oh my gosh guys so I am new to clyw and I can’t get over how awesome the Manatee is! The wide shape is awesome, the stability is flawless, everything is perfect! ;D reply if you like or dislike the manatee!!!
Oh my gosh; if you Scream; does that make the Manatee even better?
Yep it’s pretty legit. I need to get one before they are all gone. I tried one from a local thrower and it is dead smooth. It’s also hella comfortable in the hand.
Ive owned alot of CLYW. The Manatee was the first one I bought 2 of. 
I really need to get this throw…
It suits Riccardo “What’s a freestyle I only know tricks after tricks” Fraolini
I hate the idea of paying so much for a yoyo that’s not made in the US or Canada. Otherwise, I would have probably bought one by now, especially with this level of hype. It sounds like a great throw.
So I guess there are at least 50 other very good yoyos you will never buy either? Including the New Axis EX; made in China and selling for $119.00
Don’t look now but flag waving is only going to limit your buying opportunities; since about half the newer higher level throws are ‘not from here’.
I prefer to also buy US And Canada products when possible. But seems in the Yoyo purchasing World; Made ‘over here’ is less frequent opportunity.
Kinda sad…
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When “over here’s” production are hitting from 20 -50% B grade, and moving production “over there” has yielded 100% A grade at a lower price than ever before.
Other than a foolish sentiment of intangible patriotism, there is no real draw back to the final product that I can see other than I miss the old ano jobs, but that was adding to the failure apparently. Those that didnt get wack from core production did get wacked by the anodizers. .
Better prices, way higher success rates for A grade.
I didnt like it at first either, but then i threw one. my cares instantly went right out the window.
Just curious, where are you getting this 20-50% B grade vs. 100% A grade info from?
From the culmination of their ask.fm posts.
Here are a few Q&As that got me there.
and with the mention of Manatee, Creep, and a couple others being produced overseas that they have had (nearly) 100% A-grade. I know the Tundra got hit hard and they ere machined “over there” but i think its the anodizes that killed em. blasted too much or something around the bearing seat? i dont know exactly. Just after reading their ask.fm for months now thats the conclusion that seems to be appearing. I could be wrong tho, thats not terribly uncommon. lol
Oh, okay I was just wondering, not necessarily doubting.
[quote=“yoyodoc,post:8,topic:82050”]
[quote=“InvaderDust,post:9,topic:82050”]
Ha! Wow. Glad to see the assumption machines are turned up to 11. Believe it or not, one can decide to spend their dollars in the US without xenophobia or other unsavory notions having anything to do with it. I’m not xenophobic or, for that matter, terribly patriotic. I am a fan of simple economics, however, and I believe that when US businesses do better, all of us here do better. That includes the folks that directly rely on said US businesses. I also like buying locally. Buying US-made things, whenever possible, is closer to that ideal than buying overseas goods. I get that it’s impossible to buy US-made everything. Global trade is never going away, which is precisely why I try to buy US-made when I have a choice.
I also have a limited number of yoyo dollars to spend, so, yes yoyodoc, I will pass on 50 (probably many more) very good $90+ yoyos. I decided a while back to narrow my collecting focus, almost exclusively, to US-made yoyos. I will always miss out on some wonderful throws made elsewhere, and that doesn’t bother me.
If the Manatee was $50 or so I’d consider buying one, but $90 is a bit steep for a rather uncomplicated (from a yoyo manufacturing standpoint) yoyo. If a few US yoyo manufacturers can even come close to competing on price with throws made overseas (they are) while making a quality product (they are), I’ll happily support them to help keep them doing what they do, even if that means I don’t buy some other great throws. I like the idea of American manufacturing, of which there is very little these days.
I can sleep at night without trying every new throw that hits the market. When I buy premium metal throws, especially at retail prices, they’re made in the US. That may not be you, and that’s fine. For me, a $90 Manatee seems steep, and that’s ok too.
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Sounds like you should be shopping primarily at One Drop…nothing wrong with that. 8)
You should make a serious attempt to ‘understand’ what you read before you respond after quoting me.
I assume nothing.
I was amused by Dusts’ conclusions based on what he has researched/read from others. Some Clowns don’t know how to interpret or understand what they read.
Giving percentages of ‘A’ grades from China and ‘B’ grades from the United States and/or Canada is pointless if you don’t see/care to explain ‘why’ they may appear the way they do.
Showing people a Puzzle; isn’t solving the Puzzle. It is simply presenting that there is a Puzzle…
- We seldom see what would constitute a ‘B’ grade from the better Chinese Manufacturers simply because they don’t release the ‘B’ grades. They sort through every Yoyo they make and pull the ‘B’ grades.
It’s not like they have a Miracle batting average in the Machine Shop. I would put my money on One Drop any day of the Century for better quality control. Flag waving quality at All price points.
…Domestic ‘B’ grades are a totally different story. If you can’t grasp the logic of the 'domestically offered ‘B’ grades; you shouldn’t start quoting people.
I’ll use two different sources of ‘B’ grades for examples: General Yo and CLYW.
Both the just mentioned Makers offer ‘B’ grades because they are offering for sale excellent yoyos with the very slightest flaws at obvious savings off retail prices. <They recover their shop cost plus a percentage and don’t have to have as many yoyos going into a recycling bin. Usually just Ano flaws or vibe so slight; most folks wouldn’t even have thought about it if they weren’t told about ‘it’. Since most(not all) players eventually smack their yoyos into something; buying ‘B’ grades can be an excellent way to save a few bucks on something you may seriously want for your Yoyo adventures.
It’s too unrealistic to simply state that the Chinese produce 100 percent ‘A’ grade yoyos. The reality is that the better Chinese machine shops only market their ‘A’ grades.
I don’t wave Flags when it comes to my Yoyo buying. I have literally hundreds of yoyos from all over the map, lol. I bought 2 Oxy Hyperions at $520 a pop; just to make a 2-tone🤓. And I sure don’t think Carlo makes his Oxy yoyos ‘Over here’.
Andy… If you are too cheap or too poor or just on a budget for understandable reasons because you actually have other stuff you need to buy; that is perfectly reasonable.
But if you want to convolute your spending habits and cut short your fun-factor because on odd principle an excellent Manatee Yoyo is ‘outside of your wallet limitations’; that is a personal problem you have to deal with.
I have No budget…
And I have a lot more between my ears than ‘Dust’…
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I want to add to Mo’s comments. The B grade yoyos I’ve purchased from YYF, Spin Dynamics and Sengoku are B for vibe. Significant savings for me, less loss for the companies, all for a yoyo someone more sensitive to vibe than I am decided had too much vibe. For the record, the YYF Cypher and Sengoku Hideyoshi are from “over there”, the Spin Dynamics original Flow is from good ol’ Massachusetts.
Like most of his opinions, I agree with yoyodoc. B grade is a nice way to save money on something I am likely to bang up anyway.
Are you saying that Steve and Chris are clowns? Looks like Dust only quoted them…
No… That statement is/was missing a period. The next letter after a period is a cap; right?
I missed the 'period at the end of the sentence… So clown had no cap. Clown was supposed to be the first word in the next sentence.
When I type on my 9.7 IPad Pro; I usually type with only index fingers; and I miss a letter or period here and there, lol. I seldom deliberately call personal friends ‘clowns’. I have noticed my new IPad has this very aggressive predictive wording software and not only changes a word here and there but sometimes will substitute phrases. Sometimes it is amazingly helpful and sometimes ‘if’ I reread for typos I am mystified at the altered results. I should just turn off the predictive software.
It should have read like this>
I was amused by Dusts’ conclusions based on what he has researched/read from others. Some Clowns don’t know how to interpret or understand what they read.
Chris and Steve could not be the ‘clowns’ I was referring to. They are the ones that wrote the information that Dust was using for his info. I doubt anybody would/could actually conclude that I would suggest that Steve and Chris don’t understand what they wrote, lolol.
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I think I will always have a hard time thinking that 90$ is too much for this throw. Its just so darn good. So back to OP’s title question, its safe to say, I DO! I Love the Manatee.
Also I wasnt trying to say one place is better, but rather soften the thoughts that several seem to have (including myself at the earliest stages of the move, but thats all squashed now and my indifference shines bright) that the “budget throws” were somehow less awesome than the domestic ones were. Thats all. I gave disclaimers that I could be way off base, wrong, and tried not to speak in any absolutes. Glad i could amuse, but no need for insults, however clever or subtle.