Then vs now…

General Yo-Yo
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Hi yoyoexpert community,

My name is Ben, recently got back into yo-yos after finding my old Genesis+. I was involved during 2009-2014. I was young then and have come back after figuring out life can be rough as an adult and I need a hobby like this to help me feel like a kid again… It works.

I have this question itching at my brain that I’ve tried to research. It seems the online presence has changed and I’m a bit lost. Not that it seems less active, it just seems different. Less YouTube unboxings and reviews. CLYW is not CLYW anymore? YYJ is gone? I know there’s other brands I am not thinking of that I can’t find. Lots of inexpensive yo-yos, too.

For background, I probably used every other YoYo outside of some Japanese brands during the 2009-2014 period. I was a huge collector. Now I’m lost, lol.

So this begs the question… for those that remember the YoYo scene back then, how does it compare to now? Are there big changes that you can fill me in on? I appreciate any info you all are willing to contribute to fill me in.

Thank you

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Welcome back! Clyw is still clyw!

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The world has changed significantly since then, Some of it is unrecognizable. Not just the yoyo scene.

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Welcome back! I had a very similar situation coming back to yoyoing a year and a half ago after starting in 2009 and phasing out of yoyoing from 2014-2017ish. I didn’t feel like myself and I was majorly depressed and lost. I wanted to feel like myself again and the times I felt most like myself that I could remember were while yoyoing so I came back to the scene in fall of 2023 and haven’t looked back since.

I remember having very similar culture shock! Where did all the yoyo edits go? Why is everyone obsessed with the DNA? Since when is yoyoing viral online? Where did YYJ, SPYY, 3YO3, X3, HSpin and so many other OG brands go? You’re not alone!

While there still are unboxings and reviews, there are so many incredible yoyos on the market and the pace at which they are being released makes it very difficult for people to keep up! I’ve done a few of these myself, but even if I were to review the yoyos I’ve played in the last year and a half it would take months to film and edit because there have just been so many releases, prototypes, etc.

The online presence is definitely different, but the forums are still the forums! Instagram seems to be where most of the trick dumps, tech tricks, comp tricks, and experimental tricks end up, with some “content style” yoyoing, but that tends to be more on YouTube, TikTok, etc. I’ve found the community to be quite active on Discord and there are dozens of yoyo Discords for different brands and communities.

How does the scene compare from then to now? People are still awesome and yoyos are too! That said, slim, mid to undersized organic yoyos are far less common today, and now full sized super wide yoyos are fast becoming the norm. We’ve reached a point where some 1a and 5a yoyos are now legitimately wider than some 4a yoyos which is honestly mind boggling as a 4a player. Bimetal yoyos have become incredibly popular and quality control in general has gone way up. The B grades of today are arguably smoother than the A grades of 2014, which is insane. And 3D printed yoyos are becoming far more common and sophisticated.

As for yoyo brands? Many of the big hitters are still around like Duncan, YYF, and C3, but a ton of new boutique yoyo brands have emerged like G2, Dressel Designs, Enso, UNPRLD and others. New brands have taken a front seat on the action especially for competition like Yoyofriends and W1LD, and we’ve seen some of the biggest upsets in the world yoyo contest over the last couple years that we’ve seen in a long time! USA winning 4a for the first time in 20 years, Korea winning 1a and 5a for the first time ever, Hajime Miura tragically losing his massive winning streak for 3a, and the list goes on.

As for trick styles? They’ve changed a lot. Lord of the flies combos and dense tech tricks are far more rare compared to huge zoning tricks and meta combos that favor wide yoyos. Follow combos? How about behind the back horizontal through the legs? Yuuki Slack? How about horizontal -4.5 hook? Ladder Escape? Try 360 over the head Iwasawa Tower. Kids don’t ask you if you can walk the dog anymore, they ask if you can do the DNA or go godspeed because of TikTok and YouTube.

I could go on and on but needless to say a lot has changed but the core fundamentals of the community have not. We’re thrilled to have you back and feel free to message me if you want to chat more about 2010s yoyoing and how things have changed!

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Biggest change (in my experience) lies in social media - Mostly gone are the days of full on trick videos on Youtube, falling in favor of reels on Instagram, Shorts on Youtube and…Tiktoks on Tiktok…short video format. Also gone are the days of “yoyo reviews” as they’ve become outdated (though myself I still love reading an in depth write up of one’s experience with a yoyo I might be after). Forums are still fairly active here, also several discord servers are pretty active though small.

0a/Fixed Axle/Modern Responsive is really starting to grow too, we just got through “Fixed Axle February” where those who partake devote themselves (for the most part) to a fixed axle yoyo, take on challenges and learn new tricks.

Lastly, undersized isn’t really the norm anymore (though I absolutely still love throwing an undersized throw).

Oh, and the “DNA” is the new “Walk the Dog” request.

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YoYo’s still go up, down m, and around. Everything else is just noise. Enjoy the throw friend.

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Life being rough and needing a new/old hobby was what brought me back in as well. My learning curve was a little more dramatic. I was involved back in the late 80’s to late 90’s. Not to turn it into a “back in my day situation,” but for context, when I hit my hiatus, YYJ wasn’t even a company yet. Tutorials mostly came from books, and if you had additional questions or needed help, good luck, lol! The big rivalry on campus was Duncan and Yomega. Fireballs and Butterflies were the place to be, and the Brain technology was just starting to get some legs on the scene, haha.

I came back in to it all a couple of years ago around the end of Covid, so there was a huge gap, and unresponsive didn’t even have a folder in my mind yet, lol. Ball bearings in general instead of trans-axles were an interesting new concept to my brain. You’ll catch up for certain.

A lot of little companies have come and gone, but amongst that are also a lot of jewels of design. Big names are still there, but as Sgt1 mentioned, there were and are a lot of boutiques still that do a lot of high quality stuff, focusing more on creating quality releases vs just mass producing.

Technology and machining has come a long way and there are a lot of great throws now that can be manufactured for cheaper than could have been imagined. MagicYoYo for example has some very impressive performing throw designs, for sub $20 in some cases.

All in all, stick with it, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and welcome back to the party!

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Join the Boomers club! We have fixies…and unresponsives…and everything else. We’re just a real welcome club for all ages.

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In the 2009-2014 era, I was trading yoyos like crazy on the yoyonation BST, and reading through those forums to stay up to date on things. I thought it was the glory days.

The glory days are up to us though, and I choose to still be living them. We are blessed to have yoyoexpert, it’s the top forum. People don’t trade as much, they mostly sell on the BST. No biggie, just sell a yoyo and use the funds to buy one your after, it’s basically the same as trading.

And yep, tons of cheap and affordable yoyos. Onedrops M1 and yoyofactory’s budget lines sparked a movement, which has helped us get cheaper options that are still quality. Manufacturing at places overseas like FPM helped reduce costs even more, and they know their stuff.

Welcome back, this place has been a safe haven for me when life is too much. Glad you found that Genesis, I don’t believe in coincidence

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I mean it’s still playing w yo-yos and talking about them online.
Not trying to be glib, it just doesn’t feel all that different to me. But then you don’t see a lot of contrast when you’ve been in it the whole time.

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Ed! I used to love my Flying V

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Thank you all for your responses! That gives me a lot of good info. If anyone else wants to add to this, feel free. It’s great to hear the community is still thriving and enjoying yo-yos.

I think my next step is buy a yoyo from that time period and a new one and see what’s going on. I have literally been playing with my Genesis with the same string from 10 years ago… so I need some string and lube at the very least.

My favorite yoyo at the time was the canvas and chief. Is the chief still a favorite for a lot of people? Would love to get my hands on one. Might check the BST

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Chief is still a pretty good one, but highly coveted as well, it might end up hurting the wallet a bit, but worth keeping a lookout on the BST. Canvas similarly hit heavy collector status as well.

That being said, CLYW is going to be releasing their Leaf design soon (some first runs went out in December in the original Blue, but they will be releasing more with other colorways), which is an updated version of their Chief design. It will be much kinder to your wallet since it’s going to be in current production. Was improved to be a little more modern while keeping the same spirit. Minimal changes, same double rim design, with slightly increased width, little different hub, and tweaked weight distribution.

Pretty good option if you still want that old Chief kind of feel with updated performance.

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I played 2009 - 2012 before my Hiatus.

Coming back, 1A is a whole new world. The term 1A now is understood in general as Unresponsive. Not much Responsive 1A is discussed.

0A as has been mentioned above is popular to some of us. There was a discovery of “Stalls” during your time off that has changed the game. Fixie and fixie play seems more stable and consistent now. The go-too being the easy to get Duncan Butterfly.

Modern Responsive is fairly newish, a lot of growth in the last few years. These are “Slim line, Highwall” bearing yoyos that can perform the 0A fixie tricks, but still have enough spin time to do the clasic 1A responsive string tricks.

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This idea that yoyos didn’t have enough spin time is starting to make me wonder. I finally watched the old Duncan How to Be a Player video and those guys were doing some tricks that really made me rethink responsive. Like…5A on a responsive? Steve Brown and Chris Neff make me feel like I’m cheating with an unresponsive.

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There was a pod cast where Steve Brown mentioned that he modified the Transaxle yoyos that were popular at the time back to wood. So he was throwing the latest and greatest, but reversed modified. What a Bad A$$

DocPop has a lot of Fixie/Responsive 5A Content. Plus Yoyos designed for that purpose. PLTPS!

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I just finished all the Yoyo Player podcast episodes and I’m going through withdrawls. I need more from those guys! I really relate with the “how can we make yoyo more like skating” vibe. I think Jensen and Charles really embodied that spirit with the videos they were doing with CLYW and later with a-rt. Competition is fine and all, but let’s just rip on the street or the woods and shoot.some funny videos. Let’s have fun.

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since 2014

yoyos have gotten wider
tricks slackier
string thicker

one drop, clyw and yyf are still making good throws

brandon vu finally stopped reviewing yoyos and starting making his own

cant go wrong nowadays, yoyos are all so good

enjoy the fun, and welcome back!!!
Jeaves

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Modern responsive sounds really cool. I was never into 2a and quite honestly didn’t know it was called 0a. I guess I considered 2a as looping and never looked into single handed responsive.

Might pick up one of these nicer metal responsive yo-yos

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This.

I need to check that podcast out. The skater / street style of yo-yoing during the period I was most involved in was one of my favorite aspects of the art behind yo-yoing.

So a/rt is most of the guys I remember from CLYW?

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