YoYo Related News From Around The World
Holy crap, this is not a drill, we got a new Hank Freeman video!! The greatest man ever to escape Ohio brings us two minutes of fresh 3A tricks with the new bi-metal design from 44rpm, the company he started with Drew Tetz. No word on when it will be available, but I’ll keep pestering Drew and Hank for a sample so I can get pics and specs for you. In the meantime, let’s all watch Hank be amazing for two straight minutes and then watch it again.
Yoyo used is the 44rpm Oscillator.
Happy birthday to the always amazing Hank Freeman! And to celebrate we’ve got a brand new video from everyone’s favorite 3A player who isn’t Hajime. Hank is one of those rare talents who came up in the late-90s yoyo boom and then just…kept going. He started off as a strong 2A player, then moved into 3A and became a 3-time World YoYo Champion at an age when most players have long since stopped competing…and the last two years he’s still placed Top 3 in the 3A division. Hank Freeman is the player we should all aspire to be…talented, humble, funny, steady, and leaving Ohio to live in Prague just for the hell of it.
Happy birthday, brother. Thanks for all the years of amazing tricks!
Yoyo used is the 44RPM Rhythm.
The good folks at 44RPM have teamed up with the good folks at Inventables and now we have free, open-source flatpack yoyo designs available for the Carvey 3D carving machine!
Designed by Drew Tetz, these free designs allow anyone with a Carvey machine to cut and assemble their own fully playable yoyo, just in time for National YoYo Day. These awesome designs and more will be part of the Maker Lab at the 2016 World YoYo Contest, hosted by Drew Tetz (44RPM) and Kyle Weems (Kyo’s Toys). Limited space will be available for players to work with Drew and Kyle to learn about modern yoyo design, learn about tabletop manufacturing, and even fabricate and assemble their own yoyos at the contest!
For more information, visit Worlds16.com/maker-space. Space for participating in the Maker Lab is limited, and signups will open soon!
The 44RPM Blues is the second aluminum release from 44RPM, the start-up company from Drew Tetz and 3x World & National YoYo Champion Hank Freeman. 44RPM launched with a load of “flatpack” toys…yoyos, kendamas, and spin tops that are laser cut from a single sheet of wood and then assembled by the player. The Blues is their signature edition yoyo for co-founder Drew Tetz.
The 44RPM Blues is a huge, ridiculous yoyo that is almost guaranteed to be the most fun and unique throw in your entire collection. The huge diameter juxtaposed with a totally reasonable weight means that without the wooden weight rings, the Blues is huge and floaty, and plays in a way that is best described as “round”. Add the included laser cut wooden rings and the Blues picks up a little extra spin time and the play goes from “round” to “fat”. Trust me…once you actually play with a Blues, this all makes perfect sense. Only a yoyo this strange and wonderful could be suitable as the signature model for 2014 Trick Innovator of the Year Drew Tetz.
Available in solid colors with art created by Rodrigo “Whip” Yokota, the Blues makes use of laser cut wooden rings to give it a truly unique look. The combination of a rich red anodizing with the burnt wood of the rings makes the Blues look classy and interesting…I can’t speak for how the other colors will look with rings, but I suspect they’ll be fantastic as well. The anodizing is solid, without flaws, and the art is bold and cleanly engraved.
The 44RPM Blues retails for $55, which is plenty reasonable for a great playing modern aluminum yoyo, and a total bargain for something that is truly unique in the market. There is no other yoyo available that looks or feels like the Blues, and it’s worth the $$ just to have one handy for the sake of variety.
The 44RPM Blues is available through YoYoExpert.com.
The Rhythm is the first aluminum release from 44RPM, the start-up company from Drew Tetz and 3x World & National YoYo Champion Hank Freeman. 44RPM launched with a load of “flatpack” toys…yoyos, kendamas, and spin tops that are laser cut from a single sheet of wood and then assembled by the player. The Rhythm is their first player-centric release, and was designed with help from World YoYo Champion Rafael Matsunaga.
The 44RPM Rhythm is fat, floaty, and fun! Designed to be equally great for competition and every day play, the Rhythm is a perfect first aluminum release for a company like 44RPM. It’s got the spin time and stability that you expect from modern aluminum yoyos, but it plays fast and light and feels extra comfortable in the hand. It’s hard to describe how this plays in relation to other yoyos…the best way to describe it would be to say that it plays like you’re sitting in a comfortable, overstuffed chair. It feels almost weightless on the string, has crisp and clean binds, and can handle everything from goofy picture tricks to top-level 1A/3A/5A play. The Rhythm is the perfect yoyo to remind you how much fun yoyoing can be.
Available in solid colors with art created by Rodrigo “Whip” Yokota, the Rhythm keeps it simple and fun. Never meant to be a “collectors item”, the Rhythm was designed to be a knock-around yoyo that gets used, so don’t expect much in the way of fancy anodizing and limited editions. The anodizing is solid, without flaws, and the art is bold and cleanly engraved.
The 44RPM Rhythm retails for $42.50, which is plenty reasonable for a great playing modern aluminum yoyo. Priced with 3A players in mind, the Rhythm is a great deal for 3A players looking for a new pair, or a casual player who just wants something new and fun.
The 44RPM Rhythm is available through YoYoExpert.com.
44RPM, the start-up toy company from Drew Tetz and Hank Freeman, just announced their first sponsored player: scene legend Takeshi Kamisato! With Takeshi’s history as a yoyo trick innovator and filmmaker, and his recent (and pretty awe-inspiring) jump into the world of absurdly hard kendama tricks, he’s a perfect fit for 44RPM.
In addition to their line of flatpack yoyos, kendamas, and spin top, 44RPM recently released a budget metal yoyo called the Rhythm, and have started showing photos of it’s companion yoyo, the Blues. The Rhythm, designed by National YoYo Master Rafael Matsunaga with art by Rodrigo Yokota is in stores now. There is no release date set for the Blues.
Congratulations, Takeshi and 44RPM!
It’s a rare treat when we get new tricks from Hank Freeman, but it looks like the release of his new yoyo from 44RPM, the Rhythm, is enough to get Hank in front of a camera!
The Rhythm is a new metal yoyo from 44RPM, the company started by Hank and Drew Tetz with all those amazing flatpack toys. We’ve got a sample on the way, and we’ll give you all the details when it arrives! In the meantime, enjoy some solid tricks from Hank Freeman and Czech favorite Matyas Racek. And check out Hank’s trick at 2:13….holy crap, right?
44RPM has come out of the gate as easily one of the strangest and most creative new companies in the yoyo/skill toy market. The brainchild of Drew Tetz and Hank Freeman, all of their products are laser cut from a single flat piece of wood and you assemble them yourself. And they really work. It’s kinda nuts, really.
Their latest kendama release, the Penny, is a flatpack kendama that uses pennies to add extra weight, and the difference in play from their standard model kendama as the result of adding 7¢ is crazy!
Check out this video from Takeshi Kamisato, showing off what the 44RPM Penny can do in the hands of a bunch of kendama players.
44RPM Toys, the brainchild of 2014 Trick Innovator of the Year Drew Tetz and World Champion Hank Freeman, is finally launching!
Their first two releases, a flatpack yoyo called “The Moon” and an amazing flatpack kendama, will be available Tuesday, December 9th at 8:30 PM EST, at 44RPMToys.com. The kendama retails for $25, and the yoyo retails for only $7. Flatpack toys are a pretty amazing concept…the pieces are laser cut out of a single piece of wood, and shipped flat. Then you pop them out and assemble them, like a 3D puzzle that ends up being a functional skill toy. Crazy!
Be sure to follow 44RPM on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for updates.