jhb said
I really dislike starburst response
Which reminded me… I’ve been thinking and wondering why starburst response fell so far out of favor, we really only see it on loopers and super low end plastics now? It is kinda … noisy, is my only complaint personally?
I guess machining starburst into metal (or even wood) is also prohibitive? It is more of a plastic molding thing? I know there is at least one metal yo yo with starburst style response but it is mega rare.
Don’t starbursts wear after a while? So their effectiveness decreases and can’t be replaced like an o ring could, and also couldn’t be adjusted like an o ring could.
Also I’m guessing they wore down strings more quickly.
The only starburst 1A yo-yos I remember using were old Yomega stuff (the Hyperwarp Heavy Wing was my first ball bearing yo-yo I think) and older YYJ stuff with the starburst/o ring hybrid response.
It’s not aggressive enough to allow for the wider gaps that design shifted to as everyone moved to playing unresponsive.
Not good for wider gaps, if starbursts wear out you have to buy a new yoyo not a new pad, starbursts cut strings easier than pads, starburst probably slows down the yoyo more too?
As others have said, didn’t work in wide gap yoyos and they wear out. I suspect that machining them in metal would also be really difficult and/or cost prohibitive.
I do miss the wide loops that YYJ hybrid (o-ring and starburst) response threw on suicides. And the easily worn starbursts on the original SuperYo Renegade ushered in a whole era of “less responsive” play that was crucial to getting yoyoing to where we are now.
I seem to remember a couple metal yoyos with starbursts, but can’t think of what they were. Never owned them, that I remember, but would think they were string cutters.
This all makes sense, but why do loopers always use starburst even today, given these downsides?
String shredders. Not a fan.
SImply because loopers need the exact opposite of a wide gap! And the friction and wear generated by looping is intense, intense enough to wear down a pad in no time, so starbursts are better for that case.
Loopers have a narrow gap, you don’t exactly need long spin times, they’re cheaper to replace than bimetals, that takes care of 3 problems right there,
And there’s one other reason that actually involves looping but I can’t think of what it is off the top of my head right now for some reason
Pads definitely don’t grip the same as starburst for looping though
Replaceable plastic starbursts, like those you can get for the Loop 2020, could be used with metal yoyos too. There would be no need to machine the starburst response right into the metal body. That would eliminate the concern that they wear out. And maybe there is a clever new design to be found that makes them usable in wider gaps, and which also makes them less harsh on strings.
But I think the main reason is that silicone rings are easier and cheaper to make and install/replace than (replaceable) starburst rings. In fact, I’d ask the reverse question: why do starburst response continue to be used in loopers?
Starburst has a more consistent response since the wear is a lot less/slower than pads and loopers have a narrow gap so they don’t need the aggressive sticky response the way a wide gapped unresponsive yo-yo does.
This is weird though because starburst is gonna generate a ton of extra friction by its very design. Silicone also absorbs heat with ease, that is why you have things like silicone pot holders. So neither of those arguments make much sense.
The only thing I can think of is the stickers would lose adhesion versus the constant pressure of (partially) binding over and over… whereas starburst is part of the structure of the yo yo body?
now I want to find and use loopers with silicone stickers to test this out.
Learn 2a and do your own experiments 
I know basic 2a but I am not aware of any loopers without starburst?
Loop 360s
Ah yeah I missed that one, I have 720, I think I had 1080 briefly, and I have 2020.
Cuz it sucks
If you cut your loop 720 in half you’ll have two 360s. Probably.
