearing, size C. This then opened the doorways to larger gaps for yoyos and lead the way to it being an industry standard.

The Patriot was a direct competitor to the Freehand 1 during its time due to similar organic shape but used the starburst system instead of friction stickers.

The next yoyo to be added on the list, and one I absolutely loathe for personal reasons, is the Yoyojam Matrixx. This was roughly the first yoyo to allow a groove for rubber o-ring response which would then lead to having silicone grooves in the industry. The matrixx was released in 2002. Now my memory is a bit hazy, but I believe it was Yoyojam that did the oring groove idea first, and then the Yoyojam Nightmoves 2 was developed between 2002-03 which featured the large bearing and two oring grooves.

I wish I knew which specific Dif-e-yo came with the Konkave bearings first, because the KK revolutionized yoyo play via string centering.

If anyone out there knows their yoyo history and that I am wrong, please do correct me.

I love this thread a lot, gives way to thinking over the years how yoyo technology has evolved.

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2010 - Phenom

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Hi Daniel, thanks for the update. I’m extrapolating based on information in YoYo Wiki that the Sportster was the first to come stock with the KonKave bearing, as they were both introduced in 2003. I also added, in 2008, the Black Death, which I consider to be one of the coolest and most resourceful collaborative mods ever. :slight_smile:

https://tinyurl.com/yb44jfj7

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How about:
2013 - Stealth Ogre - Was this the first of the modern Japanese Bi-Metal yo-yo’s?
2014 - YYF Space Cowboy - first affordable bi-metal
2015 - Sengoku Nobuanga, Hideyoshi, Masamune. Innovation ^2
?

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