so shiny

Well, the Protostar and Northstar are very, very similar in shape and size(OK, pretty much identical). They have smooth plastic rims and probably aren't good for grinding. Spin times on both are awesome and the centertrack bearings are really nice. The Northstar is the heavier of the two. Both are great. I have both, I like both. My only issue is actualy with the Northstar because to me at least, it feels really heavy on the string.

Do keep in mind, your requests for "long spin times and no tilting" is truly YOUR problem. But for IRG's? No, the protostar and Northstar aren't ideal for those, or grinds in general due to the smooth plastic.

I'm personally not interested in getting the 888x for myself, but that just means I have nothing negative to say about it. I don't have anything positive to say about it either.

Based on your self-claimed skill level(which sounds right based on what you're saying) and what you are looking for, I think the answer to your question is the 888x. Yes, it has stacks, but without needing the weight rings, you can do the IRGs as the stacks won't be in the way, unlike the PGM, where the weight ring is kinda messing up the IRG capabilties since there's little room left because of the hub stacks. Plus, at this point in the game, yeah, you're more than ready for a full metal. Go treat yourself and go nuts.

As far as other stuff I'd recommend? Well, it omes fairly complete. About all would recommend is 100% poly string(your choice of colors but neon green works fantastic if you're recording yourself a lot) and maybe a YYF Multi-Tool. I see the tool as mostly being optional, but I recommend it because it has a bearing puller and a string cutter on there and they are just plain handy. Lube, well, I'll let you make your own decision on that. Dry vs. thin lube/oil in your case. I personally recommend thin lube, be it the YYF thin performance oil, YYJ thin lube(my preference) or One Drop's VM4(also great stuff).

^^^^^^^this

but also, don't get the north star and the protostar. they are so similar you might not even tell the difference. if you're looking for a variety, get a counter attack and a protostar, or maybe a pgm and a protostar, or something along those lines. with your budget, i would personaly recommend getting a dv888 and a pgm. a pgm for the hubstacks and just cause its a fun yoyo, and the dv888 because I've heard hundreds of people saying about how its a great budget metal yoyo. also, if you're looking into all metal yo-yos, the spin ICON is a great choice, and its fairly cheap. if you're willing to stretch it, you could go for the ICON and protostar or something like that. you have millions of choices, but i would not recommend getting BOTH the protostar and the north star. they're great yo-yos but i think you should pick one, not both. also make sure you follow studio42's advice and get at least 100 polyester strings, and a multi tool. if you're getting a yoyo that comes with a flat bearing, or even for your hit man, i would definetly recommend getting some center trace bearings. they help a ton. good luck!

Skinny, average height, glasses.

That's just about as far off as you can be.

Im short, about 5 ft
No glasses
Fit but not fat

short, fat, dark, mouth open, bald.

(based entirely on your avatar.)

I can imagine you looking just like your avatar. Kinda weird huh?

If you r gonna guess me, DON'T visit my YouTube channel (888yoyoskillz)

do i even have to answer...?

buttons vs zipper (jacket)

ipad.

gum vs taffy

Thanks. The silicon fell out yesterday, and I think it was because the recess wasn't wide enough. I also noticed binds werent as tight as I had bought before. I made the silicon recess a little bit wider and slightly deeper. It's responsive at the moment, but Im sure after a week or so some of he silicon will wear off and it'll play good again.

I don't.

me neither, but it would be cool to go there and steal like 400 stickers and YYE packaging tape. i want some of that tape so bad...

back when i was learning tricks like spirit bomb, cold fusion, and and whut, i tried to see if i could call when i would land it. basely, i count knowing a trick when you can do it once. mastering the trick is when you can do it in front of a crowd, completely understand the trick itself, and do it on command.

depends on what kind, but muffins.

milk vs orange juice (breakfast)

At your level, I would definetly not recommend an all metal yoyo. You will ding it up, and it will have massive vibe which you will hate. Metals are great, but for you, look for a protostar, northstar, or counter attack. These yoyosetups are more suited for your skill level, are unresponsive, and are my personal favorite yyf yoyos. They spin incredibly long, are super stable, but most of all, they are extremely durable. I've banged up my protostar more times than I can count. Doing 5a, I even dropped it down a flight of stairs. It still is vibe free and plays better than a good amount of my metals. Also one last thing, a protostar will only run you about 30 bucks, compared to most metals which price at about 50-150 bucks. You save money and get an amazing yoyo. It can't get much better than that.

I actually just tried that. It doesn't get the logo off. How long would you say it takes? I tried for 5 minutes and it has no effect on the cap.

Hey guys ive been getting into modding as you may already know, and one thing i, interested in is the caps on the fhz. The giant fhz logo is annoying, and i was wondering if there is an easy way to get rid of it without getting rid of the duncan logo. Is there any way besides satining the caps? I was thinking about putting the yoyo on the drill and just sanding them off, but i cant find a way to keep the duncn logo. Any tips? If not, where can i buy blank caps or custom caps?

How is this different?  You used gun oil, a recommended lube and cleaned it in mineral spirits, a recommended solvent.  You just waited to put the lube in which doesn't make a difference.

*cough* TROLL*cough*

unlike you, i was informed greatly by his post and im glad he posted it. I am probably gonna be using this method from now on, after reading his results.