I mean that quality just got me to buy a Wide Angle so you might be on to something.
I think @twitch77 would agree.
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I always wonder how people quantify “better” in this sense. Also, the two companies just aren’t the same in the way they operate, as you probably know. One of the two does not own and operate a machine shop. This isn’t a knock on either of them, and actually they’re probably my two favorites.
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Oh I agree they are totally different. And again I don’t dislike G2, just think they’re a lot of hype. Also my Hawk is going to be here by the end of the week!
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It’s not true that you need to be all that good at yoyo to be able to review it effectively. Most of what gives a yoyo certain characteristics can easily be seen in its design and specs and doesn’t need advanced play to know. Is it bimetal? It will have lots of stability. Is it wide? String catches will be easier. Is it light? You will be able to push it around at speed easier. Does it have a low wall with decent rim weight? It will be good for horizontal.
I have been thinking about starting to review yoyos but not the most recent throw as people tend to do but rather ones that are older or less talked about.
I also thought a scoring system would be interesting. Steal it totally from how Doing DeMuro reviews cars. I just haven’t ironed out what categories to do. Love to hear people’s suggestions.
A starter list.
Finish
Build quality
Stability
Cool factor
Importance
Look
Playability
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I think that’s a really cool idea! I’ve always had a soft spot for older throws. Having a set list of categories will make it a lot easier to compare different yoyos for prospective buyers, too.
LorenzYo does a similar thing with his reviews. It’s not very accurate IMO but it is indeed interesting.
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I will have to look him up. The thing is to view it as a score from their point of view. Doug calls his the Doug score which I think is fitting. It lets you give numbers to your opinion. Clearly it’s all subjective but that’s part of why it’s fun.
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I think this has its place too because if you have one or two of the throws that have been reviewed, you can calibrate the rest of the reviews. For calibration purposes you would want to review one everyone has had their hands on, like the Replay Pro, Shutter, etc.
e.g. TurdScore™ is 8.5 for the Shutter, but my standards are lower and I think it’s a 9. I know now that his idea of smooth, good finish, fast, etc. is x degrees off from my standard, and can adjust accordingly.
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It might also be good to separate the scores into two categories: objective and subjective. Things like build quality, finish, and stability are all fairly objective qualities that can be assessed without much bias. However, things like “cool factor” and “look” are highly subjective (even “importance” is subject to heavy bias because it depends so much on one’s value system). Someone like me would probably ignore the subjective scores and only focus on the objective ones, so having them clearly broken out into two categories would be a nice organizational touch.
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But Specs can only give you a rough idea, just like Brandon’s review on the Raytracer, he thought it’s very generic and boring on first look but end up changimg his decision after hands on.
And even if you can tell from the specs that two yoyos are good for speedplays you can’t tell which is better if you can’t whip up a crazy speed combo of your own. Most yoyos are decently good nowadays, it’s the small differences that matters.
I dunno about you guys but I definitely find Brandon and Yiyang’s reviews waaaaaaay informative than T&B.
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Yeah, I don’t watch T&B videos for their value as reviews per se. I watch them to basically feel like I’m hanging out with a yoyo buddy for ten minutes.
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Well said!
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I have tried and tried over and over to get into his content, but I just can’t.
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Nah.
Being light doesn’t always in itself lend itself well to speed play. And being unskilled definitely can effect your review of a yo-yo. If you can’t keep the string from hitting the walls it’s going to seem less stable. If you can’t yoyo quickly and in control you won’t be able to evaluate how fast a yo-yo can play. And even if you can glean some of that from specs, what about two similarly spec’d yo-yos?
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Nah that’s bollocks.
There’s really not much to review with a yoyo and every aspect aside from feel can be evaluated by design.
Brandon Vu’s reviews may be entertaining to watch him shred up tricks, but really he doesn’t say a whole lot.
I have seen a Draupnir and have never thrown one. Let me see how accurate I can evaluate it performance by looking at it.
It’s a V/W hybrid, and under 64g, so it will move very quickly easily. The W/V hybrid means it also has a nice open catch zone, so it will perform pretty well for risky catches even though it’s width is less than the more popular 45mm+ of these days.
It is a bimetal so it will have plenty of stability coupled with its low walls so long complicated tricks will work just fine on it.
It performs very well for horizontal due to its low walls and plenty of rim weight.
If you have one with the blast finish, it will perform very well with hand grind, but not palm grinds due to the shiny SS rims.
I understand I didn’t address everything here, mostly because I can’t be bothered, but am I on track, Draupnir owners?
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The fact that you can accurately describe a Draupnir without ever having played with one shows why yoyo reviews are kind of pointless in the first place…
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I agree completely.
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I mostly watch reviews because I like to see tricks from the people in the review.
Yoyo reviews can be helpful if you don’t know how to interpret specs. In some cases yoyos will not exhibit the properties that the specs imply. In this case you would need an advanced player. However, I would say most yoyos can be judged from the spec sheet and the design/material.
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