When I first started yoyoing, Generalyo yoyos were very hard to get and were among the best yoyos available. I am brought back to the BST posts of the time where almost every looking for category included CLYW, Generalyo, and Yoyorecreation. I did not have the budget for those high end yoyos during that time, and as yoyoing progressed, I started to lean towards modern trends of wider, lighter designs with tons of rim-weight.
Fastforward to about 2020 and Generalyo decided to release updated, but mostly the same versions of their extremely popular designs. I didn’t bite at first due to the specs not fitting what I thought I wanted in a yoyo. Lately though, I have been craving a chance to see if these yoyo still have the magic that made them so popular even though they do not fit current trends.
With that in mind I have been very strongly considering a few of the current in-stock designs. Typically, I tend to shy away from organic yoyos, and lately I have been a little bored by bimetal designs.
The three yoyos that I am the most interested in are:
Royal 1
Majesty 2020
Prestige 2022
What are your thoughts on these yoyos? If you have thoughts about the other in stock models (Hatrick 2, legato 2, and torrent 2) please also let me know, because your thoughts could push me toward these yoyos as well.
Ministar 2 is unbelievable for a mini yoyo. It serious outplays many full sized throws.
My legato 2 is the smoothest yoyo I own. Sometimes difficult to tell if it’s spinning.
Those are the only two I’ve played, but I’ve heard Generalyo’s quality control is second to none and I would agree based on my experience so far.
Would you say that the legato is more like a precision bimetal, or an amplified monometal?
This may be hard to answer, I just have played a lot of bimetals that feel like precision instruments and also enjoy those, but I am looking more for a monometal feel in play.
If you’re looking at the Prestige but like bi-metals then get the Legato 2 because it’s basically a bi-metal Prestige. It’s very smooth, good spin times, pretty agile and stable, all that fun stuff. Well worth spending a little more for it in my humble opinion! The Legato 2 definitely gives me more of a mono vibe rather than a bi-metal personally, I’m not sure if that’s because it’s an inner ring design or something completely different but yeah
I’ve tried all the General Yo’s made post 2020. Out of the three yoyos you’re interested in I’d get the Prestige 2022. It’s just a very good competition monometal with an organic flair. The rims aren’t as sharp as they look, there’s actually a small flat portion so it’s comfy on a catch. The Royal 1 is a nice undersized yoyo, plays heavy and stable fun for chopsticks. I do find my binds on the Royal 1 aren’t as on point as with the Majesty and Prestige, I’m used to heavier yoyos too so idk, could just be me. The Majesty 2020 is good just doesn’t stand out relative to the other two IMO.
The Legato II is amazing. It’s a goldilocks weight for me . Remains agile whilst having that powerful bimetal presence. It feels like a suped-up Prestige even though I think it’s a gram to half a gram lighter (though I think the original Legato is based off of the Prophecy the Legato and Prestige are pretty much the same shape). The spike is SHARP and good for matador stuff and still accommodates off-axis fingerspins.
Hatrick 2 is a powerful organic bimetal, it’s good but part of me wishes it was more of a rock on a string. Torrent 2 is what it is on the box, an updated throw-back organic tbh I prefer the Essence 2020 in terms of the recent organic stuff but that’s me. Ministar 2 prolly one of the best mini yos if thats what you want. Better than my toonie at least which is my only other reference point.
Edit: Actually I’ve played a snack and mini-confusion so more than the toonie. Ministar still wins, feels unfair to compare. Also ymmv but the Prestige is also an excellent beater, I’ve really banged up mine, covered in gouges and it plays great, I’ve done less damage to other yoyos that caused worse vibe/pulse.
Edit for posterity: One yoyo shop writeup says that the legato was based off of the Prophecy while another quotes The General himself as saying it’s “built off the Prestige profile”
@kretzschmar and I are seemingly the resident General Yo fans here, this is def a topic I could go on and on about, but I’ll keep it short. Here’s the General Yo I own rn, but I’ve tried/used em all so I’m very familiar:
Imma just save you a lot of time and money and tell you straight up that the Legato II is the best performing General Yo you can get rn, and the Hatrick II is the best organic yoyo you can get from them right now. Don’t get me wrong, Majesty is a great yoyo, Royal 1 is mid, Prestige is fine… but Legato II and Hatrick II are the cream of the crop. Legato II is actually one of my favorite bimetals, period. There’s something about Ernie’s bimetals that just absolutely hit. I’ve been trying to get him to make a bimetal 5 Star lol… And if you’re looking for a mini throw, Ministar II is the best mini yoyo I’ve used, ever.
Tbh when I started yoyoing in 2021, looking through the old posts here, yours and Kretz’s enthusiasm for it along with respect to The General’s work from grendel and yoyodoc (Doc really praised the Royal 1 so I took a jump and while I have a fondness for it definitely understand how you can call it mid especially relative to the rest of the roster) posts pushed me over the edge to trying out General Yo’s stuff and I’m glad I did. The Legato II is definitely Macho Man Randy Savage.
(Also if a prototype Legato with the brass rings ever ends up on the bst I will wrestle all of you for it)
A little update: I ordered the Prestige and the Legato. The prestige because I love monometals and the Legato because almost everyone said that I should.
I won’t be opening the legato until the end of the month because it is a birthday present but I absolutely love the Prestige. It has the mid-weight feel of yoyos from the 2012-2016 era of yoyos and I love it. I will have to pick up a majesty at some point as well based on how much I love the prestige.
