Yeah, I can’t tell. Sarcasm doesn’t really translate so well when all we have to work with is the written word.
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i ‘believe’ it was sarcastic… as @Grendel is quite grendel-like… i do play what i display, it makes them more accessible… and i just rotate different ones from display to cases… (i still have a small open case on my dresser though for grab ‘n go)
it’s a bit sloppy now, and i have a couple more to put up…
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I like those cases. Where did you get them?
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they are ‘randomgrounds’ bamboo tea boxes, and my wife found them on amazon. i’ve seen them at a low of around $16, and a high of $32.
edit: also, for those that are not in the know, you can track amazon prices at camelcamelcamel
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Playable art. Just like guitars.
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I didn’t know it would get quite this deep. Anyway…
Oh man CalicoJoe!
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Just remembered astroyama and andocommando’s works were really cool too.
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I remember @Wayne had a calico Joe Dark Magic for sale/trade some years back. I have always regretted not trying to get it.
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Can’t remember if I sold this to yoyobrothers or someone else but this was my calicojoe throw
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Thought I’d resurrect this topic
If it’s not boutique it’s bad
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I’d counter that larger companies have the resources to make the final product exactly what they would like through multiple prototyping stages that would likely not be cost efficient for boutique brands. Not only that, they have years of experience and the resources to pay outside people to consult on design. They can have multiple product lines in place at a time because they don’t need to immediately recoup expenses from designing that product.
Boutique companies are often 1 person at the helm without access to the same resources and often are much less experienced than the bigger, proven brands who may have been boutique themselves at first. They often can’t reach the same price point as bigger brands. They don’t have the resources to support the community to the same extent as brands like YYF and Duncan, who support some of the most talented contest yoyoers.
I get the appeal of boutique stuff feeling more significant and unique due to that boutique, limited run status, but how many yoyoers wouldn’t exist if the big brands didn’t exist and put out cheap but quality products?
Edit: want to add that I appreciate boutique brands and they make some of my favorite yo-yos (@MarkD @chaosgow ), and didn’t mean to imply that they can’t make yo-yos that are better than bigger companies, I just wanted to defend them because they are crucial to the community)
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All yoyos deserve to be loved, especially the DV888.
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I am part of a non boutique company.
I can see where you’re coming from, but I would invite you to try some of the latest Sengoku lineup that we have in the works. Not to sound like a commercial, but as someone who witnesses firsthand what goes into them, I can assure you, the yoyos Julio makes are not bad.
I would make sure I had tried just about every non-botique yoyo before I would dismiss them all 
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I did sound very harsh lol, For me it seems that more care and thought goes into boutique yoyos, every gsquared I have is dead smooth because @G2_Jake can test all of them, however all the yoyofactorys I’ve tried have vibe or anno defects (A grades). I am open to all companys but as I said, so far, I much prefer boutique throws over mass-produced YYF, that being said some throws I’ve tried are dead smooth and pretty good. Another point I noticed is that boutique companys seem to make more unique designs and colorways, a lot of CLYW, YYF, and others just look bland and boring. most yoyos these days are rrally good it just comes down to preference. 
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All this whining. Have you tried One Drop yet???
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Not yet I’ve tried stuff machined by them but not one of their official releases, every time I’m about to pull the trigger some limited drop has to be announced and steal my money 
I wasn’t really targeting them I was more talking about YYF, magic yoyo, and the new CLYWs
Didn’t think I sounded “Whiny” Sorry if it came out that way.
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Well you’re trying.
not sure what you mean by that.
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Just dissing on some pretty major companies at this point. Older CLYW’s had vibe but every new one I’ve touched has been vibe free.
As for yoyofactory I know Ben has a post on here discussing vibe. The ultra lineup of yoyofactory were excellent and smooth but they put more focus on other aspects since people want unique designs more than they want dead smooth.
You’d also be surprised how many “boutique” throws are manufactured by magic yoyo as well.
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