Fidget spinners.
Joke
1 Like
He is now. But that was a snappy morning, Iāll tell you what.
3 Likes
Carving names and palm trees on the sides of yo-yos would be nice to see again.
5 Likes
Salvation Army swap, leave some cloths and take some cloths havenāt done that in a while, I just might have to once again
2 Likes
The wide leg jeans just reminded me of JNCOā¦whoās old enough to have had at least 1 pair of those before they were in high school?
3 Likes
Hollering from the top of a mountain that undercut = yes
2 Likes
JNCOs, chain wallets, spiky hair (or the bowl cut), and those giant ball necklaces. I think I had a pair back then, bottoms got chewed up and half the time I felt like I was going to trip over my own two feet. Funny how it went from ridiculously wide pants to leg-constricting skinny pants.
2 Likes
not sure if this counts as a ātrendā, but hand-poured flowable silicone!
got into throwing just slightly before 2010, at the time smaller companies like CLYW were still hand pouring silicone and it was just something guys still did whenever their responses wore out. i remember using red RTV at the time, because flowable was difficult to find where i lived. that stuff was hella messy and hard to clean up, but they felt so damn grippy and good.
pads have come a loooong way since then and theyāre all super decent (shoutout Flow Groove, Snow Tires, Sochi) , and i get that at that level of sufficient quality it makes sense for companies and players to just use pads ā but they just donāt have the same sweet spot of being consistently snappy whilst not snagging at all. i also miss the hands-on aspect of tuning up your throws yourself : ) as a buyer it felt like companies were personal, soulful and warm, as a player it feels good to service your own gear. now i replace pads with flowable sili in all the throws i know iām going to play for some time.
hereās a small batch i did this morning having some off-time!
and a larger batch some time back:
14 Likes
Another trend I meant to bring up earlier (yoyo related) Iād like to see come back (or at least see more of) are what we used to call āUndersized Yoyosā that hover around the 50mm mark. When I got back into throwing in 2010, 50mm or so was actually pretty normal. I spent a lot of time learning on a roughly 51mm throw with some phat rims making it crazy stable and forgiving for my newb self to learn on 
Today, Iāve seen 54mm be considered as " slightly undersized" as yoyos as yoyos are seemingly getting larger to some extent. I always thought 54mm as āfull size.ā
I know there are a few ā2010-sizedā throws out there but not as broad of a variety as what there used to be. I like full sized throws but I love a 50mm throw too!
8 Likes
Nice! Thatās the second thing I do with every yoyo I obtain after I loctite the axle. Red RTV in every one is my throws regardless of what the pads were like. String, bearing, response are rhe same for every yoyo I ownā¦itās nice to have some consistency, especially when every yoyo you pick up is different.
4 Likes
This is a trend I 100% would like to see return!
4 Likes
Hand poured silicone is actually better than pads? Iāve never tried it, but am curious on whether thatās true. It seems like it would be harder to maintain consistency on, given slight differences in thickness, shape and finish.
3 Likes
Itās super easy, the flowable stuff levels itself so even easier, and the red stuff you use a credit card or old drivers license to smooth it flat, and if you like it recessed, you take the smooth end of a plastic spoon and gently press it to the response groove and spin the yoyo slowly on a flat surface. G2Jake, Dylan Kowalski, and Brandon Vu all have awesome tutorials for siliconing.
3 Likes
It has some advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
Easy to do once you get the procedure down
Cheap: You can silicone much of your collection for the price of a small handful of premade silicone O-rings
Itās better than guessing for any throws you have that are of a design no longer made
You can customize the fit: Some players used to complain on here about the new friction pads being too grabby at the beginning. You can set flowable silicone up to your own taste, though.
Disadvantages:
Can be messy in the beginning and may need a bit of cleanup
It needs time (usually about 24 hours) to set properly, so youāll have to use a different throw in the meantime
Silicone can dry up in the tube sometimes if you havenāt used it in a while, so some of it can go to waste
It may not last as long as those friction pads do, especially for avid players who practice several hours every day, but the casual player should have no problem
3 Likes
Some of that is absolutely true however Get one of these and silicon isnāt wasted, )
Itās only messy if you donāt have a small bowl of water next to you or you smudge some and let it start drying, I out my stuff on a paper plate and then set that in a TV dinner tray with edges so thereās no mess. And as far as how long it lasts I never used the flowable stuff but the red stuff lasts longer than any response pad I tried. You do save loads of money, and as for the waitā¦Yea that can be a minor annoyance but having as much consistency as possible (and saving money) imo makes up for any negatives.
**Edit btw Iām a Plumber with 15+ years exp. so when it comes to silicon as well as threads Iāve got a lot of experience.
8 Likes
Iām not saying itās difficult, more wondering whether thereās actually an improvement in performance. The material is basically the same, so the only difference is in customizing the fit? Customization is great, but can you consistently recess it by 0.2mm each time?
1 Like
Thatās a nice setup. I Donāt have that for my setup. I just a plastic tube I picked up at my local hardware store. The caps they put on those donāt seal out air well so the silicone dries after a while especially in the tip, but what youāve got there looks much better than what Iāve been using.
*I guess a useful edit to my earlier post would be to say that the mess and possibility of drying is also highly dependent on what youāre using.
2 Likes
Not trying to sound rude, but I think you unknowingly answered your own questionš
With flowable, you can customize it to your performance preferences. Looking for your throw to be a bit snaggier? Fill that sucker up flush! Your yoyo is known for being snaggy? Fill it up a bit below the groove. Want something to compete with? Experiment with how tight you want your binds and how high the silicone should be.
4 Likes
No offense taken, someone mentioned earlier that the red RTV stuff was somehow more consistent than premade pads. Iām just wondering if thereās some kind of magic to the silicone they use, or if it boils down to customizing the fit. If the latter, I doubt my own ability to consistently achieve the same fit each time, so Iām probably better off with premade pads!
4 Likes