When is a plastic a plastic?

If metal is intact with the plastic then it’s a hybrid. If the metal is just an insert then the yo-yo is just a "PWMWR. "

Oooooo subtle. I like it! There does seem to be a (minor) difference between “integral to the design” and “slapped some weight rings on there”.

I still say a plastic body makes a yoyo technically plastic, irrespective of everything else. But it’s also true that adding metal changes the play significantly.

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okay, but are duncan yoyos that can hold caps technically hybrids?

I would say hard no on that, since it’s removable and totally optional.

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I would say it all depends on the base material.

Then please clarify this post (in reference to the iCEBERG and the POM Draupnir):

Again, you have to look at the title of the topic, and view the post in that context. The title defines the topic. And in this case the title is

Plastic yoyos that play at a competition level

I think it’s indisputably true that adding metal makes a plastic yoyo far more competitive than it would otherwise be. Does anyone really disagree with that? I definitely don’t!

So when talking about how competitive a yoyo is, failing to mention that a plastic has some metal in it would indeed be a major omission, wouldn’t you agree?

The original question was:

It is a very simple question with a pretty broad context. The POM Draupnir, for example, is a plastic yoyo, right? The fact that it has metal rings doesn’t disqualify it from being added to the list. ZaYoBoy didn’t ask what made any particular yoyo capable of playing at a competition level, so I didn’t think it would matter to him whether it was the fact that it was machined (instead of molded), or had metal rings, or was sprinkled with pixie dust.

This isn’t necessarily the end-all definition, but if the body is injection molded, I consider it a plastic even if it has weight rings. Any type of machining going on? You are now in hybrid territory my friend. Like I said, that’s just what works for me in my head.

Fair enough.

Now, that says to me that the distinction between “plastic” and “hybrid” is important to you in some sense. I’m just trying to get a sense of whether or not it is important enough (to the community/hobby/industry as a whole) to make an effort to arrive at a consensus over these definitions.

I hear ya, it’s a valid question

I dunno, any opinions here @YoYoExpertGarrett? Should more stuff be tagged “hybrid” like the Protostar?

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I feel like when someone says a yoyo is “plastic” there’s an implication that they are actually saying “cheap plastic for 1A”, which rules out things like the C-Nine:

But still includes the FAST 201, which does actually have metal weight rings:

Also, compare the difference between the “Metal Arrow” which has both metal and plastic, and the “Arrow Pro” which has metal weight rings.

I think main difference between the iCEBERG and the Arrow Pro is that the Arrow Pro is still injection molded. That and about $30.

“Hybrid” seems like it’s a premium designation for plastic + weight rings.

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This is what I think as well. I

Didn’t the original FHs come with an internal metal ring? What about the later ones? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of FHs being referred to as anything but plastic. Of course, if none of them came with metal weight rings (maybe mine’s modded), then never mind on that point!

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Yoyos which should be tagged as hybrid but aren’t:

  • SpinFaktor X
  • SPiNMASTER X
  • ProtoStar
  • Northstar Fingerspin

All are currently available in the YYE webstore. It is interesting that these aren’t tagged as hybrids despite being plastic with metal rings. In fact, the Northstar Fingerspin write-up even refers to it using the term “plastic/hybrid” and yet isn’t tagged as such in the store.

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Honestly, I agree with Mark. When I think of hybrid, I’m thinking of really premium plastic yoyos. I still consider the Protostar a plastic.

And honestly, I think the term hybrid became more popular in recent years because of the release of these more expensive, more premium plastic yoyos like the Gamma Crash and POM Draupnir. Pre-2015, hybrid was a term but nobody really debated if a yoyo was a hybrid or a plastic. Everyone just considered the Protostar a plastic. Personally, how I see it is a hybrid IS a plastic. Just because it’s a hybrid doesn’t change the fact that it is a plastic. This is the difference between monometals and bimetals vs. hybrid and plastic. Hybrid and plastic are interchangeable, a hybrid is a plastic but a bimetal isn’t a monometal.

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wait so a bimetal isnt a hybrid? i mean, in my terms, technically it is.

It is still metal, just two types of metal.

Conceptual match on the plastic side would be a dual plastic yoyo, with maybe polycarbonate body and POM rims?

I don’t know if the FH came with an internal metal ring, but the FH2 came with a fat rubber o-ring. Many people modified the FHZ by adding the fat o-ring. Spintastics and Buzzon used fat o-rings to add rim weight, and Spintastics used metal rings as well. The metal ring that Spintastics used also fit nicely in the FH2. And all of these were referred to as plastic yoyos. Even the Buzzon Element X with the metal ring inserts were “plastic”.

image

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I’m not sure why people seem compelled to classify a yo-yo with as few words as possible? Is somebody in a hurry? What dictates that a yo-yo be tagged with a one word or two word description?

I’ve been at this for over 20 years now. Even if your opinion will differ from mine after you read my view; it will not invalidate my understanding; because I prefer to deal with irrefutable facts instead of various unsubstantiated abstracts.

A plastic yoyo is made of plastic. That would be a plastic yoyo🤔. (Recognize not being over technical about the guts. Axles and bearings are ‘primarily’ metal. So that constant is understood)(so even though a plastic yoyo most likely has a metal axle/bearing; it would still be a plastic yoyo).

A plastic yoyo with metal inserts; is just that… A plastic yoyo with metal inserts.

A plastic body with metal rings is described just that way.

A metal yoyo using more than one type of metal is the sum of its’ component metals: bi-metal, tri-metal, whatever…

I know a few exceptions may come to mind. For example; a metal One Drop with metal side effects. I would not call that a bi-metal. I would call it a metal yoyo with side effects.

I describe a yo-yo by identifying the primary mass of the yoyo material and continue from there. Just like a box of cereal. The ingredients are listed in order of degree of content. Not rocket science.

A Element X is not a plastic yoyo. It is a plastic yoyo with metal weight rings.

Just about any multi component yoyo could be identified as a hybrid. Continuity of material construction interrupted by infusion of dissimilar material: metal yoyo/plastic core, plastic yoyo/metal core, wood body/metal weight rings, etc…

But I wouldn’t call a Wedge a hybrid. I would call it a plastic yoyo with metal core.

I feel that common logic should be utilized to clarify what identifies an individual yoyo.

Now… if by some crazy miracle; we were all on the same page about this. Then we could also have a shared understanding that there can be times to not get over technical. For example; if somebody posts up a poll asking us to name our top 10 plastic yoyos; you could fudge a bit and include a few yoyos that aren’t Totally plastic. But I wouldn’t call a Yoyojam Hitman a plastic yoyo; lol.

Sometimes over simplification can result in unnecessary complication.

Like the explanation I just presented.

Doh!:wink:

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