Newbie help. Overwhelmed dont know what to buy

for the past 2 weeks I have been researching YoYos because I have been really interested in buying a good YoYo. As a kid I loved YoYos but i grew out of them as I got older and the technology today for YoYos insane.

I have a few questions

  1. How often does the string break
  2. How often o you have to oil the bearing
  3. what should I buy. I have been on amazon for days looking at the YoYo King Merlin and im just not sure if its good or not. Reviews are positive.

I noticed no oil comes with a YoYo so what kind of Oil should I get. Im just coming off a layoff so im not rich. Would like to stay under 30 for a YoYo and oil for now. I will be ordering off ebay since there is no sales Tax and shipping.

Amazon charges 7.00 to ship plus tax so if I can save the 7+ tax that will let me go a little higher on YoYo quality

I would highly recommend buying off of this website. Great customer service, plus there is a free shipping coupon code if you really need to save the extra few bucks :wink: Polyester string (a predominant kind people use today) does not normally break quickly but does need to be replaced when it starts to fray or is becoming dirty. So getting some extra string would be a great thing to do :slight_smile: I would recommend kitty nylon 1.5. A ten pack should suffice for a while. Bearings come prelubricated so you can skip out on that for a while. In fact, some people never lubricate bearings. Instead they just clean them when they make weird sounds. Yoyo wise, perhaps a recess first base. This would give you the option to learn responsive and unresponsive. In total I believe you would be at $24. You could still get lubricant and be right at your $30 mark I believe :slight_smile: (numbers may be slightly off)

I hope this helps!

Edit: If you would be interested, I could hook you up with a yoyofactory metal, responsive plastic, string and lubricant for $30 shipped as well as long as you are in the US :slight_smile:

i like the first base white with white string. kitty is nylon is it better then polyester?

the first base has no cool designs so i have white in the cart. what would be your second choice

Nylon 1.5 is a blend of poly and nylon. I feel like it lasts a little bit longer (not lots). Perhaps a skyva (unresponsive set up only) or replay pro (or regular replay if you want to learn reponsive).

You could make either yoyos somewhat responsive by putting in enough lubricant. You will want to get thin lubricant if you get any.

so the first base is both right? responsive for beginners and unresponsive for more advanced since it comes with another bearing?

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Yep, it can be both.

Thanks for the offer on the metal but Im going to go with the first base white. Getting excited can’t wait for it to ship. Going to order in 30 mins took kids to the pool.

I lost my job as back and I’m just starting to go back to work. After losing everything including our home I started having anxiety/ panic attacks due to stress then depression.

Yoyo looks like alot of fun especially the tricks and could help me alot in life by helping me relax

I would recommend getting a Replay and then adding on the Upgrade kit to transform it to a Replay Pro when you’re ready. The only difference between the Replay and the Replay Pro is the response pads and the bearing. My Replay Pro plays just as well as most of my metals and Gentry Stein used it to win National’s in 2015. Since you’re new, just watch the video below to see it’s full potential. Also, link to the Replay and upgrade kit below.

If you’re feeling froggy, you could always just start out with the replay pro and learn how to bind. I would probably recommend the latter option, as it saves you money and also because once you get some basic tricks down, you’re going to want to move onto the more advanced tricks which require an unresponsive yoyo.

Good! I hope everything works out! :slight_smile: if you have more questions, let us know! :slight_smile:

Let’s say I go with the replay do I still buy the nylon 1.5 string?

Yeah, Nylon and Poly are both good string to use. You can put any string you want on a yoyo, but Poly/Nylon are the longer lasting and better performing. Just don’t get cotton and you’ll be good :slight_smile:

I’d recommend just getting this and you’ll be good. This is the string I’ve been using for a while and it lasts a long time and performs really well. Also, at the beginning of your throwing career, you probably won’t notice a big difference and you’ll probably go through a bit more string due to knots, etc. so I’d just go spend $5 now and get the 25 pack and then once you’ve gone through those and have some more money later on, you can decide to try out other strings.

Double post for some reason…

Ok guys I thank you for all the info. I went with the replay (non pro) with the 1.5 nylon string. As I get better I will order the bearing upgrade.

It has been ordered. Shipping was 3.00 but that’s ok came up to 21

That’s awesome! I think you’ll really like it! If you need any advice don’t hesitate to post. Also, under the learn tab on this site, you’ll find trick tutorials.

I really wanted to spend alot more but right now money is a ways off. I saw someone many awesome designs I loved but that’s extra.

Can’t wait

And don’t forget. A stick with wooden wheels and a piece of string in the right hands can be made to dance. As stated in other posts, a Duncan style butterfly can dance. There really is no "beginner or advanced yoyo. The yoyo you choose will be capable of different things depending on how you use it. Good luck and enjoy.

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The first base is an excellent yoyo. I have two of them and going for a third soon. I really enjoy it. It is perfect for beginners because it comes with 2 different bearings. 1 wide bearing for longer spin times and doing string tricks and 1 slim bearing (which I would recommend starting on) that will make the yoyo more responsive meaning you can tug the string and it will come back up. If you use the wide bearing you will have to learn what is called a “Bind” to get it back up to your hand. It’s basically a controlled string snag that allows the string to grab the friction pads and pulls the yoyo back up. You can really grow with this yoyo. I use mine all the time for long complicated string combos. When you decide to get into metal yoyos you should look at the “Vosun-Vanquish” or the “Magic YoYo- Metal Skyva”. The Vanquish is my second favorite yoyo of all time and you can get it for around $30 The Skyva is a bit more at about $50 but it is worth every penny for the quality and versatility that yoyo gives you. When it comes to oil (“lube”) You really only need to oil your bearings when you start to notice performance drops in the form of loud noises or reduced spin time. This does not happen too quick, so right out of the box you should get weeks of play time before you need to lube your bearing. Lubing your bearing will also depend on how much you use it. When you lube your bearing you should clean it first in a small container of mineral spirits or lighter fluid then put a tiiiiiiny drop of thin lube ( can be purchased here for about $2-$3) on the bearing and then spin it around for a bit to get evenly spread around the bearing. That one bottle of lube can last you for years. I still have my bottle of Yoyo Jam thin Lube I bought back like 10 years ago and it isn’t even 1/4th gone yet lol. I have only ever cleaned and re lubed my bearings maybe 1-2 times for each of my 25 yoyo’s. Buuut I also have 25 yoyos that I split my play time between. When it comes to strings I would use what’s called a 50/50 mix which means it is 50% Polyester and 50% cotton or a 100% polyester string. 100% polyester seems to be what all the cool kids are using these days and for good reason. They last a lot longer than 100% cotton and the 50/50 strings they are also really good for advance tricks like slacks and whips. String breakage is not as common these days. It does happen but not very often. Usually it’s because there is something wrong with the yoyo, the bearing, or the string itself. If you experience string breakage quite often you might want to check the inside of your yoyo for any anomalies that might be causing it. Check out these strings.

These are “YoYo Factory Lime Wires” I think they are pretty good strings. They seem to be very consistent from batch to batch. I bought some Yoyo expert strings and the pack I got aren’t spun very tightly so they are slightly loose. Some people might like that but it feels weird to me. Any who these are good.

And here are kitty normal strings. If you want a good string that you know with out a doubt will be good with out spending loads of money, kitty is the way to go in my opinion.

Good luck on your foray into this awesome hobby/sport/lifestyle!!! If you have any more questions you are always welcome to ask! The community here is pretty friendly and welcoming and we all want to see more people enjoying yoyos!

Thank you everyone. My yoyo shipped today. I cant wait.