Duncan Metal Drifter

Great yoyo. The Duncan drifter is a great yoyo, made out of Aircraft aluminum for a price of 20 bucks, I think yes! | First thoughts, Looks awesome, Counter weight is pretty cool. First throw, I felt like its super responsive, but smooth sleeper, great sound. sleeps for about 30+ seconds. Great for Begginers trying to step up there game. Cons| Bad string| Very responsive (at first mellows out later) Nothing else! Pros| Great spin| Light (preference) | Good for freehand and string tricks. Comes with counterweight |Durable| Very cheap | There ya go! ::slight_smile:

this is a nice yoyo

I not own one, but i played my friends metal drifter the other day.
lightweight, stable, fast

only thing is , like other duncan yoyo i own, it use the friction sticker (if i not mistaken)
and it is super responsive when new, and will wear out later on.

I loved mine. I found some even thicker spacers that worked well in it, opening the gap to the maximum allowed by an A bearing.

I bought one of these the other day and haven’t put it down. I’ve thrown it to the point of having it not so responsive, and it’s great. I’d definitely buy another one for sure, it has helped a lot with learning string tricks

The pads are recessed. If you just clean the bearing, it will be unresponsive. I have two of these yoyos: one responsive, one not. I use the responsive Drifter for certain 1A moods, and the unresponsive is my main throw for 5A.

Can you remove the spacers on yours? Mine appears to either have stuck spacers or they are simply machined and unremovable.

The Metal Drifter doesn’t have an individual spacer for each half of the Yo-Yo like most Duncan Plastics. The spacers are built into each half of the Yo-Yo.

The original issue has removable brass spacer like most Duncan plastics.

Mine must be a newer issue. Examined it carefully under a scope. The spacer is just machined into each half and not removable.

That doesn’t surprise me then, Duncan does occasionally change their build processes I have noticed.

Those bearing seats sure look like inserts. They may not be removable but the don’t look to be machined into the body.

Yes, indeed. Those you have posted are obviously the First Issuance ones with inserts. The one I have is clearly machined into the Halves. No seams and like my Torque in a sense.

OK - mistake on my part. I have the original metal freehand, not the drifter. The metal freehand also had a “C” size bearing. The drifter was a follow on to the freehand. The picture shown is a metal drifter taken off the store page for that yoyo.

i have 3 of them i will sell all three a black one a blue one and a purple for $50 or i am open to trades. They have some dings i used them for 5a

If I remember correctly (which I may not), the original Drifters with spacers came in black, blue and gold. The newer ones are green, orange, purple and aqua. I have both versions, and along with a dry bearing, I only keep one silicone sticker in each. Those things are dead unresponsive.

I’m still a big fan of the Metal Drifter, it’s a good throw for the price. I had a Metal Zero (40$) back in 2009, and I don’t think it played as well. The Drifter is a bit wider, and therefore easier to catch on the string. I have yet to see a Drifter that doesn’t wobble a little while spinning, but it’s always insignificant enough that it doesn’t seem to ruin performance. A 25$ metal Yo-Yo isn’t going to spin as smooth or as long as a high end model that costs five times as much, anyway.

Other than providing a cheap gateway into metal Yo-Yos for beginners, the nice thing about the Drifter is the fact that you can fearlessly take an aluminum return top into scenarios where accidental damage (or just losing the Yo-Yo completely) seems likely, or just uncomfortably possible. Yo-Yoing in public? Trying to learn 5A? Defending yourself against Joe Hursley? Bring out the Metal Drifters.

Do you yo-yo whip a lot of actors?

Only when they try to rob my store.