What are the 10 most influential Yo-Yos from the last 10 years, 2015-2025? Make a list, state a case, what does influential even mean? It just needs to have been released in the last 10 years and had some type of design or style trend that others copied or followed…
YYF EDGE (2016)
YYF Shutter Wide Angle (2017)
A-RT Grail (2016)
MYY SKYVA (2016)
CoreCo Alley Cat (2017)
One Drop Deep State (2017)
Radical Seas / Freshly Dirty Canary (2018)
TP Mustang (2018)
Topyo TS (2019)
YYFr Hummingbird (2017)
iYOYO iCEBERG (2017)
Spinworthy KNack (2020)
Recess First Base (2015)
One Drop Cabal (2016)
YYR Onslaught (2020)
W1LD Wilderness 7075 (2023)
YYF Replay Pro (2015)
MK1 YoYos MK1 x The Lord of the Rings™ YoYo! (2024)
I’m not going to think about this too hard on my own, since I’m sure I’d forget or miss some things without the input of others but:
(unordered)
1: Yoyofriends Hummingbird - one of the first mainstream popular (and affordable) 7068 + ss rim bimetal yoyos with a modern and straightforward design.
2: Wilderness 7075 - Normalized and brought 52 wide to the mainstream in a way that was accepted by players.
4: Japan Technology Amulette - What I think to be the start of modern “solved” offstring yoyo design. Used as a reference basis for the majority of offstring yoyos released after it, the new standard.
4: Duncan Haymaker X - Arguably the first yoyo to use the wide and thin overhanging SS rim bimetal design.
5: Japan Technology Kagerou - Took what the Haymaker X pioneered and perfected it to the point where other yoyo companies immediately took notice and wanted to make similar rim designs.
6: Turning Point Hades - (debatable) mainstream acceptance of 80g yoyos for modern competition, maybe not much of an impact in 1A, but unquestionably important model for 3A.
7: A-rt Grail - I was thinking about this from your list and it really does feel to me like this was kind of the starting point of organics and lower performance “feels oriented” yoyos to rise up. Sure there were plenty of organics that came before it, but after the grail released I think is when so many companies wanted to make grail-likes and made jamming “worse” yoyos for the sake of focusing on control and creativity a more popular concept.
That’s all that’s really all I can think of at the moment, there’s been lots of boutique brand yoyo trends especially in the past few years (mono ss, capped, plastic rims, etc.) but I feel like most of these are only popular within niches online and will be forgotten with time. I believe those to just be brief trends, not anything truly influential within the long term lens of yoyo history.
Agree on the Hummingbird (2017) as it was able to give Draupnir (2013) eques performance to the masses at volume and as a flagship for FPM made them a leading go to manufacture for quality machining which help the boutique market grow tenfold.
But the Riccochet was only 200 dollars in 2013, was the ti Dream actually cheaper?
I personally feel like there hasn’t really been an influential titanium yoyo yet. There’s been a lot of titanium releases, but I feel like amongst players they just haven’t really caught on. And there doesn’t really seem to be any common trends amongst ti yoyos. Even with titanium yoyos becoming slightly more common for competition usage, they still just seem like an extreme niche to me.
MK 1 Ring Bearer - for respecting intellectual property laws
This is based on a hope for future and ongoing influence in the industry. @MarkD has shown it is possible to have incredible collaborations between even boutique yoyo companies and behemoth intellectual properties. I’m hoping to see more of this in the future.
This is why I put the Mustang(2018) on my list, I feel like it is the “Gold” standard for performance Ti and it has had a long run now. I initially wanted to put a Luftverk Evora (2015) as Luftverk @jeffreypang911 really took Titanium to the next level, where now Ti has been normalized and is very common in the current market. Is it niche? yes cause it still has a high price tag. The $150 Ti-Vayder (2019) tried to break that price point barrier, and bring what was considered at the time the Best Yoyo to the people, thanks to @codinghorror
This is why I have DK Doorknob (2018) on the list even though Suction (2018) was released right after it. Metal Capped novelty collaborations for the fun of it, though a lot of credit has been cited to the Suction.
I was trying to think of a YYR throw, but now it has dawned on me that GOPA (2022) has inspired a resurgence in more Lightweight Slim Lines, such as the Slappa, an awesome video
Biased but I’m gonna go ahead and say this list REALLY needs a fixed axle or two. Maybe updated Duncan Butterfly and/or TMBR? Because if you’ve been living under a rock instead of in the fixed axle collective, 0a throwing has seen some massive development.
Wood is (still) good.
And more generally, I would agree the Deep State, Weekender, AlleyCat 650b, and RBC would be worthy modern responsive bearing throws for sure.
New plastic freehand - proof that old design stand the test of time with light refresh for affordable good player
Tri-material onslaught YYR - I do not know what come first, Onslaught? bi-metal with plastic rim rocks! it is my favorite modern yoyo configuration
First OD yoyo with side effects - i do not know which model this is. side effects are greatest invention on yoyoing sans silicone response and bearing
^i realize this is 2010
ART Grail - every company have their own grail clone now. also mark the era of 66-67g average yoyo weight move to lighter ~64g yoyo
SF DK - resurrection of complicated multipiece design and unique outside of the box
I am always trying to bring the 