Anyone else not enjoy the dark magic 2?

Yeh maybe.

I got a DM 1 in a trade and I love that yoyo.
But I love it because it’s the one Andre used in all the trick videos I watched over and over and over when I was learning basic stuff.

It’s not be best performer in my collection, but I still use it sometimes when I want to test myself.
When I get cocky because I can do that trick that Andre did, I pull out the DM 1 and then I realize just how much I suck using it.

But really, you’re not comparing apples to apples here.
The DM series is over 15 years old at this point and a lot of progress has been made in the industry.
A lot of the style is different from what it was, and machining is a lot cheaper than it was back then.

You’re also comparing it to a Shutter which broke a serious price to performance barrier.
Metal throws were twice as expensive as the DM when it was in it’s prime and modern response systems where virtually non-existent.

Comparing the Shutter and the DM would only be useful in seeing how far the industry has come.

It would be like comparing my first car–an '84 station wagon–to the car I drive now.

I guess, but take away the comparisons it was just so unsmooth the day i got it. Ive played a DM1 i like them better lol XD

In that case you probably got a bum one. :-\

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Hate being a noob, cant tell whats important till its too late :frowning:

Vibe is never really important. If the yo-yo is responsive try swapping the bearing, then ignore the vibe and you’re good to go.

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While I appreciate the delicate diplomacy of your response, I feel that the point of this post is not being addressed. You make the important observation that the DM2 is a “Traditional shaped, legacy style yo-yo”. I agree. I might call the design “out of date”.

New yo-yo players often come to YoyoExpert as their first foray into yo-yo playing. What do they see when they come here for the first time? They see Andre shredding all the tricks on the trick-ladder using a Dark Magic. The YoyoExpert site has the Dark Magic plastered on the first page as the “Featured Product” for as long as I can remeber. What yo-yo do you think these new, uninitiated players will choose as their first yo-yo? Pretty good chance it will be a Dark Magic - I’ll wager.

If new players are to be “guided” into a first purchase, then shouldn’t that yo-yo be something that all can agree is a great playing, modern yo-yo?

This begs the question: Is the Dark Magic (1 or 2) actually a good “first yo-yo” in 2016?

I enjoyed using my dark magic 2 while I was learning basic tricks, now I hardly ever touch it. After I got my first full metal yoyo, it just didn’t seem as good.

To be fair, the Dark Magic shares the same page space as other feature products such as the One Star, Shutter, and a couple other “intro” throws. Plenty of information on yoyoexpert to explain why they are different and the thrower they best suit. It’s no secret when any of them came out, the pros who use(d) them, and what the feedback from the community is. I also really wouldn’t blame Andre for using his signature yoyo, which last I heard he genuinely likes, even in “today’s” market. Also, what’s out of date about an organic shaped hybrid plastic? It’s certainly not new, but far from out of date.

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Sure it was, he complained that it was too responsive and a crummy player. It is neither in my opinion and so stated.

I see where you are coming from, but judging from the number of “what should be my first yoyo” threads we get around here, I don’t think many people just drop $40 on a first throw with out asking the community.

Also, 99% of whether you like a throw or not, is your own preferences more than the throw.
So, for a lot of people it might be the perfect first throw.

I think the mid-wall(maybe high-wall? I never know where to draw that line.) design really aids in learning proper technique and is easier to throw as a first yo-yo in general. The more high performance modern low-wall yo-yos have a tendency to tilt from an improper throw and this can really discourage some beginners. When you throw a Dark Magic 2, or any similar yo-yo, for the first time it tends to do exactly what you expect it to do.

It may not be the yo-yo that more advanced players turn to and I would typically recommend other options for them, but it’s an excellent introductory yo-yo.

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And the DM 1 is one of the better yoyos that goes from responsive to unresponsive.

How much lube did u use

The Dark Magic is a great yoyo. I bought an original one right after they were released in 2004. I still play it quite often. I look at the early 2000s as a revolutionary time for yoyoing. With throws like the Hitman, Good and Evil, and the stuff Dif-E-Yo was making really helped me step up my game. Previously I was rocking Losi Cherry Bombs and modded Tiger Sharks. I thought the Duncan Freehand was the best yoyo I had ever used when it came out. I think a lot of new players these days start off immediately learning how to bind on super smooth unresponsive yoyos. I thought the Dark Magic was great when it came out because it let me transition from responsive to unresponsive play very easily. It also helped me learn how to bind. I also never understood the whole “vibe” thing. I dont actually know when vibe became an issue to yoyoers (early 2000s?). I might have never actually been aware of vibe until I read the first reviews of the Anti-Yo Fluchs. Anyway a little vibe has never been an issue to me. But then again i learned to yoyo in an era of plastic, narrow gaped, responsive, vibrating yoyos.

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I didn’t like the darkmagic 2 that much either. I liked the hybrid response on the original dark magic. Miss those hybrid response throws, so, so good.

I had a Peak for a year or two and I never liked it and so I traded it to someone for two
Duncan Mg’s.

That’s a good trade if I’ve ever heard one

I had a bag of oranges for a week but traded them for 2 bags of apples.

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The switch from the hybrid response is precisely why I like the DM II. Never cared for hybrid.