After browsing the Legos and Hot Wheels I decided to see what they had in the yoyo line. … … … Nothing. Not a single yoyo in the store. How is the hobby supposed to grow when the product has no shelf visibility?
I do the same, check out the “main” retailers and am surprised there arnt any YYF, Duncan, or anything.
Drug stores usually have some butterflies or imperials.
Still, we need more entry level yoyos in the Walmart’s and targets.
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Target generally won’t stock something in the toy section that they can’t sell relatively quickly, and in large numbers. It is sort of a Catch-22; how does yoyo grow to the point of being able to sell in large quantities if it doesn’t have shelf exposure on a large scale, but then how do stores justify giving yoyos shelf exposure if they aren’t going to sell in large quantities. 
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At my local target I picked up a Butterfly XT when I first got into throwing. They had them by the puzzles along with fidget spinners and Rubix cubes.
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My Target always has Butterfly XTs.
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Get a Kickstarter? I bet quite a few people would support a company like YYF or C3 or heck OD to get a spot on store shelves.
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The best thing I’ve seen at a big retailer so far were YYF Whips at Hobby Lobby. Other than that I haven’t seen anything other than Butterflies and Imperials.
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My son went the Walmart with his grandmother and came back with this.
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Went to my local walmart about a month ago and saw a bunch of Duncan Pro Zs. I was pretty excited about it as I was kinda sorta throwing around the idea of jumping back into the hobby anyhow. The Duncan packaging and the red bodied/white capped yo-yo really hit me in my nostalgic soft spot lol.
Really glad I picked it up and am loving the hobby again.
Really wish there could be more yos in major stores. Decent ones…not just cheap off brand junk, or fixed axle imperials and butterflies.
I’ve always wondered why more Duncans aren’t in stores.
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I see imperials, butterfly’s and that yyf transaxle (I can’t remember what it’s called) at 5 below
5 below used to carry freehand 2s years ago, which was a screaming deal considering they were like 15 or 20 dollars normally.
■■■■■ sporting goods sometimes has cheap YYF.
My Walmart has the Pro-Z which is dope.
I don’t expect or hope that it will get any more mainstream. Yoyoing is an ultra niche hobby; anything that takes so long to be able to get good at will be hard pressed to become “mainstream”.
Yoyoing is a close knit community, and I like it that way 
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That is very true.
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Those Pro-Z’s at Walmart are actually a nice serious bang for the buck. I bought one on a whim after having owned the older Pro Z with the wide friction stickers and was a nice improvement. Upon further surprise, the large bearing was not heavily lubed, meaning you can play it unresponsive. Not to mention, it comes with a Dif-e-yo 10-ball concave bearing.
I ended up buying the clear body/blue cap as it reminded me of my old Yomega Raider, also hitting that nostalgic soft spot.
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Moderately-priced/budget metal yoyos, they won’t sell at stores. It was short lived but when the Blazing Team yoyo line was available and the Metal Vortex (or whatever they called it) was finally available in Walmart, I had heard a parent look at their kid and tell them “Wow, seriously? This thing is $30…for a yoyo?!?”
With this said, anything over $20 and people are going to balk at the price as they don’t understand this hobby, thinking it’s just a spinny toy that goes up and down. I am shocked though that YYF hasn’t made any presence in Walmart or Target. I can vision Replays, Whips, Wedges, and One Stars on the shelves. I typically see a few of their throws at the local sporting goods store (where I bought a DV888 and the worker was shocked to see how much it cost for a yoyo).
Haven’t been into Target for a while but a few months ago I did snag a couple Butterfly XT’s for less than the cost of a Duncan Imperial, were marked down to under $3. I do remember a time when there was a small section of an aisle at Target and even Walmart where there were a variety of Duncans…the Freehand 1, Speed Beetles, Avenger, the Pro-Yos…This was after the 90s boom and was just a normal thing they carried just like how they’d stock legos and action figures.
Not too long ago when I was at Walmart, I did happen to see somebody walking by with a couple of Pro Z’s in their cart. I know they’re selling because some days there will be 1 left on the shelf and following week there will be a restock…rinse and repeat.
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My local Toys R’ Us used to carry a few Duncans and Yomegas before they closed down. Saw an OG Metal Drifter once. Still kinda regret not snagging it.
Brick and mortar retailers are really hurting these days and sadly they’re just not very likely to stock anything in store that they think won’t move in a reasonable amount of time. At least you can get throws like the First Base and Joyride via Walmart’s online store.
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Walgreens usually has a small selection of Duncan imperials and butterflies. Other than that the only stuff I see in stores is really cheap lite up yoyos in the dollar store (usually for 1.50).
Man, hyper cluster is one of those things I’d like to try some day. Hope your son is having fun with it!
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It’d be wicked if YYF put the velocity & onestar in stores, maybe with some clever advertising they could solve the biggest issue, the lack of appeal to yoyos.
Five Below has (or at least had) YYF Onestars.
YYF doesn’t sell OneStars as is anymore, they’re now the YoTricks Sage. Teknik Magasinet sells YYF stuff in the nordics as of now, and if people bought more, maybe they’d start carrying a more diverse lineup (they now carry the one, velocity, replay pro, dv888 and the boss)
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