Where did all of the collectors go?

General Yo-Yo
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Simply put, where did all of the hard core collectors go?

Last summer, TA started a thread similar to this calling out the collectors, and unfortunately, not much surfaced.

The kind of collector that I am referring to is one whom collects new throws and old, especially ones produced in limited numbers, and are generally hard to obtain, and collect a wide spectrum of throws.

It seems there are very few people nowadays who are tirelessly searching for peaks, ends, torrents, black pyros, c22s, etc. Maybe it is primarily because of the young fan base here, or the lack of discussion about the aforementioned yoyos. I feel like 95% of the members here are eager to get the flavor of the month. For instance, the Draupnir, the newest YYF, the newest CLYW, and whatever else is popular now. That is absolutely not an insult, just an observation.

Years ago, there were so many collectors prowling the forums, eager to obtain anything that was generally considered rare. From attybud with every YYR to BosK with every color BvM, even Jason Wong and Stickman aren’t too active these days.

I know for many, life gets in the way. Chris took a break for CLYW for a bit, and Chris Allen from yoyoskills. I just assumed there would always be a group of hardcore collectors, from year to year. Who are the big collectors we can think of who are active? Yoyobrothers comes to mind, but who else?

Any insight? Anyone want to come out of the wood works and share an unknown enormous collection?

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They went to facebook.

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Agree with it here to an extent. I think most of those collectors that are still around have all the classic throws they want which is why the current stuff is all that’s being bought up. There haven’t been many new collectors and even fewer that browse yoyoexpert. You’d have more luck with ebay since several still browse there.

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This is my kind of thread. :wink: I agree that the few collectors that were active here, are not nearly as active now. I should have given an update, but I found several more on Instagram. Collectors love to display things (photos included), so as a photo driven social media, Instagram is one of the best ways to find them displaying the goods. There are not that many collectors out there, in general. But, it depends on how you define “collector.” There are some people who just collect every colorway of the same model yo-yo. So, when you use a more broad definition, you find more people who appear to be collecting.

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The photo sharing aspect is very true, and there are a handful of people on Instagram who aren’t here. I agree a broader definition would lead to more results. I guess I agree with Sparhawk, looking for people with classic throws, the good old organic shapes. Everyone nowadays is so focuses on competition based, even though a very small percentage of us actually compete.

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I work with Guitars for a living. I see it all the time, there are some people who buy rare things hoping to just make money off of what they bought eventually. Others collect what they want, when they get those guitars most times they are done. They keep looking, but unless it’s a really good price they wont buy.

And because of that the people who bought to make money end up sitting on what they have for a long time, because outside of a narrow range of collectors no one else wants it.

Painted Peaks for instance. There are only so many. Main people who want those are collectors, they want them to be clean a lot of the time. I’d be willing to guess the majority of people who wanted them in their collections probably already have them. The people left to get them most likely don’t have the money that people want for them. That’s when the market begins to drop. Guitar equipment has been seeing this happen for the last 6-8 years now. A guitar that was worth over $20k in 2006, you can now buy (if you look) for around $6k.

The reason I’m answering this way is, I have a feeling you’re wondering why your Peak hasn’t sold? Or you’re not getting “really high” offers.

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On a side note. A lot of the big collectors I’ve personally spoken with, and a lot of them have moved on to other interests. Big reason being, as I said in my previous post, they found what they wanted.

For myself, I’m in that category. I’ve got a list in my head of certain yoyos I want. Once I track them down, I’ll probably slowly disappear into the “occasionally look at the forums” category, and rarely buy something.

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I guess I can’t be considered a collector by your standards but I consider myself one. I want to build my collection to include lots of the yoyos out there.

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AaronW, I appreciate your response. The peak has little to do with it, though it was probably the last domino. I’ve been meaning to make a post like this for a while. I was recently having a conversation with a forum member about derts, which we agreed haven’t been discussed in years. Only recently has the been a resurgence in anti-yo popularity. Nobody seems to care about the Playmaxx models that were some of the first of our time. And when was the last time we discussed Dif-e-yo?

There are so few people left from the 1998 boom it seems, and understandably so, as you mentioned, interests change over time.

I fault myself with focusing on one thing for too long. For instance, I’ve read post after post about how first run peaks have a unique feel, so I told myself I’d find a beat one I can play. I went on a hunt, and now have one that I refuse to play with. That’s happened a few times, where I end up with multiples of the same model, which is unnecessary (except with USA Hatricks of course…).

I love hunting for old yoyos, plain and simple. To me, I love the look and feel of old organic shape yoyos. I don’t need crazy spin or stability, that’s just how I am.

I guess I was just wondering why there seems to be so few people who pay homage to the old throws that paved the way for what we have today.

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I agree that some people collect from the perspective of items being rare, or according to potential resale value. Rarity is not something I care much about. I buy what I like, whether it’s how it looks or how it plays. That’s the end of it for me. If the stuff is still worth something, if I need to sell it in the future, cool. But, if it’s not, that’s cool too. As long as the stuff looks good or plays good, the reason I bought it, it’s all good.

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I’m right with you mrciurleo. I started in 1988, and got real into yoyoing from 1996-2000. I love Organic Shaped, High walled yoyo’s.

I think a lot of it probably has to do with the demographic in yoyoing right now. Many are younger kids who’s introduction to yoyoing was Gentry, Zach or another big time player right now. So they want what they use. And that’s where yoyo design is at right now, low walls, insane spin time, yoyos that are so stable you can’t have a bad throw with them.

Probably goes back to what I said about guitars. The people that are buying older guitars, are people that remember them or had them when they were younger, so they are seeking them out. The younger players I deal with could care less about owning a 1960’s Fender Strat. Why? They don’t play as well as a new Strat, or the Schecter they can buy for $500.

Same with yoyo’s, many younger kids want what’s the easiest to learn on. Maybe one day they’ll come back to the original CLYW’s, Anti-Yo’s, Dif-E, ProYo/Playmaxx stuff and realize what they missed out on ;D

I personally collect, but not as most collectors. I collect and use what I get. I don’t care about dings or scratches. And in a way I’m glad that a lot of the collectors are gone. I’ve been getting some cool stuff cheap because of it ;D

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That’s it, high wall, organic shape. I know you’re a big anti-yo fan, which to me, are some of the most aesthetically pleasing yoyos. Sure, they don’t play like a draupnir, but they’re fun, and to me, that’s what matters.

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If you are looking for an investment yoyo’s are not the items to base you wealth on. I have gathered a goodly number of yoyo’s the past few years only for my own entertainment. During 2015, with the interest in fixed axles, I decided to go back to my roots.
I now have a collection of Duncan Butterfly Yoyo’s which go back to the 50’s (my first yoyo was a wooden butterfly with wood axle in 1960). I have 12 different issues (and several duplicates) of the Butterfly all costing under $10 and many under $5.
No, I will never make any money at it but I enjoy looking at and using my collection.

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Yeah, my favorites are Anti-Yo, with the earlier CLYW’s in second, and CLYW in general in 3rd :wink:

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Last I heard, attybud dropped off the face of the Earth, MLYYM sold most of his collection and I haven’t seen anything from Jason in months. I’m pretty sure stickman has every yoyo he has ever wanted. Yoyobrothers is still very active on Instagram, though.

TA is the queen of the jungle now.

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Just to clarify, I don’t buy to sell, I’ll have to post a collection pic soon.

MLYYM did acquire quite the titanium collection, but you’re right, it’s sold off now.

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i have a yyj draupnir and yyj palpitation 2

1600Ă—1200 430 KB

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A lot of collectors just don’t want to hang out here and wade through a thousand threads about stuff they aren’t interested in looking for one thread that they find important. Eric Wolff still buys tons of new and vintage stuff, constantly, but there’s no reason for him to be on this forum. I’m sure there are plenty of collectors like him that I’m not super close with that do the same thing.

I think something you have to acknowledge is that for a lot of people, hanging out on forums just isn’t fun or useful.

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What was attybud’s specialty? I saw his posts, but I wasn’t as familiar with his collection. It’s definitely been awhile since I saw him posting. I remember MLYYM had a few other hobbies, and he likely switched to investing in some other interests. I get the feeling Stickman is keeping up, with these new titanium releases especially, and he might just be too busy with work to post. I think he’ll update us when he can. I heard that a significant portion of Jason’s collection was derived from trading the custom ano’ work for rare or otherwise desirable throws. I’m not sure about that though.

I’ve had the most conversation with YoyoBrothers, in person and social media, regarding his perspective on collecting. We have entirely different perspectives on it, but there is also a lot of common ground in what we enjoy about it too.

You guys are stuck with me, because I was posting on here before I had any case full of yo-yos. I just don’t see any need to change or act brand new because the yo-yos have increased. Personally, I view the forum as a “give and take.” It’s not just about what information you can find useful on here, it’s about what information you might be able to provide to others. For some people, that’s not their deal, and that’s fine. I’m fairly new in this regard, but I’m not bored yet. Where the forum is concerned, I’m still entertained enough, and consider myself to be pretty entertaining too. :wink:

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Some of us also decided to cut down. I enjoy throwing as much as collecting, so I tend to seek out anything rare I would actually use.

I used to have many more Peaks, but I just decided to spread some love and keep those I liked. I know many others are way more hardcore than I collecting-wise, but I’ll throw in a line since I definitely have some rare/collectible throws.

Many collectors also may have lost touch after YYN shut down, possibly. I know that I certainly did for a period of time. That cut off likely severed members with ties to older/historic parts of the community.