I disagree 100%. Yes CLYW definitely has amazing-playing high-quality yoyos, but it’s NOT their DEFINING characteristic. A defining characteristic is something so distinctive that you can easily identify something by it.
One Drops defining characteristic? Probably Side Effects or grooves.
General-yo? Smoothness.
If you ask the question "What company do you think of when you hear “huge variety (in terms of size, shape, and style!) of amazing-playing high-quality yoyos?” you’re gonna get a bunch of different answers. I could answer YYR, Turning Point, One Drop, SPYY, C3, General-Yo, etc. It may describe all these company’s yoyos to a point, but it doesn’t necessarily define them.
But if you ask the question "What company do you think of when you hear “huge variety of the most amazing colorways(splashes/speckles/acid washes)”? The answer is going to be overwhelmingly CLYW the vast majority of the time.
THAT is their defining characteristic. Silly lipstick. If you want great playing yoyos, I’m really happy for you, you’ve got hundreds of choices outside of CLYW. However if you also want the most amazing colorways, I’d recommend CLYW every time.
We’re going to have to agree to disagree. You might like their splashes, but the Chief, Avalanche, Puffin, etc, are famous for the way they play. You never hear someone say, “I love the Chief, because it has an awesome splash!” but you will often hear people say “I love the Chief; it’s got the most incredible balance of stability, float, and spin of any of my yoyos. It just feels right.”
They might amend, “Oh, and it looks GREAT”. But that’s not the quality they use to describe it.
None of this can be quantified, really, but anectodal evidence is on my side here…in any given thread with someone talking about why they like their CLYW yoyos, they talk about how it plays, not about how it looks. That’s pretty telling in what is a “defining” characteristic. Looks being mentioned second or not at all… that’s a “secondary” characteristic.
But maybe we’re just looking for different things when we read these threads. Personal affinities are going to factor into what we perceive, as well.
Again I am gonna disagree with you. You’re singling out yoyos and I’m talking about CLYW as a company. What is CLYW’s defining characteristic, what makes them famous? It’s their colorways. It’s not the Chief, it’s not the Avalanche, it’s not the Puffin. Yes, the Chief is famous for how it plays, but people wouldn’t know how it plays unless they were enticed enough by its looks to buy it.
If you don’t like CLYW’s colorways, you’re in luck, you can go to another company for solids that play just as well. There are literally hundreds of options out there for amazing-playing yoyos. What then sets CLYW apart from the competition? Their colorways! What keeps people buying multiples and multiples of the same CLYW model? Their colorways! A huge part of CLYW’s business comes from people who collect and purchase multiples of their favorite models in different colorways. If CLYW didn’t keep releasing different runs in different colorways, what incentive would any of these collectors have to purchase multiples?
Why allocate your resources towards solids which might just sit on the shelf when you could allocate those same resources towards an interesting splash that you know is going to sell out?
How they look is NOT a secondary characteristic, as supported by the people asking for solids and the whole solids vs splash debate in general. Many obviously care more about how it looks than how it plays. If they didn’t care more about how it looked then they wouldn’t be holding out for solids. Also, you’re telling me that people weren’t intrigued by the Chief because of the cool looking double rims? PLENTY of people talked about it when it was first released.
Obviously play is important, but the bottom line is CLYW would NOT be where they are today without their amazing colorways.
I feel that they’ve moved from the splash that made them famous though
Take a look at the og 28stories peak and any of the current 28stories throws. That splash is completely different. If the splash looked like some of their original colorways I’d understand but it’s nothing like them. This is the main reason I’d like to see some solid colors with maybe some fun engravings. They could even be designed by Jensen. I feel a nice solid colorway with cool laser graphics would do just as well if not better than their splash counterparts.
Settle down… I simply asked for more solid colors, I didn’t say holy crap stop making splashes/speckled or acid wash. @jet why on earth would I want to buy a different yoyo brand simply because they make solid colors that makes absolutely no sense at all. no one is attacking CLYW just simply making a request.
I never said you said stop making splashes/speckled or acid wash. But you are asking them to allocate resources elsewhere that could be better spent doing what they do well.
Actually it makes perfect sense that you would want to buy a different yoyo brand. You prefer solids. CLYW doesn’t offer solids 99% of the time. Why would you then want to purchasing CLYW when they don’t offer solids? There is no shortage of other companies who do offer amazing playing yo-yos in solids. So you requesting CLYW make solids when that’s not really their thing is what makes absolutely no sense at all.
I don’t want to dissect everything you’re saying, Jet…
But a person is typically looking for “a Yoyo X”, not “a Color X” when they’re shopping for a yoyo.
“Man, I really want a solid blue yoyo. That’s what I’m craving. I think One Drop has one of those!” isn’t a train of thought that people go down when they’re looking for a yoyo. Unless they truly need a blue yoyo to accessorize with an outfit, I guess.
“Man, my research has really showed me that I should try a Chief!” is a ludicrously more common scenario. “Bummer, I really do prefer solids… but I guess I gotta buy a splash if I want that Chief!” is the endgame of the “color” scenario. The person gets the Chief, but hey, they’re still allowed to typically prefer solids, and if a solid were available, they would have bought it.
No disrespect to you, but do you really think that’s how it works? The majority of people simply will not buy the yo-yo if it’s not available in a colorway they enjoy. People typically don’t spend $135-$155 on a yo-yo they don’t enjoy looking at. The thought pocess is very similar automobile shopping. You’re not going to purchase a blue car when you really wanted Cherry Red just because that’s all what’s available at the dealership. You’re probably gonna hold out for the color you want, if you’re a smart shopper.
There is a small minority of people like you who seem to have no opinion or care very little about “silly lipstick” whatsoever and would hit the “add random colorway to cart” button if there was one.
Whether or not you want to admit it, visual aesthetics are very important to the majority of yo-yoers and people in general. It’s not necessarily form over function, but it’s definitely form and function.
I agree with JetEye, when I think CLYW I think immediately of splatter paint. Or the double ring thing the chief has. Granted, people don’t buy a yoyo that they think is ugly. HOWEVER, I personally would be willing to get a less cool looking color way if I could get an amazing throw. I know lots of throwers who feel the same way.
I agree Casey, and I totally understand someone who is willing to get a less cool looking colorway. I’m also willing to get a “less cool looking colorway”. But I’m not willing to get something I think looks ugly.
As long as I think it’s cool looking I don’t care if I get a Clareview Station when my first choice was a Nebula. “Less cool” is still cool.
So your saying to me that I shouldn’t buy a CLYW because they don’t make solid colors? So your saying that I am wrong for liking CLYW enough to ask on a forum that they make some more solid colors? You would rather see me buy another yoyo brand simply because they make a solid color of my liking? Sorry but I just don’t follow your logic.
Your kind of comparing apples to oranges… you cant compare playability/performance to the way a yoyo looks they are two totally different things. I will still buy CLYW but I would prefer it if they had some more solid color choices. If you do nothing and never ask for anything then you will surely get nothing.
Anodizing is not an easy task. It’s extremely hard to get certain colorways to turn out perfect time and time again. Nobody wants to spend money on an anodization that turns out looking horrible and have to put a FG stamp on it. It’s all about making the colorway work and become consistent
Was going to buy another surge when they dropped and then I realized I new a Yeti… Guess the SIX is going on the Bst! Need another Surge a Rally and a Yeti!
I like clyw as a company all together, They make great yoyos , they have a great design ethics behind each throw, they all play fab, the team are very innovative and creative individuals, There is continuity of aesthetics (shape) that runs in every yoyo , ohh and lastly the colour way art approach is a clyw thing that other companies are doing because its DOPE !!! I can honestly say I would be happy if I bought any clyw in any colour or colour way because…… they all PLAY SICK.
Played a Yeti and Rally back to back, and I honestly preferred the Yeti. I really thought the Rally would blow it over, but it didn’t really do if for me (not so say it wasn’t fantastic as well).
