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 Sponsors and Curators
The Museum of Yo-Yo History is a labor of love, and we would not be able to stay up-to-date with exhibits without the support of our sponsors and curators. Big thanks go to One Drop Design and Duncan for supplying us with their latest models, YoYoExpert for their help and support, and to Cody Orr, TotalArtist and YoYoBrothers™ for allowing us to use their collections!
If you're a manufacturer, or just a big collector and you want to help support the Museum drop me at line at chimera@yoyomuseum.com
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| A Return Tops Garik (mini) |
| Exhibit #4512 |
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| Type | Production |
| Shape | Concave )-( |
| Axle | Bearing |
| Finish | Anodized |
| Color | Orange |
| Construction | Multi-piece aluminum |
| Diameter | 50mm |
| Width | 46mm |
| Gap | Fixed |
| Weight | 59.92gm |
| Condition | Mint |
| Date | 2022 |
| Owner | Rick Brough |
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Write-up about A Return Tops' Garik yo-yo as taken from a-rt.ca website, unedited:
"To say that we live in a complicated world is an obvious understatement. I don't have to provide you with any examples of why, or try to convince you this is the case; we all live here and experience first hand the complexity of the human condition. In the tiny bubble of yo alone there are vast differences between us in terms of thought, culture and geography; and as much as we all want to see ourselves as agents of a mighty and pure morality and ethic, one has to work diligently to prove this is the case through action.
It's easy to misinterpret the aforementioned intricacy of life based on clunky group thinking, a warped and atomized media, divisive politics, social hierarchy etc.. We all fall prey to it at times because the muck of the world is ubiquitous and we are and maybe always will be in a constant state of revelation on the path of becoming.
I had an idea about a year ago that challenged my ways of thinking. We usually do things against the grain here at A-RT, but it can become dogmatic in that we potentially overlook opportunities to do good in the world because it doesn't fit the preconceived mould we cast for ourselves -a mould that still currently works and is likely preferred as well. You can get stuck in a good thing and fail to grow sometimes because if it isn't broken, don't fix it.
It's a reasonable proposition, but I felt like with some curation there could be a way to use things we usually avoid or haven't found the most success with in a new way to shore up the weak points of the approach. China manufacturing has always taken a back seat for us because One Drop is simply the shop that does things most properly in our opinion. We've tested the waters elsewhere, but it's hard to compete with the long term value provided with what is already working and OD does an exceptional job + we like supporting our friends in Oregon.
So it's become kind of a brand association that we seem anti-china mfg. That's not really the case, but it's understandable. We've done a few collaborative projects that use other shops and their specialized production techniques, but it never seemed like something we should offer continually.
One of the great benefits of working overseas is the inexpensive access and uniformity of the vendors. You can produce some pretty nice stuff for not a lot of money. It's dubious territory where mark ups can be pushed too far, or the fact that the market gets flooded with offerings that are very similar at various prices for arguable quality difference based on design and marketing alone.
In any business, the strength of the brand is paramount. A company with a good reputation can sell essentially the same product for a margin two or three times more than a smaller or less established one. That's just the nature of the beast in our world in general and most would consider that ability a success. Businesses make profit and it's not an easy thing to achieve in any capacity.
For whatever reason (and this has fluctuated as I've aged and live more in more in the real world) I've always had a problem maximizing profit in ways that are acceptable or normal, but to me feel cheap. I'm not against making a good margin, but just selling a bunch of affordable, easy to make and access widgets for the most profit is nearly profane. I also think it also causes a psychological association with the brand which is a struggle to curate. We've always worked hard to provide something exceptional and we feel it's important to strive for certain ideals even if they come with considerable sacrifice. To aim for a ""high end"" appeal is a challenge that I enjoy solving and when you do it properly I really believe it's something special.
So, all that being said, it's always still been an option even though we haven't figured out how to implement this approach in a way that works for us and our finicky sensibilities. We could essentially just make the same refined designs, make them for far less and sell as many as we could, but something would go missing. I feel like it's an option that needs to be used sparingly and explained in a careful way to not risk that precious CLOUT.
What I came up with was this:
People love a good cause and they should. Charity or transparent business done with unusual allocation of resources can do wonderful things. I think it can even redeem the sordid reputation of profiteering in general. It makes you feel good about something you silently feel consumed by (consume, buy -heh.) Starbuck's for example does that little micro charity offering that disinhibits you unconsciously so you spend eight million dollars on coffee you don't even want. You start thinking about far off peasant families and their bean nightmare life and before you know it you feel like a saint because you bought a coffee you previously felt guilty about because you know you have perfectly caffeinated diarrhea water at home.
Knowing this, it's something you can use properly or improperly. There are plenty of companies who just use this as a tool to manipulate you and your good lil heart because they want that sweet sweet cash. In general we tend to avoid the whole thing because I think it's another dubious territory. Our theme seems to be: avoid just in case, focus on the product -but as previously stated, you can miss out on the benefit with such aversion to risk.
So, I thought about the great profit potential in the overseas approach to yo-yo making and wondered if we couldn't just use it to help our team member and friend, Ilya. He's an excellent player and it's nearly criminal that he lives in such an isolated locale. Being Canadian, I'm all too familiar with the experienced of being overlooked or plain left out simply because you're physically far away.
On top of that, there's also obvious political problems one can get lumped in with just because of where your body exist physically. It's a difficult problem to advance through without subtle consideration.
The other aspect is that theres a massive economic difference between the average person in North America and in Russia. A dollar stretches much further over there, which adds to the potential benefit we could produce with a project like this.
If we build an interesting and quality budget design, cover the overhead by selling a portion as we usually would and then use the profit to send the majority to Ilya, he will have a first hand experience of selling jos and the rewards could be substantial. Furthermore, we'd be able to get a competitive offering inside Russia, which is a challenge in itself because of the political and economic disparity.
It seems worth the potential risk to me. If I explain things carefully (I hope this is enough) we can maintain our regular approach, but augment it with a new capability to get players paid. To me that's always been the backbone of what we do. Usually the players are Charles and I (and figuring that out alone has been a challenge), but it's close to my heart to to try to support the player in general and I believe this approach might even be a rebirth of a too often lost aspect of the culture: get jos from the plug, hustle them through creativity and live off the whispers of the string.
To me that's a dream that keeps the inner child alive and healthy, which might be the archetype at the bottom of the whole endeavour.
So, I hope you will appreciate Garik, Garrett's Russian brother and budget companion not only for its intrinsic value as a good lil bopper of a throw, but also as a vehicle for something more complex. There's some real potential here to do something cool and I invite you to be involved in that process.
Thank you,
-Jensen"
Unlike previous yo-yo releases from this boutique maker that were made by One Drop Yo-Yo of Oregon, the Garik was made in China. Sold directly from https://a-rt.ca/products/garik website. Released on Canada Day, July 1, 2022.
Recipe
Diameter: 50mm
Width: 46mm
Weight: 59.92gm
Bearing: Size C, (looks like a Pixel bearing)
Material: 6061 aluminum
Original retail price: $69 US.
Of interest...
To see all mini yo-yos in this museum, in the left panel, select Exhibits.
In the right pane, in the Name/Model field, type mini, then select Browse. | |
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