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Archives for January 2014

Three Color Rallys

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

OneDrop’s Ryosuke Kawamura grabbed his brother Yoshinori Kawamura (Fist Salud) for this quick video to promote the Rally, the plastic yoyo by OneDrop. It’s a great quickie of a video, with some really nice trick construction.

Filed Under: Manufacturer, Video Tagged With: onedrop, rally, ryosuke kawamura, video, yoshinori kawamura

Chico YoYo Company Releases New Spin Top

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

Chico YoYo Company Spin Top

The Chico YoYo Company has released a new spin top, with a new tip design that hearkens back to an old Duncan top tip design from the 70s/80s.

It seems to be called just “New Spintop”, simply enough, and is made of machined delrin. The body shape is a sleek teardrop, very different from CYYC’s first spin top release.

The tip has a flat, wide base and a narrow shaft, very reminiscent of a vintage Duncan spin top tip that was geared towards helping beginners to learn more advanced tricks…while a flared tip design like this helps you catch the top back on the string, it does also make it a bit harder to release, which means more advanced top players might find this tip to be fantastic for inverted tricks while required some compensation for more typical tricks.

The new Chico YoYo Company spin top is available now at ChicoYoYoCompany.com for $95 each.

Vintage Duncan Spin Top Tips

Vintage Duncan Spin Top Tips

Filed Under: Manufacturer, Skill Toys Tagged With: chico yoyo company, delrin, spin top

Slusny Presents Level.6 ft. Tomas Bubak

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

Slusny dropped a quick promo for the C3YoYoDesign Level.6, their newest budget metal yoyo, featuring C3YoYoDesign team member Tomas Bubak. If this quickie is any indication of what Tomas is up to lately, he’s going to put on a hell of a show at EYYC next month!

Yoyo used is the Slusny Edition Level.6 by C3YoYoDesign.

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: c3yoyodesign, level 6, slusny, tomas bubak, video

Fist Salud Presents YoYoFactory Japan

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

Fist Salud put together a great video highlighting the talents of YoYoFactory’s Japan team and it’s absolutely jaw-dropping. Featuring John Ando, Atsushi Yamada, Takeshi Maruyama, and G­inji Miura.

Yoyos used are the Loop 900, Loop 1080, Shutter, and Aviator.

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: atsushi yamada, fist salud, Ginji Miura, japan, john ando, takeshi maruyama, video, yoyofactory

Ryosuke Kawamura Presents Ryo Miyauchi & Yuuya Yatani

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

OneDrop’s Ryosuke Kawamura has dropped two more videos of up-and-coming Japanese players, featuring Ryo Miyauchi and Yuuya Yatani. Tons of great play in here…enjoy!

Ryo Miyauchi

Yuuya Yatani

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: onedrop, ryo miyauchi, ryosuke kawamura, video, Yuuya Yatani

Fixed Axle February Video Contest

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

Fixed Axle February Video Contest

 

The Fixed Axle February Video Contest is in its second year and seems to be getting bigger! FAF 2014 boasts a solid lineup of sponsors including; YoYoExpert, YoYoFactory, Once Upon A Tree, One Drop, GSquared, King Yo Star, Active People, USAstrojax, Radical Seas, Tom Kuhn, and more

The Fixed Axle February Video Contest is an artistic performance contest where the videos are judged on content, creativity, and entertainment/artistic value rather than trick skill. Anyone can enter, anyone can win.

Full details can be found at www.facebook.com/FAF2014.

NOTE: This is in no way related to our Fixed Friday columns, just something cool that we wanted to post!

Filed Under: Contests Tagged With: contest, fixed axle february, video

Forgotten Trail ft. Joe Wilson

January 31, 2014 By Steve Brown

YoYoFactory’s Joe Wilson has a new video coming out later tonight showing off the recently released Aviator by YoYoFactory…but first he’s dropped some footage he’s been sitting on since before his VA States win last year. Using the YoYoFactory H.O.T., Joe drops some solid tricks and concepts that won him last year’s VA States and gives us a glimpse at what we can expect from his Aviator video tonight!

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: aviator, hot, joe wilson, video, yoyofactory

44FESTA vol.5 report

January 31, 2014 By Rafael Matsunaga

44FESTA started 2014 in style! The first FESTA of the year was held on January 18th, and included a New Year party for all attendees!

As usual, 44FESTA is not just about playing, but also about enjoying yoyoing as a whole. This time, the exhibit booth had a very nice display case from Masanobu Iwata with the medals he won over the years in contests around the globe, including BAC, US Nationals and Worlds, each with the respective yo-yo used in the contest! That’s true dedication to the sport!

masanobu iwata medals

Next up was  the mini-contest, which required the cooperation between one of the organizers and the participant. As with past mini-contests at 44FESTA, both seasoned competitors and newcomers have a fair chance at it, as Chris Makita demonstrates:

44 festa vol 5 minicontest

The new generation continues to triumph over the veterans at the freestyle contest!

44festa vol.5 freestyle

Check the results below:

  1. Yamato Murata
  2. Hajime Miura
  3. Yamato Fujiwara
  4. Chris Makita
  5. Ryosuke Kawamura

Yamato Murata won his second 44FESTA freestyle contest in a row! Expect him to become a serious competitor very soon! You can check all freestyle videos on the 44FESTA page.

And let’s not forget the party! The 44FESTA New Year party was a pretty relaxed pizza-burger-fries-nuggets time for everyone, and let’s be frank here: sharing a pizza at a yo-yo meeting is always a great time.

44festa vol5 party

That’s it for this edition! The next installment of 44FESTA will be on February 23rd, be sure to attend if you’re in Japan and go greet the legendary 44FESTA ducks!

ducks

Filed Under: General News Tagged With: 2014, 44festa, japan

John Narum Leaves Team YoYoJam

January 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

John Narum has announced his departure from Team YoYoJam. Nothing dramatic, and he’s not changing companies…just refocusing on the non-yoyo aspects of his life and stepping away from the responsibilities of being a competitive sponsored player.

Congrats to John on this big step, and all our best!

John Narum Resigns From YoYoJam

Filed Under: Players Tagged With: john narum, YoYoJam

Rei Iwakura Promo Video

January 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

Rei Iwakura is, hands down, one of the most inventive and flawless yoyo players and performers in the world. If you think you’d like to argue that point I’ll save you the time: you’re wrong.

The solo ham section that starts about a minute in to this video kicks off with a dead smooth solo ham fast mount, and escalates quickly to be some of the cleanest and best solo ham play I’ve ever seen.

Huge thanks to YoYo Store Rewind for putting this video together!

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: offstring, promo, rei iwakura, solo ham, video, yoyo store rewind, YoYoJam

2014 ShenZhen YoYo Contest – Winners & Video

January 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

2014 ShenZhen YoYo Contest - ShenZhen, China

We’ve got the winning freestyles from the 2014 ShenZhen YoYo Contest, held last weekend in ShenZhen, China. Thanks to Jeremy from KingYoStar for getting these to us!

1A Freestyle Winners

1A Finals – 1st Place – TianLe Chen

1A Finals – 2nd Place – 黃瑋傑

1A Finals – 3rd Place – 杨泽华

2A/3A Freestyle Winners

2A/3A Finals – 1st Place – 陳俊熙

2A/3A Finals – 2nd Place – 陳文輝

2A/3A Finals – 3rd Place – 苏陈栋

4A Freestyle Winners

4A Finals – 1st Place – 何显祥

4A Finals – 2nd Place – 许永豪

4A Finals – 3rd Place – 吴锦楠

5A Freestyle Winners

5A Finals – 1st Place – 崔正瑜

5A Finals – 2nd Place – 吴俊杰

5A Finals – 3rd Place – 陈祖烨

Filed Under: Contests, Video Tagged With: 2014 shenzhen yoyo contest, china, video, winners

Throwback Thursday – The Fascinating Art of YoYo (1950s)

January 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

In this great black-and-white video we get a solid look at yoyo contests of the 1950s and “World YoYo Champion” Art Pickles.

I have to confess, I don’t really know much about Art Pickles. His name has come up a few times here and there in my various diggings into yoyo history, but I’ve never been able to find very much. He seems to be using and promoting an “off-brand” yoyo made by a company called Outspan, although I can also say I don’t really know anything about them either. Art Pickles is an anomaly in yoyo history…he seems to have come and gone without leaving much of a trace, and doesn’t appear to have ever worked for any of the major companies of the day. But damn he was stylish…check out those double Walk The Dogs!

Art Pickles Whistling YoYo

Filed Under: Throwback Thursday, Video Tagged With: art pickles, outspan, throwback thursday, video, vintage

2014 International Toy Fair Preview – Duncan Toys

January 30, 2014 By Steve Brown

The 2014 International Toy Fair in New York City is just around the corner, and that means plenty of new products from the top yoyo manufacturers!

Our first Toy Fair preview of the year comes from Duncan Toys, who has a surprising number of new releases slated for the year. Although the cover of their catalog features a huge logo for their 85th Anniversary, they don’t seem to be releasing any anniversary-themed products, and don’t make any mention of any anniversary events or releases. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any actual anniversary promotions from Duncan this year, especially now that Sales & Marketing Coordinator Brandon Jackson has moved down to Orlando to manage Duncan’s Disney retail cart and partnership. Duncan Toys looks to be short-handed at the moment, so if you ever wanted to work in the yoyo industry and live in rural Ohio…here’s your chance!

First up…licensed Ignite yoyos for Despicable Me 2! The Ignite has Brake Pad response and a replaceable wooden axle sleeve that you can easily swap out for the bearing assembly from a Duncan BumbleBee. All five designs are in Toys R Us stores across the US now and retail for only $5.99, and Despicable Me 2 (which is a great movie, by the way) has been out on DVD and Blu-Ray since December 2013, so you probably have it already. Or you should. Really, it’s great.

Duncan Toys 2014 Catalog - Despicable Me 2

Next up we have the Hello Kitty yoyos that we first reported on last July. There are two models available, a ProYo and a Butterfly XT, each model with four different designs. These don’t seem to be shipping yet, but the ProYo version will retail for $5.99 and the Butterfly XT will retail for $9.99. Expect to see these in mass market outlets in the spring, if not sooner!

2014 Duncan Toys Catalog - Hello Kitty Licensed YoYos

Duncan jumped in the kendama game last fall with the release of their Komodo kendamas, first shown on YoYoNews last July. New for this year is the Venom kendama, which appears to be identical to the Komodo but with a different paint finish on the tama that promises to be tackier, making balance tricks like Lighthouse and Bird a bit easier. The catalog photo is just a digital mockup, and we don’t have confirmation on a retail price or availability yet. but the Venom is actually shipping to retailers now with a retail price of around $24.99.

2014 Duncan Toys Catalog - Venom Kendama

We’ve already seen the Echo 2, a revamped version of the ill-recieved Echo from a few years back. The Echo 2 seems to very much right the wrongs of its predecessor, and is quickly becoming a 1A favorite among Duncan’s sponsored team.

But new for a US release is the Torque, a re-branded version of Duncan’s metal “Torquave” yoyo created for Bandai’s Hyper YoYo campaign. We’re guessing the specs are the same; 55mm diameter, 43mm width, and weighing in at 66 grams with Duncan’s large bearing setup. The Torquave was scheduled for a February 2014 release in Japan but if Duncan is releasing it here…does that mean that Bandai will not be releasing it themselves? The Torque/Torquave is a new design that we assume was created specifically for Bandai and they have a history of preferring that their exclusives stay exclusive. The Torque photos are also just digital renders…so if this was already supposed to be ready to release in Japan in just a few days and Duncan didn’t have samples for photography in time for their catalog, it’s quite possible this product isn’t even ready yet, and the launch isn’t going to happen at all in Japan. Mysteries!

UPDATED INFO: The Torquave IS still being released in Japan, production is currently underway, and the catalog photos of the Torque are actual product photos that were only digitally colored. No more mysteries!

2014 Duncan Toys Catalog Echo 2 & Torque

Duncan has three new plastic performance yoyos coming this summer, two for 1A and a new offstring yoyo. The Featherhawk and Firehawk are identical yoyos, just with different weight rings; the Featherhawk comes with Duncan’s new plastic Performance Rings, while the Firehawk comes stock with metal Performance Rings.

The Skyhawk is the new offstring yoyo, and comes stock with the metal Performance Rings. Offstring seems like a pretty small category for Duncan to need to produce another specialty yoyo for, especially since they don’t really do much to promote the style of play. But maybe this one will turn out to be more to the players’ liking than the Hayabusa which was good but never seemed to gain much traction outside of Duncan’s sponsored team.

Duncan’s Performance Rings were first shown at last year’s International Toy Fair, although Duncan never did manage to actually produce and ship them. Hopefully they, along with these Hawk yoyos, don’t suffer the same fate this year.

2014 Duncan Toys Catalog - Firehawk, Featherhawk, Skyhawk

And finally we have a better look at Duncan’s new Performance Rings, as well as two new versions of their Mod Spacers. The Mod Spacers were originally developed as part of the Pro-Z yoyo, making it a “convertible” model from standard shape to Butterfly shape. Mod Spacers offer an option for players to refresh their existing Duncan products, especially now that Duncan is offering Mod Spacers designed for offstring play, as well as another set that converts your Duncan yoyo for use with a large bearing. Since Duncan hasn’t updated the bearing and response setups of most of their plastic yoyos, the Mod Spacers can serve as a welcome upgrade for players who enjoy the brand but are frustrated with some of the outdated designs.

2014 Duncan Toys Catalog - Performance Rings & Mod Spacers

All in all, looks like Duncan has a lot to offer at the 2014 International Toy Fair, although some of these products were shown last year and never materialized and the Hawk series and Torque are all just digital mockups. The licensed items are available now (Despicable Me 2) or hopefully very soon (Hello Kitty) and the Venom kendama will likely be available in just a couple of months…but with a “Summer 2014” release mentioned for the Torque, Hawk series, and the Performance Rings, it’s possible that we won’t see them until Fall/Winter 2014.

Filed Under: Manufacturer Tagged With: 1A, 2014 catalog, despicable me 2, duncan toys, featherhawk, featured, firehawk, first look, hello kitty, international toy fair, mod spacers, new york city, offstring, performance rings, skyhawk, venom kendama, yoyodrop

Win A YoYoFactory Hubstack Afterglow!

January 29, 2014 By Steve Brown

Win A YoYoFactory Hubstack Afterglow From YoYoNews

Want to win the brand new Hubstack Afterglow yoyo by YoYoFactory? YoYoNews has THREE of them to give away!

Here’s how to win:

  • Follow @YoYoNews on Instagram

  • Post a spooky picture of yourself, tag user @YoYoNews, and add the hashtags #hubstack and #yoyonews

That’s it! We’ll pick our three favorites on Monday, February 10th at Noon EST and each winner will receive a free YoYoFactory Hubstack Afterglow and YoYoFactory stickers!

YoYoFactory Hubstack Afterglow

Filed Under: Giveaway Tagged With: afterglow, featured, giveaway, hubstack, instagram, yoyofactory

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