It occurred to me that in my collection of yoyos I don’t have a single vintage Duncan. I have some Tom Kuhn, BC, Playmaxx. Not that it is a requirement but they played such an iconic roll in the history that maybe I should add one to the collection. The question is which one?
I’m open to suggestions on a vintage Duncan
Classic one-piece wooden Butterfly. Beware of the newer reproductions, which are NOT one piece. They still play very well, but not a vintage piece for sure.
For vintage Duncan, be prepared to PAY. I define vintage Duncan as made of wood. In my recollection the Duncan Imperial and Butterfly have all been made of plastic with metal axles since at least as far back as 2000, maybe longer, with some exceptions. I have some wooden Duncan Tournament repros from around 2002-2005. They are ok, not great players and not the same as the older Duncan wood yoyos.
They were plastic with metal axles in the late 60’s into the early 70’s when I was a kid. Maybe earlier than that. Thats what’s vintage to me. I never saw a wooden yoyo until I got back into the hobby a year ago.
What do people consider vintage Duncan? 1940s-60s? Or are the 70s-90’s vintage too?
Get yourself a Duncan Satellite with the fixed wooden axel.
Great information, I’m 58 so I would have played with them back in the 70’s. I guess I would like to find something from around that time period.
Yeah you have to go back a ways to get to the iconic wooden Duncan stuff. I am in my 60s and the first yo-yo I can remember was one my older brother had, and that was a wood Duncan. The change over was so fast after Flambeau started making the plastic models, they are all I remember seeing after that.
You can find old stuff on eBay that isn’t too expensive if you just want to have a cool old (beat up) yo-yo, but if you want a pristine example, like jhb8426 says, you will have to pay a bit.
I have quite a few of the super hero plastic models from the 80s, they are pretty cool and less expensive and probably seem vintage if you aren’t so old…
Butterflys have been around now for 64 years and there are many variations from over that time period. On the Fixed Axle Friday Throws thread Butterfly collecting comes up frequently. Here is a rough timeline for a lot of the models. Some of my favorites are the early eighties Lace and Thick wings and the 2008 Mexican Made era. The European molds were also great players but more like the older Wheels in weight and shape.
