Super cheap yoyos?

Exactly my point. Yeah the yoyo is essentially just a tool. It’s up to the player to really do something special with it I totally understand that. So do you need to drop big dollars on something that won’t essentially make you a better player? Absolutely not in my opinion. In the end it’s up to you to spend your money how you wish. I love my expensive yoyos, but I love my cheap budget metals just as much in a slightly different respect. There’s almost something special about finding an alternative to the #1 marketed choice that will keep up without problem. Also I think there should be a Chinese yoyo buyers guide thread where we can all pitch in just to educate people looking to purchase a Chinese yoyo so there’s less risk involved because let’s face it, people ARE going to buy Chinese throws, and there are some real turds out there that play horrendously. No need to promote sale or vendors for said yoyos, just a little information behind each yoyo and maybe a tiny review

…and actually, have there been any notable competition performances with a titanium yoyo? Any big contests won with titanium? Just curious, but I think the likely answer will further underscore the point - that of course it’s not that yoyo that makes the yoyoing.

The price of entry (equipment cost) for getting into yoyoing is super low! High performance yoyos for low prices. So many options but yes, you have to do a bit of research (even though there aren’t as many reviews being written as before, unfortunately).

And agree that everyone should just use stuff that will keep them having fun and continuing yoyoing.

Not that I know of, but I’m guessing that’s just because it would be pricey to have backups of the same ti yoyo, and most companies aren’t going to give their players like 3 ti yoyos. If ti was the same price point as aluminum I bet we’d see more being used in competition.
That’s my guess anyways.

I may be weird but personally I only buy ti yoyos because of their durability, which isn’t really a factor when competing. For performing on the street it’s nice though.

MagicYoyo have some amazing throws for the price. Best bang for your buck In my opinion!

I think you guys are kinda missing the point. You’re imagining buying yoyos for the play, but what about the experience? There’s nothing that feels quite as good as buying a super hyped-up name brand. And yes of course there are some cheap “magic” yoyos that will get the job done, but when you get one of the more well-known and expertly crafted yoyos you’re not only paying for the guaranteed quality. You’re paying for the idea, the feeling of having a quality product in your hands. Not to mention you’re also supported the team and the players within it.

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Two favorite .75 cent yo-yos from a $1.50 double fun yo-yo pack.

I’ve bought a couple of the “Magic” yo-yos from China and found them to be surprisingly well made. In fact, I throw them often. I’m not sure you can get one for $7… but maybe under $20. But I’ve found that the brand names throw much smoother and tend to be more quiet. The choice is yours, of corse. For the price, I think it is worth the chance you take to find a pretty good yo-yo. But for my money, I think I will stick with the names you will find here. :slight_smile:

You absolutely get a better yoyo when you pay more than $7 for it. The quality is much more consistent. You get a more original, fine tuned piece of art than a spinning hunk of metal.
That being said I still adore being able to find a cheap yoyo that plays well. For instance, I recently did a trade and obtained a few cheap yoyos as extras. To my surprise the technos I received are extremely nice plastics and the magic yoyos play well also.

You get what you pay for to an extent.

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IMO… For someone who s starting out a cheaper yo-yo is a good buy. Simply because if you find that Yoyoing in not your thing, you’re not out a whole lot of money. I like the Magic brand. They make pretty nice unresponsive yoyos that will do just fine until you get better or decide you want to keep it up and finally upgrade to a name brand. I found this one on a website called wish.com. And you may find it in eBay also. It is only $8 and comes with 5 extra strings (not too bad strings) lol, and a yoyo glove. Not bad for a starter. I think if you search: Magic YoYo God of Death Professional Bearing Alloy Aluminum Smart Yo-YoSU-02, you can find this one. It has a gold Bering and sleeps extremely well. Even better than some of the so called budget yoyos that cost $40-$50. This is just my opinion. I still use this yoyo today along with my other costly ones. I hope this helps. Peace!
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One can definitely purchase a sub-$20 YoYo that is stable, smooth, and spins for a reasonable amount of time. Those are basic, tangible qualities. Some folks can only justify or afford a YoYo that provides those qualities, and that’s fine. What one wants in a YoYo is up to the individual to decide.

I, personally, buy One Drop YoYos because I like the guys that own and work for the company. They provide a lot of support for this little community. I like their fantastic YoYos, and I like supporting an Oregon-based company. I want them to keep doing what they do. All of that, for me, adds value to the YoYos I purchase and keeps me coming back for more OD throws.

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So I got a Magicyoyo n12 about a week ago.

I won’t say that anything is good simply because it is my latest yoyo. I’m very critical of yoyos.

Having said this, the n12 is a very very good yoyo indeed. There is nothing bad about it with the exception of its engraving. Not only does it perform really well, it feels great to use and the ano is rich. I use it over my $150+ yoyos now. Yes, its that good.

I bought it for 12 AUD. While it is a great price, this does concern me. It seroiusly undercuts other manufacturers, and I don’t think that’s fair.

They are ‘supposed’ to retail higher, about $30 for N12. I know because we have Magicyoyo Official in Indonesia and they have ‘normal’ price.
When you get one directly from a wholesaler in China, they most likely order it in big volume and sell with little margin.
I’ve contacted a Chinese manufacturer once and talked with them. Basically you can get a fully functional yoyo for $8 each ($12 for 7075 stuff) for about 50 minimum order if I remember correctly, and by that I mean properly made yoyos with CNC and stuff. Yoyos from that same company retails $30-50 in some well known yoyo stores, not YYE though.

the n12 has been out for years now. it has not affected the market because it just does not have the branding to make people want to purchase it.

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Countless people have purchased an N12 since its release. Hordes.

However, people can afford to buy an N12 AND a more popular name-brand yoyo.

Of the many people who have bought MagicYoyo, some are going to be due to cost (parents buying a child a first “good” yoyo… people with tight budgets but who still want a metal unresponsive throw…) which isn’t going to impact the premium yoyo market because those people weren’t “qualified” (in sales terms) buyers. The other segment are those who buy it on impulse alongside their more branded collection. Those aren’t impacting the market because the buyer is still buying the other stuff, too.

There has been an impact, though, in the form of a continual downward drive in prices. On the one hand, this might seem like a good thing for customers. But in the long term, plummeting prices tend to drive people out of business.

Good point, good point. I think it’s less to do with MagicYoyo in particular, though, and more to do with established companies proving they can release inexpensive yoyos. The buyer goes, “I used to be able to get a _____ for $100, but now they have some models for $60 or $40! This is awesome; no need to buy their $100 models anymore!”

Now, those companies may have driven down their prices to compete with MagicYoyo and the like, but I don’t think so. I think they are driving down their prices to compete with other mid- to premium-level companies. They’re chipping away at each other, and at some point something’s going to give for some of them.

In the meantime, we get to “enjoy” the competition as consumers and hope that the good people who own those companies can still stay fed.

When you buy. Yoyo your not paying for just feels or intangibles. You are paying for machining, anodizimg costs. The more expensive Yoyos aren’t just slapped together and giving a price tag on a whim. Magic yoyo is okay they make play Yoyos and use okay materials. To just play down some of the more high end Yoyos is to play down everything out into it. Of course you can do the same tricks. Tricks are in the player not the Yoyo. However it’s the Yoyo and what’s put into it that make it what it is. Ooh they may be intangible to you but I doubt the makers feel the same way.

Magic yoyo use ‘OK’ materials? By that do you mean CNC lathed 6061 aluminium, anodise, bead blasting and laser engraving?

Then yes, they use OK materials.

The same OK materials as other companies you may have heard of, such as Yoyofactory, CLYW, Yoyofficer and Turning Point. I would list the rest if I had the time and no fear of getting RSI in my thumbs.

OK, so the cost of manufacturing has a huge impact on the price of the yoyo, this is true.

Now you make a point when you say it’s what is put into a yoyo makes it what it is, but why do you assume a cheaper yoyo has not had as much put into it? How would you know? It could have been prototyped up to 5 or ten times for all you know…

By the same token, how do you know an expensive yoyo has had a lot put into it? True, fancy ano goes to show some effort has been put into aesthetics, but what about everything else? No matter how fancy the design, it could still have been whipped up quickly. I’ve heard of yoyos being designed in minutes by respected manufacturers. For all you know, they could be ‘slapped together’ and are simply priced highly.

However, a good hint as to how well thought out a manufacturer’s yoyos are lies the continuity and quality of their products as a whole. Are they a seemingly ramshackle bunch of designs that appear to fit together like sardines and chocolate? Perhaps this is a sign that they are pretty much just tossing designs at the lathe.

Judging by this standard, Magic Yoyos N series seems to fit the bill. The N5 and the N12 are vastly different from one another. However, I am seeing them begin to find some rhyme and reason with their M series.

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When I say ok they use lower grade 6061 and some of their earlier Yoyos they used even lower grades.

I don’t think I played down anything regarding “cheep” yoyos versus more expensive yoyos. The question was asked from the point of view of a consumer and so I tried to answer it that way. You could delve deeper into the nitty-gritty of build quality and such, which I did in a sense by bringing up feel. I don’t think calling them intangibles is a faux pas and I think in a sense you are selling a company like Magic YoYo short. They make a competent product, it’s just my opinion that a company like General Yo or One Drop by contrast make an exceptional product. That’s often the difference these days in my estimation when you know what you’re buying between a yoyo that might cost you $10 or $20 or $30 and a yoyo that’s going to cost more.