In my opinion, yoyos are cool. It’s only a matter of time until the rest of the world realizes that. I’ve been seeing Gentry Stein on some “mainstream” sites, spreading the word about yoyoing. I recently saw he did a thing with WIRED
He also posted this video
which I think would also play a part in inciting a yoyo boom, once it reaches a large enough audience.
Yoyoing in itself is a niche thing, making it mainstream would give it a completely different feel. Or maybe it wouldn’t, depending on the people it attracts and how they interact with the existing community.
yeahh I’m not a fortune teller. At this point I’m just gonna wait and see what happens.
A lot of people here have compared a hypothetical modern yoyo boom to the fidget spinner boom, & I think that yoyoing & fidget spinning(?) are too fundamentally different to be compared in such similar context. There’s pretty much no variation between each spinner & there’s no skill ladder to climb like in yoyo.
Fidget Spinners had the stink of fad all over them from the moment I saw them. Their subsequent fade into obscurity was, in my view, inevitable. However, given the long history of the yoyo, and the vast play/trick space it has, it is unsurprising to me that it has settled into a perpetual cycle of waxing and waning popularity without ever disappearing completely.
Also, I’m not the least bit surprised that unresponsive play has done little to shift yoyo popularity into high gear among the masses. It requires a level of dedication to learning and practice that is beyond most casual throwers.
A boom is not happening folks. Stop hoping for one.
And that’s ok. It’s not a problem. Gradual increase in popularity is what we want. I’m not sure if that will happen either though.
It takes a lot of skill and commitment. At the very best, I doubt it will ever be more popular than something like skateboarding. And even that amount of popularity is very wishful thinking.
I can imagine the existence unresponsive play being a barrier to entry for some casual would be yo-yoers. It complicates the field for entry. Some will start with an unresponsive because they hear that’s the best, and get frustrated and quit. I don’t think this affects those destined to be serious players, but it might hurt the casual fan-base. Just a though.
