I think certain retailers will definitely promote the tops. Andre with YoYoExpert is definitely into tops and it's likely most of their sales will come through there. Ben of YYF wasn't pushing the tops at CalStates other than having a few out and prices(Short Circuit $5, Elec-Trick $10, Elec-Trick LED $15, parts kit $10, but it was merely listed as "Tops, $5, $10, $10, parts kit $10". They did come with rings, I'm not using those. Nice option but I feel they aren't needed. Players will more experience using rings might wish to chime in and lay some knowledge on me in regards to rings.
Tyler Severance left YYF to form Recess International, so that resource is gone. Miggy is still around and might help. Not sure if Corey Hendon is skilled enough with tops to do promo videos. Not sure who else they have on staff and on their team who are using tops, but there's bound to be a few.
We'll see if YYF is still taking these with them at the Bay Area Classic. Last year, Patrick had a "color test" unit that sucked, but that's because it wasn't anything other than mock-up complete with bearing tip, but not the same construction as the Elec-Trick. It looked neat though, a mottled green. I don't see these doing well just due to the lack of interest in tops in general. However, YYF is big in Mexico. I hear many contests get snotty if you don't use YYF gear at them. I think this might be good since there's more interest in tops south of the USA border. I do feel confident saying that the Vietnamese yoyo shops will likely not carry them. Their trend is yoyos and I'm not sure parents want to plonk down dong(Vietnamese currency) on tops, when yoyos cost more and therefore people can "show off" their spending better.
I hope this leads to some higher end tops, including metal or all delrin or delrin with aluminum. For now, I'm fairly happy with these tops. If they are looking to keep the prices that cheap, an Elec-Trick and Short Circuit gets you bearing and fixed tip for under $20. That's a neat starter kit!
