So as you may or may not know, 2015 was the year of the titanium. There were many amazing titanium releases:
iyoyo Tiger
YYF dream Ti
SPYY TYY-01
Onedrop CiTizen
Luftverk Evora
sOMEThING anglam TISS
And some others I don’t know off the top of my head. So… What do you think 2016 will be? I think 2016 is gonna be the year of bimetal. So far we got 2 big to-be-released bimetals for 2016: CLYW Blizzard and the 2016 YYF superstar.
I don’t really know, I’m hoping that magnetics start to make an appearance, and not just like what they did with that Duncan. It would be cool if some tri-metals showed up as well. But who knows, I’m just gonna be white knuckling the whole year.
Yeah, it’s something different every year. A few years ago, a bunch of Delrins showed up at once. 2015 was a good year.
I think 2016 will be the year of budget metals. I think the $50 or less metal thing is going to really take off more than ever. I see the trend even more at the end of 2015. Railgun, Imagine Breaker, Flow reduced price, and YYF will continue their line, as they were one of the companies at the forefront of that.
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The decline of the >$50 aluminum yo-yo. There are enough great playing things for $50 and under that people paying premium money are going to want bi-metal or more exotic materials.
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i feel like bi-metals are kinda played out.
also regular metals.
and plastics.
and ball bearings.
so i’m going with the “year of wood”. but that’s every year to me.
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well that’s because you are a fixie player, and every year is wood. 
This is going to be a fascinating year.
I see two; three trends continuing to play-out.
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The “Budget” Metal category will continue to evolve and improve until there is no difference between a $50 yo-yo and a $150 single-metal yo-yo.
a. As the cost of capital increases due to the Federal Reserve raising rates; the playing field will continue to tip in-favor of Chinese manufacturers who are subsidized both directly and indirectly by the government through under-valued Yuan and subsidized commodity prices. To compete, non-Chinese manufacturers will need to innovate new products, not simply re-issue old ideas with cool-sounding color-schemes.
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Multi-material/Bi/Tri-Metal category will continue to evolve as manufacturers try different combinations of materials as well as weight placement configurations. Over time I would expect these designs to converge to a “best” configuration and materials. There will be lots of experimentation and hopefully, innovation to come.
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Playing with fixed-axle, wooden yo-yo’s will come to be seen as a signs of intellectual inferiority and the general breakdown of human society.
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So, not unlike impressionism, jazz, or punk rock!
I can handle being on the cutting edge of THAT kind of revolution. 
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chuckles
Good point. I noticed that many companies are seeking machine shops in china, and made in USA will pretty much only be a OneDrop thing. I also noticed that YYF moved the production of dogmas to china to keep the price down at $45. I also noticed that (particularly OneDrop and CLYW) solid colors are becoming the next big thing. The first run of the Borealis was all solid. Also, the first run of the blizzard as well as the latest run of the chief is mostly solid.
2015 was year of plastics.
We got best playing one in YYR Gargantua, most fun in YYF Daydream and overall best, most universal in First base.
2015 was full of titanium, but that’s just boring niche market for few people spending too much money on yo-yos. It’s not future of yo-yoing. Future are great metals under 50$ and amazing plastics under 20$.
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But there are more Titanium’s on the way, it’s not over!
Oh no, I’ve said too much :
2016 might be the year of clyw! They have some incredible stuff coming…
True, it may also be the return of Duncan, they got some great yoyos in the works. They will release a new barracuda, a janos sig, and a new freehand. I’ve tried the new freehand at NER, and it’s amazing! You won’t believe it’s a Duncan!
Too many people say 2016 will be the year of _______, but I think that 2016 will just be a great year for yo-yo. It’s shaping up to be great for contests, videos, and yoyo designs in general.
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Well I have a feeling that what 2016 holds is more then we can ever imagine…
In before Sengoku has a quad-metal.
I think that’s right on the money. There are companies like MagicYoyo who are producing really good aluminum yoyos in the $20 range. There are several great aluminum yoyos like the TOO H.O.T. which are under $50. And MagicYoyo is coming out with a Bi-Metal yoyo which is rumored to be in the $50 to $60 range.
Also, the Replay Pro has shown us that you can make a really good plastic yoyo which absolutely can compare to aluminum yoyos which are 4 times the price. Imagine a Replay Pro with a lip for thumb grinds, that could be the next yoyo of the year.
Good point. It says a lot that about the state of the yoyo industry that we would even think of saying “You won’t believe it’s a Duncan!” Duncan use to be the only game in town. Now, they have to climb their way back into relevance. My grand daughter loves her Metal Drifter, but it goes through friction pads incredibly fast and that sends a negative quality image. Duncan makes some great yoyos, but I think they need to look into modifying their image from a toy company to a company which makes competition quality yoyos.
Perhaps they should split their packaging and advertising into two realms. Keep the flashy bubble pack packaging for yoyos like the Butterfly XT, Metal Drifter, Flipside, etc. while doing a more mature box packaging for the higher end yoyos. Although I’ve never seen a higher end Duncan in any of the stores I go to so I don’t know what their current packaging looks like for those items. They may already be doing this.
Something like the Duncan Triumph looks incredible, great colorways, cool shape. But it’s tough to get excited about a $115 yoyo with stickers for response pads when I can buy a SuperNova for $55. At $115 you’re competing against CLYW and One Drop and I’m not sure that the perceived value is equal between those two.
So I think we’ll see more really good under $50 aluminum yoyos. Some under $70 bi-metals. And some incredible under $25 plastic yoyos.
And a Horizon style cup? Definitely. I’m getting hyped up for that just by thinking about it.
2015 was about by following.
2016 will be the year of leading?
Hope so!
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