Just had a great experience with my Butterfly XT after adding some Dif e Yo thin shims. I always was a little disappointed with it because while its great for stalls and flips, it was never good at shooting moons (my favorite trick). It has super low kickback in its stock form, loops very far down, and shot moons backwards and forwards instead of up and back lol. After the shims its looping only a few degrees down, and is shooting the moon BEAUTIFULLY. Almost hit a personal record in my chair at work today
8 Likes
I can’t seem to grasp loops and shoot the moon yet! I definitely made some good progress last month spending so much time in fixed axle mode but both tricks still seem to elude me. Can’t wait till it clicks!!
3 Likes
What’s your string length? Go short until it becomes easy, get the mussel memory, then you can add length to the stings. I’m 6’ 1" and my looping strings are 76cm, don’t be afraid to go short.
3 Likes
Will do. I shortened it up some, but may be a little more will do. I can get two or three loops, but that’s about it. At this point I figure I’ll get the loops down and then step in to shoot the moon!
I was in the same boat. Made it a point to get three STMs for FAF, but I’ll likely abandon it again lol. @Exmime advice on shorter string is what did it for me eventually.
4 Likes
what helped me with looping was measuring the string from middle finger to about the center of my chest with a duncan butterfly yoyo… wingspan, not bellybutton to the floor… that’s when it started to click for me.
2 Likes
Having the right throw for looping makes a big difference too. Prefer Imperial shapes that are easier to flip over every time you loop.
2 Likes
Hang in there — it will eventually click! That’s how it was with me and STMs. Also I remember reading on Valerie Oliver’s Science of Spin website (unfortunately no longer available online) that you have to sort of feel it come down and around as you flip it with your wrist.
One of the more interesting things I have noticed as an older dude who’s been through a few yoyo booms is how newer players have trouble with loops while I am still struggling to learn 1A stuff after growing up on fixies only 
5 Likes
How do those Duncan AL’s play for 0A? Do you notice an advantage to the A sized bearing over the C?
1 Like
They play a little heavy and are both very different. The C bearing has a noticeable and heavy thunk when it hits the end of the string. The A bearing is much smoother and floatier. Both manage 0A just fine and tug respond reliably.
Of the three, I prefer the XT for 0A 
, but the other two are capable and can also handle some light 1A (whereas the XT struggles).
The ALs are notably less vibey than the XT, which can be a bit…
2 Likes
I love how the older Butterfly AL’s looked, before they started using the more retro or psychedelic graphic on them. If you ignored the profile they looked liked a souped up version of my first yoyo. That being said, the weight and thud you mentioned was always a little concern of mine.
3 Likes
I’ve never had an old opaque plastic imperial to disassemble. That red one is cool.
They are both Neo Imperials. And they sort of disassembled themselves, slowly, during play.
I also have two Glow Imperials from the same era (1994) that came in identical Duncan packaging, yet one has the normal body and the other has the “sliced pie” structure like the orange Neo.
Does anyone know the history of this strange Imperial body structure? Why do/did yoyos of the same product code, from the same era, have different structures like this?
1 Like
that era these things basically needed to be glued together after you open the package… they fall apart within a few throws in my experience.
have never seen that inner structure but it would add weight distribution for looping imo. i do know that some are manufactured in different countries like 80’s butterflies some are made in mexico and have different foil logo stating it. so it could be related to that… different mold in that region maybe…
1 Like
Just got a couple wood fixed axle yo-yos and I have a question—
Is there anything I should do to set these up initially? I vaguely recall hearing something about beeswax. I dug through the forum graveyard a little bit but didn’t see anything. Any knowledge or links will be appreciated. Thanks!
1 Like
i recommend just start playing with it, if you are really picky about the string burning in centered on the axle, you can try to kinda rub a trench in the axle with say a coat hanger so the string stays centered while braking in fully. it may have negative consequences according to some but its worked for me so far.
1 Like
What does it mean to have the string burning in the center? Like, I don’t know what a string burning in is so I’m definitely not picky lol. Forgive my ignorance. It’s two of the yyf legends, one winged one regular. The regular one is cool and works as expected but the winged one keeps like not winding right like I’ll think it wound up well, but then it will have a snag and not unwind right. I hear the wood is like unfinished in there and I think that’s what’s messing with the wind but I don’t know so I thought I’d ask. I’m gonna go throw it for a while and see if that one smooths itself out. Thanks!
1 Like
sorry, so the wood is hard, but not incredibly hard like steel typically. your fingernail can dent it. well when you have a cotton string and throw a lot of hard sleepers, friction rubs the axle where the string is seated so it wears the wood down in that spot. I call it burning in because enough repeated high spin throws can create enough friction to cause smoking…you can literally smell burning wood.
sometimes not setting up the trench on a new axle can cause the string to burn in close to one half of the yoyo from just throwing it. it digs in slightly over time the more you use it. I find this annoying because the performance is less consistent, string rubs that side more often, etc…
a new legend wing does not have very smooth walls usually, it will wear in over a long time just playing and replacing strings, but you could use just a little sanding to smooth it out a little faster. just be careful to do it evenly and just a little. also, use string torsion to get more response if needed.