Aoda yoyos : Bootlegs or not Bootlegs ?

Bootlegs from free dictionary definition :

1. To make, sell, or transport (alcoholic liquor) for sale illegally.
2. To produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally:

Some people consider, aoda yoyos are the bootlegs / copy cat / counterfeit design of existing / other brands of yoyo. But some people consider they are not because they have different size, design in detailed. To me, both parties are right. It’s just depend on what side you’re seeing this matter.

As a manufacturer, you might said Aoda is bootlegs ’cause they stole the design and use it without the permission on some parts. Thus, those bootlegs were sold in a low price because they don’t charge for any ‘R&D’ costs created by the original inventor / manufacturer.

As players and some others who have benefits with these yoyos, might said aoda yoyos are not bootleg. It’s because they are not the exact copy. They claim that the look in a glance might be the same, but the detailed parts are absolutely different.

To me, aoda yoyos are just the horns of a dilemma. On one side they are praise for introducing yoyo to the beginners and wide-spreading the yoyo craze because of its cheap price than the original designer … but at the same time, they are also blamed as bootlegs or any negative-related products. In my opinion, they are not just simply bootlegs / copycat, they are bootlegs with clever thought. Take a look their Cryptic Arch (732011), they are bootlegs of Duncan FHZ by the halves shape but they have better respond system. Same situation as Japanese cars some times ago.

My suggestion about this issue is to think wisely and don’t get involved too much about this bootleg or not bootleg issues. It’s a common nature not just for yoyo. Once you release it to the market, others will copy. These are all happened in every products. So any one still discuss this matter, they only leave in a dreamland and look for exclusivity.

Yoyos are just yoyo. They are all feel the same, only the pride to have ones from the original designer, that makes different. Believe me, I’ve been through this. I owned SB2 the 1st ball bearing yoyo, then I’ve got what it called Playmaxx Proyo / Duncan Coldfusion, then now I’ve tried Aoda Coldfusion. All feel the same. Even the newer sometimes got better ’cause they use the exisiting technology with some improvement. For all other things that don’t meet expectation, they can be fixed.. (eg. vibe, wobble, etc). I believe that a greatest yoyo player is not the one that can only use the ready-to-use-well-known-branded yoyo but also he / she should be able to use just any yoyos and fix the problem he / she find from his yoyos. No matter what kind of yoyo he / she has.

But I don’t encourage to buy bootlegs. The choice is yours and I hope it’s a wise one. Just think how much money you will spend for your yoyos. If you think they’re worth those high price ones and you have the cash, then just buy them. So they have their own market, no need to blame each other (bootleg or not bootleg, knock-off or not knock-off, etc..)

One thing for sure, especially for original designer / maker / manufacturer, it’d be better and respectably to keep on making some innovation. This will leave others behind, and not to be trapped in this foolish discussion ’cause it won’t ended till the end of time.

I recite from one of Linux gurus :

Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse).
The cathedral and the bazaar, p.2, by ESR

Peace all,
Yo-Shiro

Introduction : Aoda and the yoyos

Aodatoys is a manufacturing company specialized in toys making. That’s include yoyos as one of its line up. The quality of their yoyo products can be considered average, if we can’t say below of high quality ones.

In this blog, the yoyos that will be reviewed were (I believed) the 2nd generation / design made by Aoda company, start in 2006 / 2007. They are look better than the 1st generation and I believe this 2nd generation yoyos are more resemblance of the professional yoyos used in international yoyo competition.

The 1st generation looks dull, in my opinion. They are yoyos but not for competition. It’s more like toys, with flashing LED, radial tires shape, flashy cheap plastic (purple, green, chrome, etc).The build material and components of yoyos are different than the 2nd generation, so it won’t be covered in this review … So I’ll skip this part but if I have the material (yoyos) will make the review somehow.

Enjoy …