Curious on your thoughts about this one, I have my own opinion but I do not want to color the discussion one way or the other.

This was posted on Facebook and was taken from the yoyofactory ® Russia public page.

Kind of reminds me of a line from the original computer text-based adventure game by Will Crowther, Adventure (or Colossal Cave):

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike"



db

You can change weight distribution several ways......

I don't care for the looks of it.....

That is all I have to say .

Why?
Am I missing out on something?
here's some pizza.

I want a muffin.

Enjoy.

I think it looks very interesting and will probably pick one up. The exaggerated weight distribution renews my optimism for unique yoyos. I didn't expect it to come from YYF, but even Chico's Recurve has similar concepts.

Also, in case anyone curious, this thread reminds me of another gem:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5208&start=40

It's cool to see how the Muffintop design continues to evolves. This is a logical next step from what XCube did with the Zeus. I'd like to see a cut-away.

I hope they're not planning on releasing it with that colorway though. The design it too busy to for that kind of ano (I imagine they were probably going for a "steampunk" kind of look). Personally, I'd go with a smooth and clean job like they use for most of the MVPs. The shape certainly doesn't look conducive to grinding, regardless.

So they're ripping off multiple yoyos at once? Weird.

kill two birds with one stone.

All they need to do is put in unauthorized Side Effects and Steve could finally have his Triple Crown signature series yo-yo.

Oh wait, is YYF the only brand to be influenced by previous designs? I think I understand now. They're the bad guys right?

Yeah, that's what I said.

No digging the colorway. it looks like raw meat, just sayin'

They seem to be the company that is being called on stuff like this 90% of the time. It use to be that the only companies that would get this kind of would be the Chinese companies that we all accused of making cheap knock offs. I find it amusing that it was justified to call them out for such business practices but when it is a popular company then the people making the accusations are in the wrong and the company is "just following trends and finding influences".

Pretty much... this is just sad though.. I guess they have no dignity left to them in their search for that ever elusive dollar.
They could at least do it with a little bit of class and not make it dead obvious.
Do it to them though... Phew, they'll sue you from here to kindgom come.
Hypocrites.

I was always under the impression that one of the biggest reasons the Chinese companies were regularly called out was because their yoyos were basically exact replicas. While I can certainly see where you take issue with this particular piece, it at least seems like they're taking and idea and adapting it into something else.

It may be a despicable practice (and as to the above poster, the fact that they're tear anyone else apart that did it to them (Though that also argues that they have come up with something original to steal =p) really is hypocritical) it still poses the question: If another company came up with a design which used that inner cup ring... would people jump on them for it? I really get the impression that a lot of people like to get mad at YYF just because it's YYF.

Obviously not. There's just so much that can be done with two halves, an axle and a bearing. But their habit to deny such influences and claim ownership of such ideas sure is annoying, as far as I'm concerned.

Robyn, it's funny that you say you don't want to color the discussion. You posting anything about YYF in the first place has already colored the discussion as much as it can be. Any time a company that doesn't fit into the mindset on this forum gets mentioned, the bitter sentiment that is absolutely sure to follow is so laughable. The attitude on this forum brings me a hearty laugh, and a hearty eye roll, every time.

I'm curious to know which yoyos you guys feel this is a copy of. The Recurve? The Zeus? The Chief? All of the above?

YYF is far from the only company that takes inspiration from, or plain copies, other companies. I don't like YYF either, but if they happen to produce a yoyo that kills it (and, to their credit, they've made plenty), I'm gonna play with it. Notice, the Chief and the Avalanche are quite similar to YYR yoyos. The CODE2, for that matter, is too. The Peak is basically a Dark Magic. The YWET is basically a Zero. This list can be added to almost endlessly. Who cares? The advancement of basically any industry is modification and building upon what has come before.

I'm not saying that ethics don't matter, or that they shouldn't enter into the equation. Of course, ethics matter. And, of course, there are some pretty egregious examples of YYF ignoring ethics and getting a little too inspired, to put it nicely. But, when you single out any company in yoyoing for "copying," you're inevitably turning a blind eye to a slew of other companies who have done, and continue to do, the same thing. Of course, originality, provided functionality accompanies it, is priceless. Some companies have it, some don't, and some, like YYF for example, had it and gave it up. Ignore what you don't like and support what you do like. Simple. Having ritual sycophant circle jerks over products that you feel don't belong doesn't do anything for anybody.

One Drop is a truly great company and the dudes who run it are friends of mine. One Drop, and the companies they machine yoyos for, are NOT, by a wide, wide, wide margin, the only yoyos worth playing.

Players own yoyoing, not companies. Several of you would do well to learn this.

Hmm, I've seen videos and pictures of both Da5id and Ben yoyoing...they own companies!

db