# Are Yo-Yos Due For a Comeback? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091 "2009-05-29T21:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/1 "2009-05-29T21:38:14Z")
I haven’t seen a kd with a yoyo in years; seems like its time for a revval. I don’t eveb see them in stores, who makes them these days? ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/2 "2009-05-29T22:08:44Z")
Yo yo’s got pretty big in the late 90’s and early 2000’s for a while. They were every where. Lots of expensive specialty yo’s that you could do sick tricks with. I actually had a couple of metal yo yos and the most popular yo was the Bumble Bee. I could do some good tricks with them. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/3 "2009-05-29T22:20:23Z")
They’re long due for a comeback, however WILL the comeback is the real question ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/4 "2009-05-29T22:41:29Z")
Who makes them? Lots of places, but Duncan, who made them when I was a kid, is still at it: > **[Duncan Toys | The Original. World's #1](https://www.yo-yo.com/)** > > Duncan® yo-yos are widely recognized as the finest yo-yos in the entire world. Since 1929, the name "Duncan" has been synonymous with "yo-yo" across the ... ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/5 "2009-05-29T22:43:58Z")
Yo-yos always come back. Unless the string breaks. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/6 "2009-05-29T22:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Yo-yos always come back. Unless the string breaks. No, unfortunately – frequently they don’t. Use of the yo yo requires _some_ skill. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/7 "2009-05-29T23:52:16Z")
Late 60’s early 70’s Ohio grade school. Every year-18 months or so, all the kids at school would all of a sudden start buying yo-yos, and every boy just had to have one (incl. me). Then after a couple of months, everybody would stop bringing them to school. After like the third iteration I finally figured out how silly the whole peer-pressure thing was, and didn’t partake the next time. Anybody else undergo a similar recurring fad when they were a kid? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/8 "2009-05-30T00:21:58Z")
In 1990, when I was in 7th Grade, they were big at my school. I thought it was ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/9 "2009-05-30T01:37:38Z")
I went to parochial school in the 60s and once or twice we had an assembly for the purpose of some old guy selling yo-yos. Ironically, the nuns confiscated most of them from students within a week. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/10 "2009-05-30T06:33:45Z")
I went to grade school in Northern California and for some strange reason, yo-yos seemed to be big only during the Spring of odd-numbered years. And then, as now, Duncan was _the_ name in yo-yos. I can’t even think of any other major competitor. > [@Krokodil](#): > > I went to parochial school in the 60s and once or twice we had an assembly for the purpose of some old guy selling yo-yos. Ironically, the nuns confiscated most of them from students within a week. Didn’t that also happen in a Simpsons episode? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/11 "2009-05-30T09:55:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > No, unfortunately – frequently they don’t. Use of the yo yo requires _some_ skill. Oddly enough, once you get it, it’s pretty hard to make it not work. At, least, it is for me. the yo-yo always comes at least 3/4s of the way up. When I was a kid, it would just hit the bottom and not come back up. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/12 "2009-05-30T10:09:58Z")
In the early 60’s, small teams of older kids would show up in our schoolyard periodically doing cool tricks. I don’t think they sold yo-yos but the visits must have been part of a coordinated campaign. I was more into Duncan Spin Tops which were huge for a while but never seemed to have the staying power of the yo-yo. “That’s the old Sparkle” ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/13 "2009-05-30T17:30:16Z")
I have fond memories of the yo-yo fads of the late 60’s and early 70’s. We girls played with them too. In addition to doing tricks, we named ours and had weddings for them. My kids have yo-yos, jacks, chinese jump ropes, etc. They rarely find other kids who know how to play with them, though. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/14 "2009-05-30T17:37:13Z")
I work with a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/15 "2009-05-30T17:47:48Z")
Tommy “Yo-Yo Man” Smothers is ready. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/16 "2009-05-30T17:51:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Oddly enough, once you get it, it’s pretty hard to make it not work. At, least, it is for me. the yo-yo always comes at least 3/4s of the way up. When I was a kid, it would just hit the bottom and not come back up. A lot of the “novelty” yo-yos I’ve seen now-a-days, and that my kids have acquired, are tied off on the axis.\* Which is a cheat. Real yo-yos must have a free-spinning axis, which at first is harder to operate, but is a must if you intend to get skillful and do tricks. Basically, have fun with it. \*not saying yours is, just that most run-of-the-mill ones are made this way, geared for kids who want instant gratification. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/17 "2009-05-30T17:55:22Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Didn’t that also happen in a Simpsons episode? Edna Krabapel was a nun? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/18 "2009-05-30T18:00:45Z")
I think my middle school had a National Champ for a while. It was popular during either the late 90s or early 00s but it went away after a few months. I actually saw two kids with yoyos just the other day. Maybe it’s on the verge of a comeback? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/19 "2009-05-30T18:04:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Yo-yos always come back. Unless the string breaks. > > No, unfortunately – frequently they don’t. And neither do boomerangs. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091/20 "2009-05-30T18:06:04Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > And neither do boomerangs. Boomerangs have strings?! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-yo-yos-due-for-a-comeback/498091.md?page=2)