Back when I began visiting YYE, Yoyojam was the thing everyone was talking about (member here since 2010). I took a break in 2012 from the community and from actually picking any new trick up. 2015 I jump back into the community, start picking up new tricks and hugely growing my collection of yoyos. The one company I never heard much of anymore was…you guessed it, Yoyojam!
Wanting to get my first bimetal, I had my eyes set on the YYJ H3X. Of course that throw’s a few years old, released at a time I was out of the loop in terms of the yoyo industry. Not knowing how they were I did some searches and found very little on it. I decided to give it a whirl anyway knowing YYJ was at one point pretty hot stuff. Of course the yoyo did not disappoint and fell in love with it.
Just recently I purchased a Karma, another several-year-old design. Again, not a lot of info about it but I had a general idea in what I like in a yoyo design. Again, I was amazed by this throw (One of my top 10 throws).
With all of this said, what happened to YYJ? Seems like as of late they’ve lost that momentum they once had. I think the latest design YYJ I own is the Revival which is yet again another fine throw. But newer designs seem to be rather limited and they don’t seem to be pumping out new designs like what we’re seeing from YYF. Most of their arsenal of throws are what would now be “dated” with high walls and pogs/caps.
…here’s hoping to seeing a Dark Magic 3 with updated design…What would it take for YYJ to build up that steam they once had?
Personally I think they lack of hype, some big players left, along with the emerges of new companies that surprisingly make interesting yoyos, somewhat overshadow many companies not only Yoyojam honestly. But still they are still one of my favorite.
Also, they were cutting edge back in the day, but the “new” things they came out with back then have been overshadowed. No one uses rubber o-rings, adjustable gap, or hybrids anymore.
I like the company a lot, but you’re right about the momentum.
I don’t think they will end up like some other companies at the bottom of the heap, but it’s hard to stay on top.
If YYF didn’t have such good prices I don’t know that they would still be AS popular.
People seem to want smaller–dare I say Hip–companies because they feel unique I guess.
We just had a discussion about this on facebook a few days ago. It sounds like the main reason is just that the people in charge of yoyojam have a lot of other stuff on their plates so it is a bit difficult for them to keep up with everything that people want right now. That being said I still really like yoyojam
I really like all the YYJ throws I’ve been playing with as of late. I was saddened to give the Revival back to its rightful owner (got my Dang back though) but my DMII and Eneme are still some of my favorites. I’m also borrowing a Phenomizm from the same friend, and I’m loving that thing as well, just has the typical can’t unscrew problem, so I have to buy some super glue some time soon.
I REALLY want to buy/try some of the premium YYJ’s that I missed out on since I came into the game after Christmas of 2014. I have been dying to try the H3X, Diamondback, Phenom, etc… but as a consumer, I can’t bring myself to spend modern throw money on dated designs. I know for a fact that I love older throws, I don’t think I’ve bought a new release since the Rebirth, and that was just a spike in a trend towards used/older. I think if YYJ released something exciting, I’d probably be happy to buy it up, since when I got into the game, every google source hyped the DMII as THE yoyo to own if you wanted something premium for a budget, so YYJ has been hyped for me since the beginning.
I also really want to give the SR71 a redo. I will fully admit a lack of knowledge/skill for my initial dislike, lol.
I do like the yoyojam style o hybrid throws but i think everyone has moved onto bimetal and Ti hype leaving those older golden models down in the dump where they don’t really belong.
I do admit the DMII is not my style but some of the newer models like their REVIVAL and the Hex still play pretty well. Although i can’t say the same for the phenom… i dislike the thing very much.
I think there are a few issues with why yoyojam isn’t on the top-brands list anymore.
They missed the metal yo-yo trend when YYF grew big with 888, Superstar etc.
This led to many top players leaving the Team, as they felt the yo-yos weren’t the best anymore
They totally missed social media. Today’s yoyo community is 80% about hype, 20% about actual product I’d guess. Those brands who lead social media (CLYW, YYF, C3) lead the competitive market
HOWEVER, they may still make a decent amount of money from it, considering they probably could already re-finance all of their plastic yo-yo molds and make many things in-house.
That being said as Nathan pointed out, I am not even sure how much or little yoyojam brings to the table of the overall corporates turnover/margin.
I loved my time in Team YoYoJam, great people, great times and amazing products back in the days. I remember being the 2nd person ever to try out a Hitman (Hitman #2 still sits in my collector’s display) and it felt like a revolution. Would love to see them grow bigger again!
Personally, o-rings are the most attractive because they require zero maintenance. Otherwise, say hello to changing response pads every few weeks. That’s definitely a pain.
Because their quality control just plain and utterly sucks. I had the chance to try out some Next Levels at the YYE office, and a lot of them were pulled from sales because of the terrible quality. There was a gap between the body and the brass ring causing vibe. Also, not to mention the solid spin system is just a huge fail. Good idea, bad set up. That being said, I don’t under stand how the quality of the H3X is so much better than their other metals. All the H3Xs I’ve tried were dead smooth and the ring was actually flush with the body, unlike the Phenom or Diamondback or Karma, etc. It is true that there are very few people working at the YYJ factory, but still, it’s careless to let so many faulty products slip through.
