A de-lurk, intro, and a brief story of how I find myself digging through this forum and shop far too late into the night.
I’ve been yoyoing for just short of 30 years I think, and maybe 8 years ago some kid at work has this awesome yoyo, and he’s like the 2nd person I’ve ever met in person who is better than me with a yoyo. (I’m not awesome, at all, but all you ever meet ((if you never go to yoyo events)) are people who maybe have thrown one once, so its rare that I ever just coincidentally run into anyone that has spent any time with them. I’ve always been that weirdo in any random sample ). Anyway, I’m totally psyched to watch him play, and love this orange and red yoyo he’s got. He tells me the name (Hspin), I go buy one. He sees me a few days after I get it and asks me how I like it, I say it spins like a madman, but I can’t finish any tricks with it (you know where this is going). He says “OH! Do you know what a non-responsive yoyo is?, sorry, I should have told you about that!” Needless to say I did not know anything about the non responsive revolution. So, he shows me a bind, and explains why its needed, and I think that sounds like a huge pain in the neck to have to do that every time I finish a trick, and so I put the yoyo in my collection bag, and happily go back to my comfortable world that consists mostly of Zombies, Axls, DragonJams, and Tom Kuhns.
Fast forward about 10 years, during which I’ve hardly played at all. Maybe ~5 times a year if the yoyo thats always sitting on my desk catches my eye. I’m in Camden Market on holiday about a month ago and I see a juggling/toy shop. I stop in, he has a pile of yoyos on the counter. I zero in on the only nice looking metal one, and ask if I can throw it. It zings around, I land a handful of little double front mounts and … whatever it is called when you come back around and do the same thing on the otherside of the string. Comes back to my hand spinning fast. I look at the side: Duncan Drifter. Duncan? Seriously? Last time I threw a Duncan, it was a Professional, and I never picked that up again once I discovered Hummingbirds, the No-Jive, and the original Silver Bullet that I saved up and sent away to SanFrancisco for in about 1990. A ball bearing aluminum butterfly that I can do that many tricks on when I’m rusty as heck, all for only 15 quid? I was surprised and impressed. Sold!
Anyway, so now I’m back at it. This Drifter has totally re-kindled my love of yoyos, and I’m already learning new tricks. The videos available today are insane! The last time I leveled up it was because of the Yonomicon, maybe 15 years ago? At least. But I’ve learned like 5 tricks in a week, and am now shopping around to see what else has changed in the years since I stopped paying attention. Answer: A lot has changed!
So I remember the Pyro I bought years ago, and pull it out, read up on binds, got those nailed down, and have been playing with it for about a week, and honestly… I just don’t like it. Maybe I’m just not good enough? Or maybe its just not for me, but it feels . . . . slow. Like a lumbering hulk compared to the zipping speed of the Drifter, which I have no trouble whipping around and getting 6,7,8 string hits in one throw. Maybe I just don’t have the right throw snap technique for the Pyro or something, I dunno. I just feel clumsy with it. So far the only thing I can do better with the Pyro over the Drifter is a cross arm trapeze -1/2 the time I land it with the Drifter it climbs to my throw hand, but I think thats because I’m not giving the trapeze enough slack, at least in part. Maybe the extra weight of the Pyro is helping it settle, or forcing my to give it more of a cradle. Or more its just a better spinner. 
I’ll play with it for another week or so, and it doesn’t start lighting my fire and feeling comfortable, I’ll list it in the forsale section in case anyone’s interested. That money should probably be spent on a yoyo I enjoy playing with, I reckon.
Anyway, I’ve been looking around the YYX shop, and its INSANE how many nice yoyos are out there now, so I figure maybe I should shop around for something else. I know its a bit collectible, or at least had a really strong following when it was new, so there is part of me that almost wants to keep it, but why keep something in your collection just because its collectible, if you don’t like it for what it DOES? So I think I’m going to look for some other good playing nonresponsive metal beast, and maybe send this off to someone who will appreciate it for what it is. So far, I’m liking the looks and reviews I’ve read for things like OneDrops, Tactic, Quark, and the DV888. Might have to pick up a Maverick too, just because they look fun and super cheap. So many choices!?!?
I did just order another Drifter, and a kit to make it unresponsive. I figure since I already know I like the feel and shape, and am familiar with the response as far as weight and speed goes, maybe thats a good way forward to get really comfortable with unresponsive action. And if not, at least I’ll have a spare drifter in the kick ass purple version that they didn’t have on offer when I bought my orange one on vacation. 
So, anyway. Long rambling story, the gist of which is: Its nice to remember why I like yoyos, and its kind of overwhelming to see how serious and advanced both the play and the technology has become. I don’t know if I’ll ever learn anything super technical, but I’m pretty excited to have a lot more opportunity and resources to learn from, and available gear thats up to the task. Its pretty cool to find a forum full of nerds far more into and knowledgable about something than I am for a change. I’ve got plenty of room to learn.