Modern Responsive yo-yo play is a new way to look at old school yo-yoing. Rather than focus on trying to see how much spin you can squeeze out of a fixed axle yo-yo, this new style focuses on balance, regenerations, and creative tricks you can do without the yo-yo even spinning. It’s like a cross between kendama, contact juggling, 1A, and 2A yoyoing. If you are interested in getting started, check out the newest episode of PopCast, which is a guide on many of these responsive trick concepts and combos.
There are lots of great responsive yo-yos out there, but I truly love the “Doc Pop” Legend Wing yo-yos available on my shop for just $14.
I’ve also shared an in depth interview with Ed Haponik about his @bandalores project on Instagram. Be sure to give them a follow!
The newest episode of PopCast is online and it’s a great one. In this PopCast vlog I focus on snap (or fingersnap) tricks, which is one of my favorite novelty concepts. Can’t wait to hear what y’all think about it. Thanks to all of my Patreon.com/docpop sponsors for making these shows possible and please share your snap tricks on Instagram with #popcastyoyo.
Oh, and don’t forget to check back September 7th at noon (PST) for the special release of the Saturday Night Market Executive yo-yos. Only 39 made.
Each month I do an exclusive yo-yo giveaway for Patreon/Popcast sponsors. This month’s yo-yo is a prototype VTWO yo-yo by One Drop. Yoyoexpert has a great write up of this yo-yo here. Big thanks to One Drop for donating this yo-yo to one of my Patreon sponsors and thanks to you for sponsoring the Popcast yo-yo vlog.
Any sponsor who is at the $2 or higher level on Patreon by September 1st will automatically be entered into the giveaway.
The newest PopCast video is up and filled with different Man on the Trapeze mounts you can throw into just about any side style combo. Regardless of your level, there’s something in this video for everyone.
I also talk about some recent yo-yos I gave away through Patreon and a new string project I’m working on. I hope you enjoy it, and remember to use #popcastyoyo for any tricks you share.
This episode of PopCast was filmed at the California State Yo-Yo Contest. I had the chance to talk to Michael Ferdico, Bryan Figueroa, JD, and many more while I was there.
If you enjoy my PopCast yo-yo vlogs, please support them on Patreon. As thanks, you’ll receive 10% off of yo-yo items on my shop and get entered into a monthly yo-yo giveaway.
Last week I checked out the Cal State Yo-Yo Contest and chatted with lots of cool people. Most of this footage will be used for my next episode of PopCast, but I had some great interviews that I thought I’d release as standalone videos.
The first of these is a chat with JD Steel about the changes in the yo-yo industry and how YoYoBESTBUY will continue to evolve. Watch it here and help sponsor future episodes by support me on Patreon.
After ten long years, PopCast is back! PopCast is my yo-yo vlog (video blog) that I started running in 2007. Looking back at all the old episodes, I felt really proud of how fun and entertaining they were. So I decided it was time to start making them again. Here is the first new episode:
I’d like to keep making these videos and, over time, improve the production quality with better lenses and gear. Running a small yo-yo shop doesn’t quite cover that, so I’ve decided to launch a Patreon page where people can help support the videos and get special deals and offers from DoctorPopular.com
On July 5th 2016, Ernest Kahn and I launched a Kickstarter for the original Executive Yo-Yo, a highly enjoyable aluminum yo-yo that was small enough to fit in your coin pocket.
The original idea was inspired by a modded version of the Ace Yo-Yo by ProYo. The Ace was the perfect shape, but I never really loved the response and gap in it. I asked my friend Nick Corea if he could remove the center of the Ace with the center of a Bolt Yo-Yo (my favorite plastic yo-yo). The result was… sexy!
What I learned was a) small yo-yos could be more than just a novelty and b) I prefered the lighter feel. Most manufacturers had made an undersized yo-yo at some point or another, but they often felt the need to make up for size by increasing the weight. Despite being 20% smaller in size, some mini-yo-yos weighed 2 to 5 grams heavier than their full sized counterpart.
All of this was on my mind for years, so when I randomly bumped into Ernest on the street in San Francisco and we started talked about our dream yo-yos, it was the first thing that came to my mind. We both decided it would be awesome to do Kickstarters for our dream-yos and The Executive was born.
The name, The Executive, was inspired by a wave of cheesy “executive yo-yos” from back in the 70s (ebay link). I think the joke was that executives had way too much time on their hands, so they just played with fancy toys all day. So chrome plated yo-yos were created as gag gifts. The imagery really stuck with me, so I always imagined this mini yo-yo as something you’d find in a fancy box on some corporate bigwigs desk. Next to a Newton’s Cradle and some pics of their kids playing baseball.
I had done a few signature yo-yos with companies before, but never imagined manufacturing a run on my own. That’s were Ernest really took the lead. He put us in contact with the team at One Drop Design, a yo-yo manufacturer out of Eugene Oregon, and really got the ball running. Without Ernest, The Executive never would have been more than a pipe dream. He really had the vision to just make it happen, which I thought was really inspirational.
I took a train to Eugene to hang with the One Drop crew, and we made a few prototypes overnight. Here’s an interview I shot with Shawn Nelson at the time:
The Kickstarter was a huge success and we manufactured nearly 400 yo-yos. The Executive yo-yo was the 2nd highest yo-yo project in Kickstarter’s history and I’ve carried one with me nearly everyday since then. Despite the success, we never released a follow up batch.
My favorite aspect of the Executive yo-yo project was that it got me to start playing yo-yo again. I mean, I never stopped, but as yo-yos kept getting wider and wider (and pants getting skinnier and skinnier) I just didn’t carry around a yo-yo as much as I used to. Having a fun yo-yo that I could always have with me, pulled me back into the hobby!
Recently, I told Ernest that I wanted to start my own toys and games company, and that I wanted The Executive to be part of that. We decided to split up the colors, so we could each manufacture our own Executives. So if you missed the original release, I’m pleased to say we have a couple drops coming your way next week!
The first drop will be a small batch of nickel plated Executives on DoctorPopular.com on Tuesday January 23rd at noon pst. The second drop will be some gorgeous Executives in purple or orange on Ernest’s site, yoyosf.bigcartel.com, on January 26th at noon.
I’m so happy to finally be releasing more Executive Yo-Yos in the world, and can’t think of a better way to kick off Doc Pop Toys & Games!
In this episode of PopCast, I talk to my old friend Kyle Machulis about his newest project at Nonpolynomial Labs. Inspired by Johnny Lee‘s fantastic Wii-hacks, Kyle has created a yo-yo controlled musical interface using Max/MSP and a modified Torch circuit board. In the video, Kyle talks about the project and let’s me make some yo-yo core.
You can check out Kyle’s “WiiYo” post on www.nonpolynomial.com. Skin The Gerbil never sounded so good.
