Monday, October 05, 2015

"Why so expensive ?"

In 12 years of my yo-yoing journey, I always come across parents telling their kids ,

"You don't know how to play"

OR

"Aiyah, you buy so expensive for what ? Later we will buy at pasar malam"

What is pasar malam ? It is directly translates as night market. Similar to flea markets in certain countries. Whereby cheap yo-yos that is sold for RM3.00 , equivalent to USD$0.68 (give or take a few bucks due to currency changes). Do you see what is going on right here ?

Parents would not buy a yo-yo for their children that is eager to learn how to play with a yo-yo. From my first statement "You don't know how to play", it is obvious that the kid has zero or minimum knowledge about a yo-yo which triggers their curiosity, hence they would like to purchase a yo-yo. Why do they want it ? To learn my dear parents. They would like to explore the possibilities of a simple toy that goes up and down. This are Malaysian parents.

 As comparison to Singaporean parents, they would ask whether their children would want to buy and learn ? If the kid says yes, they would buy and request for assistance from the shopkeeper and without a doubt, the shopkeeper would teach. Parents would even send their kids to the shop on weekly basis, every Saturday, just learn the basics of yo-yoing.

It is totally understandable that the price of a yo-yo this days could be over the top but do understand this when I say that yo-yo is no longer made out of cheap plastics that you could buy off the "Roti man" honking around your neighbourhood. In this era, yo-yo materials are made out of high quality durable plastic that can withstand a certain amount of impact if it ever hits the ground. I am talking about a basic yo-yo that usually cost about Rm20 or Rm40.

As for the yo-yos made for a professional, it is commonly made out of aluminium grade 7075 or 6065. A yo-yo that is made out of aluminium have higher price compared to plastic yo-yos because instead of using plastic moldings to create the shape of the yo-yo, a huge CNC machine is needed to cut out the shape of a yo-yo from a cylinder of aluminium. This also includes the intangible skill of a machine operator to handle the machine and a group of yo-yo designers to design the shape of the yo-yo, whereby the aim is to produce a better performance yo-yo from the previous yo-yos made by a company. Hence the price of a high quality metal yo-yo could be within the range of Rm100 up to Rm800. Rest assure that your children do not need to upgrade to a high end yo-yo until he is recommended to do so based on the skills that he or she has by their instructor or yo-yo professionals.


This is a documentary produced by CLYW x ONEdrop in the making of "The Summit"

I used to be one of the kids waiting for my turn to buy a RM0.20 yo-yo , that doesn't spin. I feel satisfied and eager to learn even though it just goes up and down. We, as a yo-yo professional would like to expand the knowledge of yo-yo theories and fundamentals to the younger generations. If a parent would stop them from learning, how would they ever improve or gain a new skill in life ? Let's just say that it isn't a yo-yo , what about ballet ? Or piano ? Or inventing a new machine that could save million of lives ? Now imagine, what would happened, if you would have stopped them from learning something that they might be passionate about ?

The answer is, you may have stopped them from achieving greatness in the future.

Now ask yourself this, would you want your children be passionate about something that they could be great at ,

 OR

Would you rather stop them from learning something new and believe in the fact that they are not allowed to be out of their comfort zone and explore.

I shall leave that question to the father reading this, or to the mother reading this, or to the both of you.

(NOTE : We would like to point out that the choice to purchase a yoyo at a higher price is subject to the discretion of the parents to work within their budget. It does not mean that a parent is compulsory to purchase the yo-yo upon request.)

Feel free to drop me a message, or comment, or inquiry if you have any further questions that need to be clarified at wyvernstrings@gmail.com

Till next time,


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