I feel this way about G2. I’m really not trying to throw shade just my thoughts. It really feels like artifical scarcity. And just the other day I saw someone try and sell a new drop swirl for 500$ lol
People gonna do what people gonna do. I just choose to not be a part of that market and thats just my decision for the same reasons you stated
(Ps. G2 ano is amazing and I want a swirl super bad! I totally get why it is the way it is)
All of this grousing about the inability to score your favorite ‘boutique’ throw for whatever reason; is just music to their marketing-ears.
I do not participate in this boutique market. It is simply creating a ‘club’ to worship the emperor’s new clothes. If these were truly good yo-yo’s they would be made in larger quantities to make more money from superior design; and they would regularly sell in the aftermarket. That they are ‘limited’ speaks volumes about the design of the product. Where is the huge resale market for these ‘rare’ yo-yo’s? Again; it speaks volumes.
If it is truly a great design; they will make plenty for you to spend your money on. That they are limiting the quantity means that the design is ordinary at best. Do not waste your time and money chasing ghosts. Buy from the best.
To be fair though, some manufacturers don’t have the capital or the resources needed to produce the large quantity runs you describe.
Plus, it’s just bad logic that scarcity/limited runs have any correlation to design/quality.
Something that is rare can’t have a “huge” resale market. Have you thought about maybe the reason you don’t see these throws for sale as often is 1) due to the fact that they are rare and 2) people probably want to hold onto them and not sell as they are likely collectible?
I do wholeheartedly agree with this though LMAO… it’s great marketing they don’t even have to spend a dime on.
In marketing; it makes perfect sense. If you have ordinary designs; then making large numbers will depress the value. When the word gets out that it is not special, sales will dry up, resellers will be stuck with product and the brand-image will suffer.
By making just a few, and selling them all in one day; you maximize your profit on each design while maintaining and even enhancing your brand’s image through consumer’s perception that these are ‘special’ and scarce.
You then further reinforce the consumer’s loyalty by creating a ‘club’. Members of this ‘club’ are encouraged to create a relationship with the brand through correspondence, social media ‘likes’ and other chicanery. This builds affinity and makes negative opinions repressed through loyalty and fear of possibly being left-out of the club and missing out on the next big thing.
“Collectible”? Or “Good”?
Not sure what we are talking about.
I thought this thread was specifically created so that people could show what they received in their mail. I must be in the wrong place.
444, black mod44 c bearing, blue mod44 d bearing and a bunch of ricestacks in hopes of adding usable weight to the 444. it adds A gram 
not enough. I’m LOVING the mod44’s 
I think what your missing is that there is a difference between a boutique yoyo company, which is usually 1 or 2 people + whoever they sponsor, and a company like duncan/yyf. Placing orders as a boutique yoyo company is dangerous. If you order too many and the demand isn’t there, you’re probably going to have to close your brand. On the other hand, a company like yyf can afford to blow 10-20k + on a yoyo run and have the credibility/fan base to sell them all, and the capital to back it up if it takes longer than normal. It’s not that boutique brands don’t WANT to offer more of their product, it’s that if they offer too much they’re gonna go under. It has nothing to do with the design itself.
I’ve kind of wondered why creators in this community haven’t pulled from other hobbies where once you’ve got the final prototype, send it around to get reviews, have a big preorder (groupbuy), and then you can buy a few extras to sell afterwards. Mitigate the risk a little bit? I know it’s not exactly a consumer friendly practice, but it can help minimize the risks associated with a boutique company running large batches.
As it stands I’ve only seen 1 or 2 “preorders” run in my short time here.
Not sure how well it would be received though.
I believe preorders come with risks as well. You need to order an extra amount of throws in case you have a large number of b grades. If you miscalculate some customers might not end up with the throw and you need to place another order and now its taken 8 months for your preorder to fully be complete.
Also some folks dont like sitting on a customers money for that long. And mom and pop shops dont want to package 500 throws in a week.
I think missing out on drops is part of the game.
Hi all,
This is Elvin from RSO. Please accept my apologies to those who did not get an RSO yo-yo at the last two drops, especially to @Isaac given your situation. I will try to clarify matters here as best as I can.
End Part II Finale
Admittedly, anyone who messaged me to indicate their interest to purchase an End in advance could do so, up till 10 minutes before the actual drop - there was no “inner circle”, and at least 70% of them were first-time customers.
Unfortunately, I underestimated the demand for the End. The initial wave of customers was allowed to buy any quantity, but the stock had rapidly dwindled, and the limit was decreased to 2 per customer and eventually to 1 as more people reached out. I created a purchase link for these customers, and those who found the link (but didn’t message me) also went on the site to buy them.
Eventually, there wasn’t a sufficiently large enough number to make everyone happy for the drop. I agree that this arrangement isn’t fair to everyone, and I am genuinely sorry.
Mecha-Bapezilla
The demand for this yo-yo was also unexpected. RSO had already released close to 200 Mecha-Bapezillas at that point, and this batch was just part of the larger raw batch I made long ago. The previous drop of Mecha-Bapezillas SE Edition in September took a while to sell - I sent some to retailers, and some ended up with the anodizer. When people messaged me about the special editions (@POspot you might have forgot Sir, but no pre-order email was sent!) I went ahead and sold them early, I did not think many people would make it to the drop, but I was wrong. I am looking to improve on my processes.
Customer Management, Run Quantities
RSO is a small two-person operation consisting of my wife and me. Words cannot express my gratitude to everyone who has been supporting us since day one, especially the dozen or so who have been buying every release. I hope people would empathise with us that it just isn’t feasible to say “no, wait for the drop” to customers who message you to ask for a yo-yo, especially for a small company like mine. There isn’t enough demand to justify rejecting customers. I have never said “no” to any customer who wanted an RSO yo-yo, even if you’re a first time customer. There is no “inner circle”. I thank @mable for pointing out that we are just trying to satisfy everyone who expresses a genuine interest in our products.
As for run quantities, the limit isn’t to create a false sense of scarcity. It is even more puzzling to hear the theory that companies make less of some designs so their “ordinary designs” will seem more “extraordinary” - a company who runs like this will ultimately fail as customers will not return after throwing the yo-yo. Every yo-yo I have released, I have spent considerable effort in prototyping them, designing the packaging and loved how they played. Some of them are even old school designs which have been proven to be extraordinary.
My intention has always been to grow RSO and to get as many RSOs out as possible. The number of yo-yos per run has increased steadily for the past 2 years. We started with 30 yo-yos per run in 2019 and now are doing 70-100 per run. To my knowledge, RSO has made the largest quantity of titanium yo-yos out of the “boutique” companies out there. There are many limiting factors.
It is a considerable risk to order a large run for a company like mine due to the uncertainty of B or even C grades. For the End Prelude, I had placed an order of 240 yo-yos but ended up with only 40 or so A-grades. I lack the capacity to manage large runs as I have a full-time job and family commitments. It is also difficult to tell which yo-yo will do well and which will not, and I would rather err on the side of caution.
Moving Forward
I wish for more positivity in the yo-yo community. I have had customers like @Raindog3030 who receive hate messages for managing to get in the “preorders”. It breaks my heart to see that and the last thing I want is to put my customers in that situation. To @Raindog3030 - I apologize that I have put you in this situation.
I am also hoping to grow RSO further next year, but I would need to balance it with the risks involved, especially with more “original” designs and less “remakes” I expect them to be less popular.
Thank you all for reading. Happy throwing!
Elvin, RSO
@lytelvin Thanks for the commitment to the community! Also I love the doom bot and I think a lot of people would agree that it’s one of your best designs. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about your original designs going unsold.
I must have miss understood this email exchange with Elvin, that I initiated on November 27th 2021 specifically asking about pre order. My mistake. My apologies for upsetting the natural order of things.
I was very excited to be apart of this drop and my enthusiasm was present in my pursuit.
You don’t owe me any apology at all, sir! I approached you, so if anything, I owe you an apology. I never expected some of the reactions I did get, but in all honesty, these have not deterred or weakened my respect for you or Round Spinning Objects in any way. Nor has my lust for yoyo collection been lessened, y’all better keep watching out for me at drop time!
I know this is a labor of love for you and sincerely hope you continue to garner the grand success we have seen so far. RSO has become a recognizeable and even integral brand in the yoyo market place due to you and your family’s hard work and dedication.
I continue to look forward to more RSO releases in the future! Thank you again, Elvin!
70-80% scrap rate is absolutely insane, you mean to tell me these Chinese shops can only get you a third of a run to come out smooth?
My word, i mean my shop is NOT for making yo-yos but our scrap return rates are less than 5% and maybe 1% that actually makes it past my QC. Maybe I’m taking a lot for granted with not fully understanding the tolerances of yo-yos but it seems to me theres huge risk involved in these overseas machine shops, why not look into domestic production? It’s very common for parts buyers to require MIL spec anodize which i would imagine would hold a plenty tight tolerance post machining. You could even request a formal inspection with a full CMM scan on first articles to really visualize the imperfections of your machine shop, should you be a skeptic.
These are all very genuine questions and I’m trying my best to not come off in a bad manner. Im really amazed by the design and quality I’ve seen come of RSO, i only wish to understand more about the market, thanks for the detailed response by the way! 
You could always give it a shot. What better way to find out than to do it yourself? (Also not trying to be rude, but hard to say ‘do it and find out’ without coming off a little caustic 
). I have no idea how a machine shop runs. At all. In any way.
My shop is currently all 3/4 axis horizontal mills, loaded into next year with aerospace and military jobs. If i had a lathe i would love to get into some hobby production, but being mostly a mold making/job shop we don’t have the space or overhead for a lathe at our facility.
In the future i would like to purchase a Haas ST-15 or similar but it simply doesn’t make sense currently
