What about C3?
Edit: also without YYF cycling through all their different designs would other companies have been able to determine the optimal yo-yo design for competition? Not a lot of companies had the resources to make that wide a range of product.
Edit 2: id also argue the Genesis was the first “best” competition yo-yo post plastic/aluminum era.
I kind of think of C3 nowadays as the YYF of Asia. They’re the big always accessible asian company. They’ve also always made excellent yoyos but I wouldn’t say they were ever innovational leaders, except for maybe the fingerspin movement. When they started coming up YYR was already starting to change the game with the Sleipnir.
Still an excellent company though, same for YYF. I respect them a lot
Weren’t YYRs first few designs undersized?
Never mind sleipnir was 2009
I have a lot of respect for YYR, and not just because their prices positively demand respect. 
But it seems like some really good designs of theirs fly under everyone’s radar, like the Anomaly. It’s too bad that their luxury prices keep some amazing throws out of so many people’s hands.
For sure, I think the Genesis was the gamechanger on the American side. I appreciate the Genesis more than the 888 tbh because you can see more of its influence on modern designs, it was further developed and it was definitely one of the best yoyos at the time.
Which came first though? Genesis or Sleipnir? I believe the Genesis came a few months earlier right? It was close though. Genesis definitely set a good bar though, I think the Sleipnir was just, quite literally, far ahead of its time it was a little ridiculous
Completely agree with your sentiments.
Their first design, the Stardust was midsized(52-53mm if I recall correctly). Their 2nd the Stargazer was full sized by that times standards(54mm). Their 3rd the Sleipnir was… well we all know about that
Yeah I corrected myself above.
Good discussion 
What about dominant boutique brands?
I think even in today’s market, there can be a distinction made between micro and nano boutique companies.
I love one drop because of their whole business model in general, and they put out some pretty awesome yoyos too.
Aside from that, I don’t really care too much for nano [super duper tiny] biutique companies. I am more interested in the yoyos themselves. I’m experienced enough to know basically what a yoyo will play like just by looking at the specs alone. I know what I like, and I’m not privy to chucking my hard-earned cash at yoyos just because they are the hot new thing.
I don’t care whether they are a well-established dominant company or a small operation ran out of some dudes grandma’s basement. If they produce a yoyo that piques my interest, I feel more inclined to attain that said yoyo over just supporting them for the sake of supporting them.
Case in point, and I guess my latest contribution to this topic of unpopular opinions:
One Drop has not released anything substantially mind-blowing in almost 2 years [except the parlay, which was a collaboration].
Are they high quality, thoughtfully designed models? Yeah. They’re just not my cup of tea. I love one drop, but I also know what I like in the way of design. I’m not just going to support them by buying their yoyos for the sake of supporting them. I will support them in other ways, mainly advocation.
My response kind of deviated from your initial comment, for clarification I don’t consider one drop to be a boutique brand. I would consider something like G squared to be a well-established Boutique, he has built his reputation on more than just hype alone. His products are probably the highest quality Boutique available.
Ooooh. I think they were one of the leading innovators in American design up until the Valor. They’ve released a few great competitive designs since then like the Top Deck, but they’ve been far less frequent and they’ve been focusing on more “fun” yoyos that still perform great.
But if you think about it their designs never changed thaaat much. It’s just that around the 2014 time was when the design meta really started shifting to full on competition designs. The heart of OD never really conformed to that, they’ve stuck to a similar formula, while just making a few adjustments to make them modern.
I think that’s why so many people love OD even though they’re not necessarily a leading competition driven company anymore. It’s because their designs, their vision stayed the same so you’ll always know when you’re throwing a OD, they have one of the strongest signature feels out of any company today
I think you hit the nail on the head with that assessment mister.
You seem like you’d be a OD guy tho so that kind of surprised me
If a yoyo’s “personality” could be defined as the combination of its aesthetics and feel in play, then I’d say that One Drop yoyos have a personality most compatible with my own. There’s just something about them that feels right to me. Even though One Drop isn’t putting out extreme competition-oriented designs, or pushing the design envelope so much, they are nevertheless putting out designs that consistently look and play exactly the way I want a yoyo to look and play. Even yoyos I didn’t expect to like that much I ended up really liking. It’s kind of uncanny, actually.
How so? I am definitely a self-proclaimed one drop fanboy.
Yeah it’s definitely that signature feel.
I also find that OD’s stationary stability is particularly impressive. Their yoyos always seem to be more stable than you’d expect from looking at it
Oh you said you didn’t like their throws just the past 2 years, I misunderstood
Correct. I haven’t seen anything by them lately that I’ve crawled up the walls with anticipation for.
There are one or two One Drop yoyos from every year between 2013 - 2019 that I really, really like, except for 2015 which was like a Year Without a One Drop for me. That’s pretty amazing consistency, I’d say.
Yeah clyw really fell off for me when I came back. Back in late 2000s and early 2010s they had real good designs. They lost their spark after the summit/chief era IMO. Picked up a peak 2 when it released but that’s it from new clyw.
