Can’t disagree with any of this. The throw with the ano issue I mentioned is most certainly an outlier among modern non-budget throws. 99+% beyond the budget category should have no QC issues. But they do come up. And yes, talking about how great a yoyo is at X but not showing it or wing able to do it is an issue. I tread around that by pointing out design features (such as fingerspin cups) and reputations yoyos have without even attempting to speak to it myself.
I will agree that the review culture in general is so deeply flawed. Sponsored players “reviewing” their sponsors’ stuff. The honeymoon, “this new shiny thing is the best ever!” reactions. And I think that while sending stuff to reviewers for free - and often in advance - is sound in theory to help get word out and give some sort of compensation for their time and effort, I think such arrangements color reviews. Not attacking anyone that does any of this stuff. Just pointing out things that introduce bias.
Much of what you say could be true; we can’t get into the heads of these reviewers, so we don’t know for sure what bends their minds towards one yoyo or another. It is all so utterly personal and subjective.
Moreover, a lot of reviewers are way better at yoyoing than me. What feels awesome to them might not feel so awesome to me (or vice versa). Most of the time they aren’t going to be reviewing a yoyo from the perspective of their inexperienced selves from 10-20 years ago, so their experience of a new throw isn’t necessarily going to map to mine very well.
Reviewers should just say, “I think this one is really pretty and I can play it really well without much of a struggle,” and be done with it cuz that’s about all they are ever really conveying anyway.
The biggest problem reviews face is that Yo-Yos are generally really good now. I used to review Yo-Yos on these forums, but it’s become progressively harder to say anything constructive. Most premium Yo-Yos possess many of the same qualities, just to slightly different degrees. While not impossible, it’s very hard to quantify the differences verbally to other humans, since there is no real standard for “fast”, “floaty”, “maneuverable”, “stable”, etc. Oh, this new Yo-Yo spins forever… of course it does! Player experiences are also very subjective, so one person may feel quite different about a certain throw, even if objective differences exist in theory.
If you’re paying premium money, chances are it’s a very nice Yo-Yo that plays great. I see arguments about competitiveness too, but honestly, we’ve seen Gentry win US Nats with a $16 Yo-Yo. Jensen tried to prove a similar point in 2010 winning worlds with a $30 throw. I’m sure those moments sold a lot of Yo-Yos, but the real takeaway is that player skill trumps everything by far.
I’m not saying there’s no discussion to be had about performance limits, nor am I saying reviews are pointless, but I am saying it’s really tricky to pinpoint the distinct qualities of a certain Yo-Yo against… I guess all others? Feedback such as “I liked it!” from anyone is always favorable over no feedback, but a detailed review is quickly going to become 90% raving about how good the Yo-Yo is at doing things Yo-Yos should do.
The best reviews usually come from unbiased and experienced players, and will ideally contain a bit of nuanced feedback about the qualities or quirks of a certain Yo-Yo in their experience. Those unique bits get more and more subtle the closer you get to a wide, rim weighted, wing shaped, full-size, 65 gram Yo-Yo, though. It’s just a very difficult thing. If people could somehow always try Yo-Yos out before buying, it’d be a whole different world.
There’s just too much love and care put into the products in this community
Seriously though, the stuff people make is amazing now. For a lot of product types, you really do have to dig through the sludge to find the nuggets of gold, but Yo-Yo shopping these days is like opening a treasure chest and trying to decide on gold vs. an emerald vs. a ruby. Review culture faces a very unusual challenge in that respect.
“My new ruby is great! Very shiny, I haven’t been able to put it down. Reminds me a lot of my amethyst, but maybe a little more red. I would definitely recommend the ruby to anyone who wants to buy something cool again”
Except for Dylan Kowalski’s reviews of really bad party favor yoyos, pretty much every yoyo review is glowingly positive and it’s almost as if the yoyo being reviewed has very low self-esteem and the reviewer wants to make the yoyo feel good about itself by telling it about all its positive personality traits. This is probably because most yoyos nowadays are really good or great and if that’s the case, who needs yoyo reviews at all? I can usually tell if I will like a yoyo by looking at the specs and I base most of my purchases on the specs - not reviews. I watch yoyo reviews because they’re entertaining and my favorite reviewers are people that just like talking about yoyos.
I appreciate the food for thought here as well, @TheThrowingGnome and @ChrisFrancz. I have watched my fair share of reviews (less so these days, but used to be quite a few) and I realize that it was more for entertainment than information. I need to let that marinate.
@Roy_Dodge Your videos are entertaining as well as informative. I enjoy watching “normal people” who are enthusiastic about the yoyo they are talking about. I don’t care if the video is about something about to drop or something that came out years ago. I also like watching what tricks / moves the person chooses to do and see if I can pick up an element.
I appreciate that, man. Same here. All about engaging - I have watched some random stuff just because I follow someone and I generally like their content because, in large part, their enthusiasm (although too much can be… annoying, no?).
Me being new to the yoyo community, all I know is now. So far, this forum is great. The folks here seem like decent people who love their yoyos. I used to just browse the pages, but then you guys made me wanna actually sign up and post and get involved. So with that, I thank you guys on here for inspiring me to get involved.
I find reviews pretty accurate. Most people who own a few yoyos can evaluate how it plays, and how it’s different from others they have tried. Most reviewers acknowledge how its setup may be part of the play as well i.e snaggy, too unresponsive. As said, most yo-yos are pretty good these days.
My favorite reviewer usually mentions what thickness of string works best in the yoyo he is reviewing. Another usually mentions how stable a yoyo is and if a beginner will find it easy to keep that yoyo vertical. Another may mention the width and how easy it is for string tricks. Yet another may mention if he feels the need to change the pads or bearing. A few of them will mention grinds and finger spins. Oh, and one usually mentions if it is decent for horizontal tricks.
I feel like there could be a whole thread about what makes a good yoyo review. There’s a lot of different opinions because we all want different things.
To me, a good review talks about how a yoyo feels. Not just “man this is such a good yoyo,” but more detailed like “this yoyo feels floaty, and it’s easy to catch on the string due to the wide shape.” In the very few reviews I’ve done, I tried to compare different yoyos so there’s a point of reference. I don’t have a large collection and most of the yoyos I have are pretty boutique, so maybe I can’t give the best comparisons for everyone, but at least it’s something.
Also honestly, sometimes I’d rather hear someone talk instead of just looking at a data sheet. Sure, I can look up the specs myself. But I’d rather hear Throws N Brews or Casual Throw or Dylan Kowalski talk about it, because it’s boring to just look at a data sheet. It’s someone else interpreting the data for you. Especially as a beginner, I don’t always know what the specs mean. For example, I can look at a specs sheet and see that the Rain City Skills Author weighs 56 grams, and I’d just think “hmm, ok that’s a number.” But a reviewer will point out “this thing is really, really light. That’s 10 grams less than your typical competition yoyo these days.” That’s what makes yoyo reviews helpful to me, the commentary reviewers provide.
I’ve been enjoying making reviews over the last year or so. I would welcome any feedback from anyone here for sure.
Let me know if there’s anything I’m doing thats not what you guys think is best.
Not trying to plug myself or anything, just wanting some honest feedback, and this thread seemed like a good place to get some. I’m always wanting to improve.
As a returning player trying to find a new modern throw, I share a similar sentiment about all the videos/reviews. The same like things get repeated in videos, whether it’s a 2016 or 2020 review.
“Ohhh wooowwww, dead smooth throw. No vibe.”
“Chill but powerful/fast. But also unforgiving, but sometimes forgiving.”
“Old school vibes, with modern performance vibes. Feels chill but not really chill.”
It is what it is, I still like watching them. But it’s more to watch someone throw yoyos outside of a competition or tutorial setting.
