Do I need to buy a titanium yoyo? I see this question all the time. And although there are many people who fanboy over the *ting* sound they make, me included - my short honest answer, as a manufacture of titanium yoyos: No, you don't.
Its interesting when I see this question. I usually see it from people who maybe are newer to the hobby, but has noticed the excitement over the titanium yoyos recently released. So this isn't a surprising question to someone who might not be that deep into it yet. But let me explain.
I think there comes a point in someones "yoyoing career" where they hit this plateau of how good they are. They usually can learn any tricks pretty easily, and can start to tell the small difference between each yoyo. They are skilled enough to do everything they know on a plastic yoyo, a metal yoyo, or a yoyo that is made from Uranium-235 (assuming they have some sort of radioactive protection). But like the player who is willing to go through the inconvenience of wearing a radiation suit just to enjoy a yoyo made from an exotic material, titanium is no different, but in this case the inconvenience is a higher price tag.
You can optimize the weight distribution much better so perhaps it can spin a bit longer - but that would be missing the point. In the same way a beautifully crafted stainless steel watch can tell the time a bit more accurately then a cheap plastic dollar store watch, there is not so much difference if your yardstick is purely performance based.
But somehow that stainless steel watch has a feeling of being more premium. A feeling of luxury or collectability, or that it could last a lifetime compared to its plastic counter part. It tells a story; has a soul. This experience, and feeling is what people are paying for. This is what a titanium yoyo is. And this is what I really focus on at Luftverk - it really is more than just the yoyo.
I think the last thing I need to say is - if you need to ask why, you probably shouldn't. The people who know, just know. So whether you are ready or not is up to you to decide.
This is the most real answer possible to this question.
Harsh Maheshwari
February 26, 2016
Excellent article and very well written.
I loved the part where you used plastic and steel watch to compare, and after reading this article i certainly know the answer to the question “Do I Need a Titanium Yoyo?”
Apologies if this writeup seems short. it has been an insane month of work, accumulating multiple 70 hour work weeks back to back. More than half of that work is comprised of plastic projects I have in the pipeline for 2023. So although it has been non-stop, it is work I have been enjoying quite a lot. Im trying to get stuff buttoned up before I leave Canada, so things have been all over the place. Back in December when the Fulvia hit the stores, this Triple zero was already in development. In fact - this was supposed to be the first yoyo released until I changed my mind in mid 2022.
December was such an insane month, it almost burnt me out. The amount of yoyos I had to ship out for the Fulvia release was insane, but on top of that being just a single person running Luftverk, it meant I was also dealing with invoicing stores all around the world and making sure the factory got paid in advance for shipments. All in all it was a slurry of spreadsheets and staying up late to pack orders every day.
I dont know where to start with the project. It has been the most expensive yoyo by multiple magnitudes to create. Not only was this project costly due to injection molding, but my persistence on a machining operation meant the R&D for this yoyo took forever. I started designing this yoyo over 2 years ago - and it has slowly snowballed into this proof-of-concept initial release based on the beloved Fulvia design.
Nate P
January 19, 2022
This is the most real answer possible to this question.