Thought this would be an interesting hypothetical situation. However it happens, you are somehow left without a yoyo collection and are forced to restart your collection from the beginning. You can have the knowledge you have now, just not the yoyos. What are you buying first and WHY?
Here are my thoughts: If I my collection was gone, there wouldn’t be any point in replacing yoyos I was sentimentally attached to (if they weren’t ALSO one of my favorite performing yoyos), as the new one just wouldn’t be the same/wouldn’t have any of the memories associated with it. Once that particular yoyo is gone, so is the sentimental attachment, if that makes sense. So this gives me an excuse to not only go after some of my favorite performers, but also keep my collection small this time.
I’d go after these:
YYF Edge 2022
CLYW Wish
OD Panorama
OD Free Solo
DD 5050
Here’s my “why’s” - The Edge 2022 is a readily available purchase I could make and have at my door within a day or two. It’s one of my favorite yoyos I’ve tried recently and is a great all around performer being a competition oriented bimetal. Everything else would likely have to be hunted and searched for on the BST, but the Edge 2022 could totally hold me over until I track the rest down. The CLYW Wish is probably my favorite bimetal period, it’s so comfy and I would really miss it if I didn’t have one. Everyone knows the Panorama is my fav and a total necessity for my collection, I think I’d miss owning one of these the most out of any yoyo of mine (sentimentality excluded). I think the Free Solo is one of the best “all arounder” monometals you can get for the money - I see it as a “standard” or “baseline” for what a great monometal yoyo is, so I’d like to have one when I’m in the mood to throw something “conventional.” To scratch the undersized itch, I’d pick up a DD 5050 to throw around when I’m in the mood - it’s totally awesome and probably wouldn’t be too hard to find one since they just were rereleased. I didn’t put it in the list, but after I grabbed those 5, I would probably try and track down an Alpine since I’d want a Ti (this is also probably my current favorite yoyo), and a Peak since I’d want something classic.
Honestly I’d probably just pick up like 3 CLYW Boys, a Duncan Butterfly, and a JT Amulette and call it a day.
Really I’d just want 3 of something that I could compete with and treat as beater tier daily driver for 1A, 3A and 5A. A separate 0A and a 4A yoyo are a must though.
The Boy would give me something I can compete with, that has modern performance, but with all of the cool/fun factor of classic CLYW.
Losing my entire collection would probably shatter all of my interest in having a collection and trying stuff. It wouldn’t make me want to play yoyo any less, but it’d actively make me not want to buy more than just the essentials.
The Assassin is one of my all time favorites. I don’t know what else can even come close to replicating it, besides maybe the 5050 which I’ve yet to try (at least until mine comes in the mail hehe). Rebirth cause it’s comfy. Terrarian cause I love the feel of it, and I get a chance at a different colorway besides my solid green. Freehand so I can have a really good responsive, I’d miss it. The GTX cause it’s a banger and readily available.
I’ve been really trying my best to cut my collection to 10~ yoyos and I’m finding it almost impossible unless I started from scratch.
N11 because it’s next day delivery and $15. Everything else is just based on what I play the most or like a lot while also being easy to obtain/affordable.
I feel this. Losing my collection or some massive life event would pretty much be a required push for me to cut back just to what I need, with no excess. I’d already like to to do that in a sense, but minimalism just for the sake of minimalism isn’t that appealing to me any more. So I can’t bring myself to let go of yoyos that I play often and actively enjoy, just because I don’t “need” more than one yoyo.
Wood is Good - TK 3-in-1 No Jive (mandala)/SW Knack/SW Bloodcell/RCS Retro Gamer/RTT Caiman
Current favorite - SW x MK1 RBC
Light and whippy - Doc Pop Daytripper/Weekender FS/Weekender
EDC Beater - YYF Confusion/Confusion Ti
Jack of multiple trades - ZGRT El Mijo/El Mijo 6061/Core Co Alleycat 650b/Alleycat
Obviously, I like 0A, small bearings, and slimlines, but I also think in terms of “class” of yoyo and where it would fit in a such a small collection. For each category, any one of them would be fine, but they are generally listed in order of preference.
I almost included a list of possible unresponsive options in that 5th spot, but I’d probably just live with the flexibility of the El Mijo having multiple bearing widths and a fixed blank or the ability to switch the Alleycat to be unresponsive.
If I had picked something unresponsive, it would almost certainly have been undersized by modern standards (E1NS/Yuuksta/GenXs/888/Skyline/Ti-Vayder).
Great topic (though these kinds of questions tend to devolve into a generalized top 5 it seems). I’ve wondered about this a few times but never really thought about the answer seriously. Restricting myself to what I think is currently available:
TopYo Patronum (or any similar soft-V shaped throw, there are a lot of choices)
MK1/Spinworthy RBC
Spinworthy KNack if Glen was making them at the moment, if not, a Legend Wing.
Anything UNPRLD that was in stock
Then I’d probably get back to collecting things as they come out and probably re-buy most of what I have.
If I was being honest, all I would need is a MMC/YWET and Plastic Freehand for the rest of my life.
I think the main thing for me is that the monetary value I would get out of selling my yoyos doesn’t equal the amount of fun/enjoyment I get out of them, plus they don’t take up a whole lot of real estate.
I think I’m partly interested in minimalism, but more so interested in Markmont using the MMC since it’s inception and not changing to another throw at all. I like that concept of being so in tune with your yoyo that it practically becomes a part of you. It’s kinda some sort of weird fever dream I have, to find the “one” for me, not so much minimalism.
I think its kinda funny to think about-
I would like to think i would only recoup a few out of what i had before… but in reality i would end up with more than a few (and i really think most of us would otherwise every single one of us would have stopped accumulating awhile ago)
I cant tell you how many times i pick up something and say to myself oh wow i forgot how much i like this one
MFD Aotus - something pretty and a great monometal performer
Grasshoper GTX- solid bimetal performance
Weekender- for something easy and fun to throw
OD Par Avion- this one is just always in my hands idk why its just fun!
ZGRT The Don Brassi- D bearing organic with brass rims!
And some kind of wooden fixed axle
Now- if i was poor and financially incapable of purchasing more than 1 or 2 or some other situation that prevented…
I would be perfectly content with 2 inexpensive solid performers
Yoyofriends x Damian Pucket Alliance and a Deep State. Just insanely good yoyos, and really the only two in my collection I “need” lol. sadly only one is readily available, so I’d probably go with something like a Koi until I could snag the Alliance.
Edit: forgot about the Freehand 1, that would be a fairly quick purchase too lol
Grail: the only organic full sized throw I need. E1nstien: only ti I need.
420L: for some oversized fun.
Converge: Still want to be able to learn hard tricks, this is my fave but I dont have too many bimetals to compare with.
One responsive throw, perhaps wood but a metal one would be fine as well. I havent gotten a chance to try a lot of responsives so this one is up in the air.
You went with 5, I will do the same. I love the concept, nice thread.
Duncan Freehand 1 -. Super easy to get my hands on. I will be yoyoing again ASAP, and I feel a plastic that takes you back to your roots is essential.
5 star or Hatrick -. Whichever one I can get my hands on first on the BST. Each is equally loved. I’ll need an unresponsive that is smooth enough to grind like butter. I have an attachment of love to the brand.
Ditch - I always have to have an extremely comfortable pocket throw that can perform. I can’t deal with a yoyo protruding from my pocket. The Ditch was an answer to those prayers. I can always, comfortably carry a yoyo with me, anywhere I go.
Peak - I’m going to act like I’m only allowed to have 5 yoyos for whatever reason. That opens up the budget to afford a Peak. I’ve had one before, I know what I’m getting into, and I love it.
Let’s get weird. Since the budget is wide open, I reach out to @edhaponik and @Glenacius_K . I ask that they collaborate to make a wooden yoyo that can have interchangable guts to be played both unresponsive and responsive with a wood sleeve of sorts. This’ll cover my final needs. Let’s also see if we can make it a 3 in one so I can get my loop on.
otherwise every single one of us would have stopped accumulating awhile ago)