The Best Yo-Yos
The yo-yo is approximately 2,500 years old. Ancient Greek pottery depicts them. They were a craze in 18th-century France, where Marie Antoinette is documented to have played with one. The modern American yo-yo is a direct descendant of the Philippine spinning top, brought to California by Pedro Flores in 1928 and commercialized nationally by Donald Duncan. A genuine wooden yo-yo with a cotton string is both a toy and a skill tool -- it rewards practice and produces results that no battery-powered toy can match.
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How to Choose
The right yo-yo for learning is wooden with a fixed axle and a cotton string. Fixed axle yo-yos require string tension to return to the hand, which teaches the fundamental technique. Ball-bearing yo-yos spin freely and require a bind return -- they are for intermediate and advanced players. String length matters: set the string so the yo-yo hangs 2 to 4 inches above the floor when the string is fully extended from the middle finger. Replace the string every few days of regular play.
Duncan Classic Wooden Yo-Yo
If you only buy one, make it this one. Read the full guide below for alternatives at every price point.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardThe Picks
Duncan Classic Wooden Yo-Yo
Duncan has been making yo-yos in Flint, Michigan and then in Middlefield, Ohio since 1930. The Classic wooden yo-yo is the direct descendant of the model Donald Duncan sold door-to-door during the Depression. Maple body, fixed steel axle, cotton string. It is the yo-yo that American children learned the basic tricks on for sixty years, and the correct starting point for anyone learning for the first time.
The Duncan Classic has been in continuous production since 1930. The fixed-axle wooden design forces the player to develop proper technique.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardYomega Brain Auto-Return Yo-Yo
The Yomega Brain has a centrifugal clutch mechanism: the clutch engages when the yo-yo slows below a threshold spin speed, automatically returning it to the hand without a tug. This makes it the right yo-yo for children who are frustrated by the return technique. The Brain teaches the throw and the basic down-and-back motion without requiring the nuanced technique of a fixed-axle return.
The auto-return clutch eliminates the most frustrating part of learning to yo-yo. The Brain has been teaching children since 1984.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardTom Kuhn Classic Wooden Yo-Yo
Tom Kuhn has been making wooden yo-yos by hand in San Francisco since 1978. Each yo-yo is turned from a single piece of wood -- walnut, maple, rosewood -- on a lathe, finished by hand, and strung with a cotton loop. They are more expensive than production yo-yos and significantly better: the balance is precise, the finish is fine, and the fixed axle responds to technique in a way that machine-produced yo-yos do not.
Tom Kuhn has been turning yo-yos on a lathe in San Francisco since 1978. One person, one lathe, one piece of wood. This is what a handmade toy is.
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