Yo-yo
(ADDED 7/1/2023)
My yo-yo JOURNEY
My “first” yo-yo (1971-2009)
My Yo-Yo journey probably began later than most people. I don’t remember having one when I was a kid. If I did, it wasn’t something that I was into enough to remember it. Fast forward to the year 2000. I was in a toy store looking around for something for my son when I stumbled upon a new kind of Yo-Yo that I had never seen before. It was called the Powerspin Yo-Yo made by the Yomega corporation. Here’s a picture of it…
What made this Yo-Yo different than the ones I was used to is that it used a plastic transaxle. The white part you see below is what the string attaches to. So instead of the string rubbing against the axle (Called a fixed axle Yo-Yo) the plastic part (which can be oiled) spins on the axle instead. This allows the Yo-Yo to spin much longer.
The Powerspin came with a trick book so, for the first time, I really got into Yo-Yo. I even ran an after school program for some really enthusiastic elementary students. Shortly after that I bought a couple of other Yo-Yos including the Brain by Yomega…
After pretty much mastering most of what was in the trick book, I moved on to other things. I would take the Powerspin and the Brain out every now and then to entertain my students but nothing more than that. Fast forward to the year 2009. At this time I was working at a Middle School. One day the Powerspin went “missing”. No idea where it went. I was doing some tricks at the end of class as students waited to leave and I left it on the CD player in the gym. Next thing I knew it was gone. Oh well. My fault for not taking care of it.
The next CHAPTER (2009-2022)
Over the next several years I changed jobs (a lot) expanded my teaching, and got into a variety of others things like technology. It totally consumed my free time. In that time period I picked up another Yo-Yo at the toy store. This one was the Metal Drifter made by Duncan…
Notice the counterweight (the skull). I basically ignored that part. This Yo-Yo was perfect for what I wanted it for. Just some basic tricks from time to time.
The final chapter??? (2022-current)
OK, so I now was curious as to what other types of Yo-Yos were out there. My first stop was Amazon. I looked at reviews and decided to go with the MagicYoyo V3…
When I received it I noticed that when I threw it, it wouldn’t come back when I wanted. In fact, the metal bearing was much wider that the Duncan Metal Drifter. However, there was a thinner bearing in the box so, following the direction, I changed the bearing. Note: At this point I had no idea what “Responsive” and “Unresponsive” Yo-Yo was. My whole Yo-Yo experience was with responsive Yo-Yos. That said, I looked online for some videos on how to learn some new Yo-Yo tricks. Enter https://yoyotricks.com/
With this site, app, and YouTube channel I really got into Yo-Yo even more. Their tutorials are easy to follow. Their website has a ton of great info about Yo-Yo specifics and maintenance. Their YouTube channel is second to none. After buying some of my old favorites off YouTube (Like the Powerspin above) I purchased my first Yo-Yo from them. It was called the Fizz…
5 Types Of Yo-yo styles
FYI...I own each and every one of these yo-yos.
1A
My FAVORITE RESPONSIVE 1A Yoyos (Entry Level)
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The Butterfly XT by Duncan...
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The Whip by YoYo Factory...
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Xodus 2 by Yomega...
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Fireball by Yomega...
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Fast 201 by YoYo Factory...
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The Origen by YoYoTricks...
Slim Jim by Zeekio...
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Dr. Smalls by YoYo King...
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NOTE: As of February 2024 I have focused mainly on responsive YoYo play. Unresponsive YoYo play is my next goal.
2A
MY FAVORITE 2A YOYOS…
The Match by YoYoTricks...
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The Oracle by YoYoTricks...
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3A
Many Unresponsive 1A YoYos can be used for this type of YoYo style.
4A
My FAVORITE 4A yoyos…
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The Flight by YoYo Factory...
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The Airwave by YoYo Factory...
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The Spire by YoYoTricks...
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The Skyhawk by Duncan...
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The Ace Yo Vamos by YoYo Sam...
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5A
MY FAVORITE 5A YOYOS...
Duncan Freehand YoYo by Duncan...
My FAVORITE finger spin yoyos…
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Plastic Cheatcode By Offset YoYo...
Speedaholic By C3yoyodesign...
Shooting Star By iYoYo...
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Wedge 2.0 By YoYo Factory...
Speedaholic FX by C3yoyodesign...
AoE By YoYo Friends...
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Where to order
Very soon after I started buying all sorts of new Yo-Yos. No lie, I have purchased over 80 Yo-Yos since November 2022. In addition to the companies linked above, the following Yo-Yo websites are great places to order high quality Yo-Yos at a great price…
Some of my favorite Youtube channels
Below you will see a sample video from each of the YouTube channels that I have watched and learned from. They are in no particular order. ALL of them are amazing.
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Yo-Yo Storage
If you need a Yo-Yo case to carry your Yo-Yos around, I highly recommend some like you see below. They are super durable and very inexpensive. I bought the two you see below from Amazon. Search “YoYo case”.
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The one below is from YoYoTricks.com. What I like most about this one is that it holds all 5 Yo-Yo styles.
Click on the button to see how all 5 styles fit into the case…
If you get to the point of having too many Yo-Yos for the cases above, I highly recommend something like you see below. They are readily available at most hardware or department stores. A word of advice: TAKE A FEW OF YOUR YO-YOS WITH YOU TO MAKE SURE THEY WILL FIT BEFORE YOU BUY. The ones you see below are what I use for my 1A, 2A, 3A, & 5A style Yo-Yos…
This case is what I use for my 4A style Yo-Yos…
Current Yo-Yo Line-Up
