Has Duncan been surpassed as the “biggest” (in terms of annual revenue and industry influence) yoyo company? If so, who is now the overall market leader? Is it YoYoFactory?
1 Like
Duncan probably makes more but most of it is towards beginners and the general public.
Yoyofactory wins in terms of the actual yoyo community.
3 Likes
Even over Chinese & Japense manufacturers too? I mean who owns hyper-yo products…they are big in Asia! And I thought CLYW has the most sponsored players…right?
1 Like
I’m pretty sure Duncan and YYF sell more than those Japanese and asian companies you’re thinking of.
As for CLYW, they might have more players (not positive) but that doesn’t mean they sell more yoyos than Duncan and YYF.
However, I will say YYF is the biggest because they are the gateway company into yoyos. When you think of casual, general public you think Duncan because of imperials and butterfly’s. When you think of the actual yoyo community you think of YYF because they control the entry level throws, everyone always recommends the Replay and Shutter for a first plastic and metal.
In terms of the competitive market, those who are already into the hobby, I would say G2 and One Drop are the biggest names. One Drop is the all around company that everyone just loves and G2 is that premium and collector-Esque company(this used to be CLYWs domain but G2 has taken over over the past few years)
2 Likes
I’m still not sure how or when G2 got into that role. I remember being able to buy a Nessie whenever I wanted. Next time I looked, everything sells out in literal seconds
1 Like
I think we have reached a point in the hobby where collectors dominate the high-end purchase space.
Just the fact that anything expensive (and probably limited run) sells out in seconds.
2 Likes
That’s not really true at all. G2 is really the only company that sells out quickly.
2 Likes
The Cthulhu that ran the other day was gone very quickly. That looked to me like a collector run. Maybe that’s not indicative of buying activity in general, but given how many high-end yoyos are listed as “Out of Stock” on YYE, it seems to me that the collectors are really cleaning up.
The Cthulhu did sell out quickly, but generally speaking it’s primarily G2 and I’d add SF to the list.
A lot of those are pretty old though so pretty bad comparison. Of course the cheaper yoyos are going to be in stock, hundreds of those are made at a time.
The more expensive yoyos are made by the dozens, and even the more popular ones like one drops take a few weeks to sell out (outside of a few exceptions)
And just because runs for some expensive yoyos are smaller doesn’t make them collectors items. Most companies nowadays aren’t super big so they can’t make huge runs because they can’t afford it or just won’t be able to sell all of them considering the yoyo market is super flooded nowadays
What percentage of high-end yoyo purchases would you estimate are primarily for the purpose of being added to a collection, rather than to fill a critical performance gap?
Except for maybe titanium’s like luftverk and a few other exceptions, not many yoyos are designed for collecting. Even G2s aren’t made for collectors, they’re made with a purpose, they’re made to play a certain way. Almost every yoyo is designed to be good and designed to be played.
It just so happens that G2 became so popular that they began selling out quickly. That wasn’t always the case with G2 you know.
Similar thing happened with General Yo and CLYW back in the day. They performed so well or were so unique/fun that they became so popular that they became known as a company for collectors. Both aren’t considered in the same regard anymore because they have fallen out of popularity.
Yoyos, even the $100-$200 ones, are designed to play well and play a certain way, designed to be played. They aren’t designed to be collectors pieces. Some companies and yoyos just get attached with that term but the idea of a collectors yoyo or company is created by the player base, not by the company.
Companies may not be making yoyos soley to be collectibles, but I think they realize that a good chunk of their business comes from players who buy mostly to add to their collection. These buyers have long since exceeded a need for new yoyos on the basis of what will help them improve their skills or make their tricks/routines easier. They are buying them just to have them (“Oh, what a pretty colorway!”), and that’s a collector mentality at the core.
There’s nothing wrong with that, and I don’t see any shame in acknowledging that a hobby has reached a point of maturation and popularity that it can support and sustain that kind of widespread buying habit.
I think something you’re misunderstanding is that you’re either buying for pure performance or buying just to collect but those aren’t the only 2 reasons to buy a new yoyo
The vast majority of yoyoers who buy the $50-$200 yoyos are buying for variety yes, but they wouldn’t call themselves collectors.
People have collections of 10-50 yoyos because every yoyo has a different feel and performs a different way and players enjoy that variety. I think a great comparison is video games. You may have a favorite game but every game brings something different to the table, something different that makes each one fun to play. But just because I have 50 games, does that mean I’m a game collector? No. Same thing with yoyos
Whether they would call themselves collectors or not is somewhat immaterial. They are collectors by behavior (and outcome) even if not by intent. Simply put, if you have more yoyos than you need (whether it is to compete or to travel or to train/learn, or even just as backups) and you are still buying yoyos, then you are a collector in addition to whatever else you self-identify as. It’s not a mistake that we refer to yoyo “collections” as such, and you can’t have a three-digit inventory without being a collector on some level.
I don’t quite understand why there is so much resistance to owning the label. Is there some stigma attached to it that I’m not aware of?
1 Like
I think I’m just explaining it poorly and/or we have different views on the matter. I sent you a pm though
2 Likes
Statistically? Basically all of them.
If all you needed was a fixed set of yoyos to “fill a performance gap” how many would you realistically need? Perhaps 12? 20 at most? How many yo-yos can anyone play with in a given day?
Technically one yo-yo is all you need to win Worlds. You’d probably want at least two backups though 
Yeah, that’s my thinking as well. It doesn’t take long before your collection is a collection. And if you continue to buy yoyos every year, you’ve clearly become a collector, by any meaningful definition. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all, but I do think it has a substantial impact on how manufacturers make, market, and sell their products. And it can’t help but shape in some way the hobby/industry as a whole.
1 Like