The last two days I have been throwing an SB-2 that I just got used from the BST. It is ten years newer than the old one I already had, but I got a good deal on it and I wanted a polished one (and the groovy leather holder).
While the rest of the yoyo scene has experienced a growth explosion of design innovations, trick developments and the like, apparently things move a little slower in the little corner of SF that Tom Kuhn works out of. Pretty much all that changed from the silver bullet maker in the ten years between these two yoyos is a sticker correcting the same old “flight manual” , recommending a single loop of string around the axle, due to the addition of the turbo disc stickers.
The more I play with this thing, the better I get at the same tricks I was doing when this stuff was new,almost twenty years ago. I think I may be forgetting a lot I’ve learned since, but somehow it doesn’t seem to matter.
There’s a good reason for that.
At the end of the boom (JUST before the bust), Brad put in a massive order for SB-2 parts from the shop that always machined them, and they have literally been anodizing (or polishing) them, engraving them, and selling them off gradually for the past 16 years. They tried to update the design with the SB-3 and SB-4, but those didn’t really take.
REGARDLESS, the SB-2 is a truly classic yo-yo that pretty much everybody should have the chance to try. 1st aluminum bearing yo-yo. 1st anodized (and splash anodized) yo-yo. 1st yo-yo to incorporate response stickers. Revolutionary adjustable gap design. Modern throwers owe Tom Kuhn more than they realize. Set up properly and in the right hands the SB-2 can still handle just about anything, and honestly, it’s just a good fun yo-yo that has withstood the test of time better than most anything.
That explains a lot, hadn’t heard that part of the story about the bulk sb2 buy.
Just a note though… they were NOT the first yo-yo using response stickers… they came way late to that party. The original sb2 didn’t use response stickers, just took advantage of a thin tapered gap. The SB2.2 added them, but that was long after Playmaxx was making the bumble bee. It was even after Custom started using tub strips and got into that huge legal battle with Playmaxx.
Unfortunately while I still love their classic stuff like the no jive, they are a company that has very much lost touch with the community. The SB3 doesn’t work properly (at least mine doesn’t) and it’s a very dated design that came out 10 years late… the sb4 is just kinda terrible.
I even have an RDX prototype and it’s probably the worst thing I’ve used in the last 5-10 years.
Kyle
I have a production version and I feel somewhat the same. The only reason I keep it is that it was a gift from a special person.
Yeah I’m not trying to suggest everyone should run out and buy an SB-2, I was just trying to share my experience. As far as a yoyo community, I don’t know exactly what that means, but I have been throwing on and off since the eighties, although I remember throwing a Duncan yoyo the first time in the 60s, unfortunately I did not have the insight to stick with it. If you want to look at shear numbers, I would guess with the millions upon millions of yoyos out there, the yoyo community of folks that just throw for fun and might enjoy a responsive slimline yoyo is probably the majority, although they don’t hang out on this forum.
The RDX is a metal hubbed, wooden rimmed prototype they did a few months ago. They basically took an RD1 and slapped an sb4 hub in it.