Yo-Yo Companies That Have Come And Gone.

I see a lot of company names that were around before my time, but they are no longer around. I’m trying to get to know yo-yo history a bit more. I know Hspin and Spyy have been around and gone during my time. I’m curious how many more there were, and the reason they did not stick around.

If you know of a company that fits this description, tell me three things:

  1. The company name;
  2. What kind of products they were known for (plastic, high end…)
  3. If you have credible information about why the business closed.

Thanks.

Vs Newton
Skywalker is probably there most known yoyo
Heath got to greedy. Most of you know the rest.

Buzz-on is one I heard about.

Ya I’ve always wanted to own a Buzz-On they look awesome! Anybody know why they don’t make yoyos anymore ?

-HSpin
-Budget metals as well as high end.
-I think the owners either were not able to manage the company time-wise or they were having financial issues. Someone please give me insight on this if possible.

Yes, it is one of the names I hear about. If someone could tell us more about Buzz on, and also Death By Yo-Yo. Tell us what they were know for, and why they discontinued business.

I guess Anti Yo have come, gone, and come again. They were well known for their high end metals, especially the Bapezilla, before fading out of the community. After a few long years hiatus, they’re back, which is great news!

Alchemy.

They produced a bunch of fantastic and interesting yoyos. CU was the first genuinely playable micro, Nimbus was probably the first extreme rim weighted design (H-ish shape) that didn’t wobble. They did Delrin too.

They produced a number of interesting mods as well - such as FHZ and Aquarius weight rings, and FHZ hubstack kits.

No idea what happened… I think everyone involved (Eric Wolff, Rob Tsou and Jaco Greeff…?) just got busy with other projects and it all kinda fizzled out.

Man, if people still love yo-yo’s that would completely destroy your string brand new, it must be pretty good. From what I’ve heard, that is. I also hear that there was a lot of hype on anti-yo throws.

I didn’t know Anti-Yo had a hiatus, so that is very interesting. I hope this is what Spyy does too.

Weird thing is, not really. Anti-Yo is just always “interesting”. The throws are always kind of cool and unique and they feel like they’re worth owning for some reason, even though they’re usually not that amazing as players. IMO, of course. I think a lot of the early stuff was really hype driven, especially on the BST.

…and I have all 3 ywet’s and a Bape 2 right now. So, I’m not absolving myself of any responsibility. I also used to have a Viszilla, which Anti-Yo actually bought back from me at their request because they were, let’s say “displeased” with me and my comments on a forum. But, it did go to an outstanding player of their choosing at a local contest, so it worked out. ;D

^ Thanks for that one, because I had never heard of that company. I just learned something new.

Couldn’t figure out anything about Buzz-On I think they just took a indefinite leave from making yoyos and just never came back. They were rumored to make a return early last year. There was even a post on Yoyoskills about it.

B.I.O. Industries. They made The Gear.

It closed because Alex Kim set up a preorder deal with YYN, who sold all the yoyos, then Mr. Kim never followed through and delivered them. Alex Kim now runs Rec Rev.
I hear he’s got a machinist or somebody after him(in a legal, taking to court sense)for a bunch of money too.

Dave Bazan and another guy named Dave ran Buzz-on, not sure why they closed shop. Mark Montgomery played for them, though(I’m tempted to say Boyd Seth, as well? Don’t quote me on that). And they made killer yoyos.

Vs. Newton is gone because Heath is a dirt-bag.
http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,49488.0.html

Edit: Man I wish that company hadn’t been brought up… Thinking back to that makes me so angry.

Sorry, double.

Death By YoYo started off with a delrin design, then later released an aluminum as well. I think it was shortly after the Milk came out. Machined delrin yoyos were fairly unexplored, so it became a notable characteristic of the company to start off that way. The company ended when the owner sold a bunch of yoyos and then never shipped them out, and then disappeared from the yoyo community.

I don’t know if Buzz-On ever formally ended, so there may not be a publicly known reason for why they disappeared. At one point, Dave Bazan tried to branch out into a new company called Throw_Yo. The failure of that company may have had something to do with the end of Buzz-On. I think he also moved from Texas to Idaho, which may have contributed. Someone who knows Dave personally might have more accurate info.


Throwdown was a short-lived company from roughly the same time period as DBYY. I think they disappeared after their first yoyo had a critical flaw and they could not afford to refund or replace the high rate of broken yoyos. Before that, they sold attachable weight rings for FHZs.

Furph Yo used to custom powder coat yoyos and then released their own yoyo called the Rok. It was poorly received, and they quickly stopped making yoyos.

I don’t know if these ever disbanded, but I haven’t heard from AnY, XYo, or HICOO in a while. All three are Asian, so if they ever announced anything about closing, it might have been missed in English-speaking communities. Or maybe there were announcements that I just missed. AnY was probably best known for the MiRoC, which had bearing caps on the side of the yoyo (the bearing caps didn’t work very well, though–I think some of them had problems staying attached while the yoyo was spinning). XYo was probably best known for the XCalibur, which I think may have had some sort of interesting coating. I never saw one in person, but I remember that being a point of interest. I’m curious if anyone knows what happened with those companies.

2 Likes

Wow, some of these posts are pretty comprehensive and informative. Nice job filling me in so far. :slight_smile: Yo-Yo business seems to actually have a low success rate and can be controversial…but I already knew the latter. :wink:

DTI
Mike Montgomery’s company.
Had released the Bassboost and Beast.

If you go here, most of these companies are gone.