Yomega discussion (split for discussion)

[Seth P]

Looks like with all the money they made screwing the world yo-yo contest over, they finally got enough funds to make a new yo-yo. high five Yomega!

[yoyofactoryben]

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

[Jaco]

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

I didn't attend the contest, but have heard the stories from a number of people and even if they are 25% true I would heed Ben's advice. And they (Yomega) just keep on being quiet.

As for the price. Considering the fact that they are a large company with manufacturing resources and buying bulk behind them, I cannot see why they would sell a product priced exactly the same as models from boutique manufacturers who have to contend with small runs of a couple of 100 units and very limited retail outlets. Look at other non-boutique manufacturers: Duncan can sell their (updated) Metal Zero for around $50, YYF has a very decent adjustable metal model at $50 (where additional plastic moulded parts add to the cost), so I fail to see the logic.

Jaco

[YoBemis]

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

I read an entire blog on this...from now on I'll loop with Pyros!

-Bemis

[shrimfririceeeee]

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

I read an entire blog on this...from now on I'll loop with Pyros!

-Bemis

link to said blog? or copy of info im curious.

[YoBemis]

link to said blog? or copy of info im curious.

I'll just hit some highlights. 

Yomega did not sponsor the World Yo-Yo Contest but instead rented a suite and tried to sell yo-yos in the suite.  Greg got super pissed and threatened to disqualify anyone sponsored by yomega, wore yomega or used yomega.  I hope that he would never follow through with such a threat.  I think there was also some hubub involving yomega with the Autism freestyles… but I don’t have the skinny on that.

Classy bunch, those Yomega types. Won’t pony up the money to help support Worlds, but will happily leech off the efforts of one of their own customers to drain sales from them. Nice. Perhaps I should rethink buying from a company that will so willingly torpedo their own customers.

I regret thinking of removing the players with Yomega. There are few options avialble to me. After a seconds thought I realised I spoke before I thought. The players had nothing to do with what Yomega did. It was rude, and took advantage of everyone who worked hard to support the event.

-GReg

Make your own judgement. 

From a post by Steve Brown (my hero )

So this year, Yomega opted not to sponsor the World Yo-Yo Contest.

This, in and of itself, is fine. As a company you have to spend money in accordance with your priorities. And Worlds was simply not a priority for Yomega this year.

Except that it was....they just didn't want to support the event. So instead, John Marcantonio and Chris Whateverthehellhisnameis decided that it would be totally ok for them to fly out a bunch of team members and parents, rent out one of the Salon rooms, and set up a mini-shop to sell yo-yos. Then they distributed flyers around the contest floor, telling people to come to the room to "Meet the Yomega Team!"...which was really just a bunch of stuff for sale in a meeting room.

Reasons why Yomega are total scumbags for this:

1. They knew they weren't supposed to do this, and actually made it a point to purchase 1-Day Floor Passes so that their names wouldn't be registered as attendees.

2. They tried to take advantage of the event and make money there without trying to support the event in any way.

3. To my knowledge, most of their team didn't even know this was going to happen.

4. Bottom-feeder behavior like this undermines the commitment of the companies who actually DID sponsor the event, and takes sales away from them.

Now before I launch into great detail about what I would like to do to John Marcantonio with a curling iron and some rusty bicycle spokes, I would like to give Yomega an opportunity to explain themselves.

John, Chris, Alan, Cheryl, or whoever else still actually works there...this is your opportunity to give the yo-yo community a satisfactory explanation as to why you chose to act like a bunch of crackheads selling stolen TVs out of the back of a station wagon at Worlds this year instead of paying your money to set up like everyone else or simply skipping the event.

Please speak up quickly on this matter. I'm sure I'm not the only person who'd like to hear this story.

S

-Bemis

[shrimfririceeeee]

ooh ok.
that is pretty rude of yomega to not sponsor then try to get sales off of the competition.

[Nuggles!]

Wow. What ----.

[JoeyVitalari]

Looks like with all the money they made screwing the world yo-yo contest over, they finally got enough funds to make a new yo-yo. high five Yomega!

don't bring that up please. Theres more too it than you think, so stop while you're still ahead.

thanks

[yoyofactoryben]

Looks like with all the money they made screwing the world yo-yo contest over, they finally got enough funds to make a new yo-yo. high five Yomega!

don't bring that up please. Theres more too it than you think, so stop while you're still ahead.

thanks

perhaps you can enlighten us, because right now this is turning into a big stinking problem for yomega, which could be resolved with a valid explaination.

[lilithbunny]

But isn't it the responsibility of the yo-yo community to keep tabs on the ethical actions (or otherwise) of the companies they support? I think it is wise to ask qusetions about recent controverial actions supposedly taken by a company before you decide to buy their new product. Basically, I'm just saying I think it's a good idea to hold off buying from Yomega until we hear their side of the story.

[oldyoyoguy]

I'm not getting into this any more than I have, but I'm asking to just drop this. This is Yomega's issue with others so let them deal with it.

One wonders why people remove their rose-colored glasses about the yo-yo community and become cynics; this partially explains it.  And it applies to everyone, manufacturers, vendors, and customers alike, not just Yomega.  In this single thread you are hawking your wares (you may not be an employee of Yomega but you sound like one, and you are certainly a booster), telling people to buy before they try (buy one, TRUST ME), and when someone calls you on some sleazy behavior you don't want to talk about it, you just want to dumb it down.  C'mon, we're all human here, we all fly off the handle occasionally, Greg has already apologized to the Yomega players, let's hear something from the Yomega side that can restore some confidence in the brand, even if Yomega comes out with a little egg on its face.

[yoyofactoryben]

Look, the whole situation is weird, okay. I'm not at liberty to say why this all started, and I'm not interested in making enemies in the yoyo community. What I'm sick of though, is people asking me what all went on. None of you know what really went on, because you didn't experience it first hand. The actions taken against one of our personnel by Greg Cohen were unnacceptable and it has made many people very frustrated. I'm not getting into this any more than I have, but I'm asking to just drop this. This is Yomega's issue with others so let them deal with it.

Joey

I believe the actions taken by Yomega were unacceptable and lead to anything Greg did.
It is not yomegas issue, it is all event organisers, all sponsors and all players problems. The way to get this dropped is for Yomega to come out with an apology, and perhaps a check to the ASA for the value of the sponsorship package they should have paid for if they wanted to sell at the event.

[oldyoyoguy]

Basically, I'm just saying I think it's a good idea to hold off buying from Yomega until we hear their side of the story.

Well said.

[YoBemis]

Why hide it if its already available?

I'm just going to let Yomega release that info, not me.
It won't be long at all.

Don't worry, trust me when I say these things play great.

HAHAHA!  I didn't pay much attention to the last line of this post until oldyoyoguy pointed it out.
Trust has to be earned.

I still laugh at the "crackhead" analogy Steve gave. 

-Bemis

[krazykongo]

ive obviously missed something! what has yomega supposedly done wrong???

[Steve Brown™]

Try reading the entire thread.

[punkndisorderly]

I don't really have a horse in this race either way since I'm neither a Yomega fan nor am I involved in worlds, I'm just a person who enjoys playing with yoyos.

I doubt that the whole story will ever come out anyway. Here's one possible reason why Yomega acted as they did (and its not based on any actual facts, just supposition). Perhaps Yomega is on the edge of going tits-up. They didn't have the money to sponsor the contest this year AND participate in any meaningful way. They didn't feel they could afford to miss it entirely so they did what they did so they could get a few players to worlds and show off some of their new products like the Blazer. IF that's the case, it might explain why they aren't talking since they don't want the community to know just how close to the edge they really are (and admit their failures).

A few facts that support my wild theory: a lack of new products for a long while, lots of delays on the new products they're trying to bring to market, failure to get the Hotshot produced (and distributed to those who got screwed on the first ones). If my guess turns out to be right, I think they really shot themselves in the foot (as evidenced by all the new animosity added to the old). If that's the case (and even if its not), they need to come clean and explain and appologize where needed.

[cheeseyo!!]

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

well at least the people at yomega arent jerks. im gonna buy a blazer. heck im gonna buy 2. then i m gonna scream to the world that the yomega blazer outplays my yyf yos by a million miles. and on the problem at worlds, greg was the fuss. he had no reason to be upset about yomega selling theyre things. its like throwing a fit becuz some guy is selling ice cream right outside of the contest hall and all the players spend theyre money there instead of a t yoyoguy or something. there was absolutley no reason for that ordeal. o..and the 2 blazers im buying ..1 purple...1 green.. YOMEGA 4 T3H WIN!!!!!! .....actually..yoyojam ftw...but anyways....yay yomega!!!!

[Colin]

Try reading the entire thread.

Yea really.

Wow. What ----.

Well said.

Looks like with all the money they made screwing the world yo-yo contest over, they finally got enough funds to make a new yo-yo. high five Yomega!

don't bring that up please. Theres more too it than you think, so stop while you're still ahead.

thanks

perhaps you can enlighten us, because right now this is turning into a big stinking problem for yomega, which could be resolved with a valid explaination.

Yes please enlighten us.

Until Yomega explain their actions at the world yo-yo contest I would hope all serious yo-yo players consider refraining from purchasing any yomega products. Yomega have always been a decent supporter of yo-yo play, until now.

and the blazer..... overpriced by about $30

well at least the people at yomega arent jerks. im gonna buy a blazer. heck im gonna buy 2. then i m gonna scream to the world that the yomega blazer outplays my yyf yos by a million miles. and on the problem at worlds, greg was the fuss. he had no reason to be upset about yomega selling theyre things. its like throwing a fit becuz some guy is selling ice cream right outside of the contest hall and all the players spend theyre money there instead of a t yoyoguy or something. there was absolutley no reason for that ordeal. o..and the 2 blazers im buying ..1 purple...1 green.. YOMEGA 4 T3H WIN!!!!!! .....actually..yoyojam ftw...but anyways....yay yomega!!!!

How much you wanna bet that the blazer is about as good as a speed dial? In the words of Nuggles!....

YOYOFACTORY OWN3S j00! (and yomega)