Archives for September 2014

44FESTA vol.09 report

September 30, 2014 By Rafael Matsunaga

Masanobu Iwata – who runs more yo-yo events than most people ever attend – sends us the report from 44FESTA vol.09, held on September 14th, with the usual healthy mix of beginners and World Champions in attendance.

In addition to the usual freestyle contest and mini-contest, 44FESTA had some kendama action with Kairi Honma and SEN KENDAMA. I’m a fan of traditional unpainted kens, but these guys have some beautiful paint jobs!

Next up was the mini-contest. Further proving yo-yos are just an excuse to hang out with friends, this edition’s mini-contest got rid of the yo-yos altogether to concentrate on the core of the FESTA experience: rubber ducks.

Piling up ducks on your teammate is how you prove your worth at 44FESTA.

The freestyle contest at 44FESTA is also proving to be an excellent training ground for the new generation. This time, none of the veterans attending the event got into the top five.

Yamato Murata, from team sOMEThING got first place, just what we came to expect from a World Yo-yo Contest finalist and winner of the strong Hamacon contest last week.

The remaining freestyles can be found on the 44FESTA website.

Be sure to attend the next event, on October 14th! sOMEThING boss Hiroyuki Suzuki and the one and only Hiroyasu “Pon” Ishihara will be the special guests of vol.10!

Mike Marshall Joins G Squared YoYos

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

Congratulations to Mike Marshall on joining the G Squared team! Mike is a really talented up-and-comer…this is a great pickup for G Squared. Good luck at Nats, Mike!

G Squared Yoyos is proud to announce their newest team member Mike Marshall. Mike put together this teaser for the announcement while preparing for this years Nationals. He will be competing in 1a and 5a. Marshall is hoping to make finals this year building on his wins at SCR in both the 1a and 5a divisions this year. One of the things Mike is most excited about is being the first player to represent G2 on the Nationals stage.

Yoyo used is the AL7 Aftershock by G Squared YoYos.

Takeshi Matsuura x Turning Point – Shake

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

Takeshi Matsuura has successfully made the transition from multi-time 5A World Champion to being one of the leading contenders in the 1A division…a jump that very few players have ever successfully pulled off. His skill and style in 1A are fantastic though…check out this new promo video for his signature Turning Point yoyo, the Shake.

Yoyo used is the Shake by Turning Point.

Tylor McCallumore – Tempo

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

YoYoExpert dropped an absolutely beautiful video featuring Tylor McCallumore as he gets ready for his run at the cup for the upcoming US National YoYo Contest this weekend. Tylor is one of the most promising US players on YoYoJam’s Contest Team, and after watching this it looks like Tylor could definitely take the title this year.

Yoyo used is the Diamondback by YoYoJam.

CJ Atkinson – Balcony Sessions

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

Underdog CJ Atkinson dropped a new video and it’s worth your time. CJ’s stuff is pretty raw, but there is always an underlying current of really great concepts and construction. Dig in!

Yoyo used is the Supernova by YoYoFactory.

YoYoFactory – Gentry Stein Orient Express Tour

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

YoYoFactory has announced a new promotional tour with 2014 World YoYo Champion Gentry Stein!

Full details have not yet been announced, but it looks like Gentry will be making appearances next month in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Tokyo. There will be exclusive tour edition Shutters available at each stop of the tour, prototypes of new YoYoFactory models to try out, and raffles for awesome YoYoFactory prizes.

October 14 – 16

Shanghai, China
China Toy Show (YoYoFactory Booth)

October 17

Singapore
Spinworkx

October 18

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
28Spin @ Pop by Jaya One

October 19

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
HCMC Youth Cultural House

October 20

Tokyo, Japan
SpinGear Tokyo

Riccardo Fraolini – Utopia

September 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

CLYW’s Riccardo Fraolini visited Poland to give the folks at the Backspin a slew of high-fives and awesome tricks…the high-fives they kept, but they filmed the tricks and shared them with everyone!

Riccardo, king of the #trickcircle, is in top form here…enjoy!

Yoyo used is the Arctic Circle: 2nd Expedition by CLYW.

2014 US National YoYo Contest – Music Upload

September 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

L to R: Gentry Stein (1A), Alex Hattori (3A), Jake Elliot (5A), Joseph Harris (2A), Ian Johnson (4A)

Looks like there was a glitch with the music upload system for US Nationals…if you are competing, please read below and re-upload your music!

Hi everyone! It’s time to upload your music for Nationals…or upload it again!

It was brought to our attention that it looked like songs were being replaced instead of added to when uploading additional music – say for prelims and then finals in a division, it looks like the prelim music is gone. All the files are actually on the server but they aren’t linked to the competitor record in a way that keeps things organized so it’s hard on the organizer side to verify the correct file for each competitor – and it’s hard for the competitor to see what files are linked to their account.

So, we need everyone to upload music again so that we can ensure that we have the correct files in place for all competitors in all divisions, both prelim and finals.

Please upload your music through the music upload page on yoyocontest.com (http://www.yoyocontest.com/music-upload) – there are now separate pages/forms to upload your files for Prelims and Finals of each Division.

You will need to be logged into the site with your account to access the upload page – and the form will save the reference to the file you have uploaded so you can verify that the correct song is in place.

Thanks a bunch for your understanding. We would appreciate all music being uploaded by this Wednesday, October 1st.

See you October 4th!

US National YoYo Contest Prediction Contest

September 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

Our friends at Rewind have fired up their yearly US Nationals prediction contest! Prizes are available for the 3 players who guess closest to the actual results…if more than three people guess the top winners, Rewind will choose three of the top predictions at random. Check out the full details and enter below.

Winners will be contacted by e-mail, so please be sure to enter with an e-mail address you check often.

ALL predictors will get a 10% OFF coupon code for YoYoStoreRewind.com when you submit your prediction…check out the details below.

[Prizes]
1st Place – US$50 gift certificate to REWIND Worldwide
2nd Place (2 winners) – US$25 gift certificate to REWIND Worldwide
All predictors – 10% OFF Coupon Code to REWIND Worldwide (Excluding the ANGLAM series, Limited Items Set Items and New Items. Available until 31th October 2014)

[How to Join]
1. Like our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/YoYoStoreREWIND
2. Like & share the post of prediction giveaway.
3. Input this entry form.
4. Win the prize!!

[2014 US National Yo-Yo Contest Website]
http://contest.nationalyoyo.org/

[Prediction Period]
Sep 23th to Oct 3th 24:00(Japan time)

[Caution!]
If you enter more than once, we will only count the latest entry. (It’s for preventing multi-entry.)

Good luck!!

In The News – Nehemiah Peterson

September 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

Werrd team member and Wisconsin State Champion Nehemiah Peterson got himself a nice feature interview on the local Fox affiliate in Milwaukee…great job, Nehemiah!

Luckey Li – Rebirth

September 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

King Yo Star player and 2014 Canadian National Champion Luckey Li dropped a new video over the weekend, entitled “Rebirth”. There are some GREAT tricks in here…too bad he filmed them in front of a white shirt.

DUDE. DON’T FILM YOYO VIDEOS IN WHITE SHIRTS.

Still some pretty good stuff in here though.

Tsukasa Takatsu – Two Tutorials

September 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

One Drop player Tsukasa Takatsu released two great trick tutorials…check ’em out!

Yoyo used is the Gradient by One Drop.

2014 Hamamatsu YoYo Contest – VIDEO

September 28, 2014 By Steve Brown

Video is already up for the 2014 Hamamatsu YoYo Contest, held this weekend in Japan. The skill level here is fantastic…enjoy these videos of the 1A winners and head over to the YoYoVideoArchive YouTube channel for the rest!