We’ve got the video of the winners from the 2015 US National YoYo Contest! All the rest of the contestants will be uploading soon…subscribe to YoYoNews on YouTube to catch them all.
YoYoJam Revival – Chapter 1
YoYoJam has released the first full video for Grant Johnson’s new signature model, the Revival, and it’s full of what is easily some of the best 1A of the year. With this video, Grant is officially a top contender for the 1A Division at the World YoYo Contest in Prague, and I cannot wait to see what he brings to the stage. Absolutely amazing work from one of the most innovative and professional players in the industry!
Yoyo used is the Revival by YoYoJam.
First Look: YoYoJam Revival
Introducing Revival — a breakthrough hybrid from YoYoJam®! The Revival is Grant Johnson’s newest signature 1A model. For the first time ever YoYoJam® is introducing a fusion of durable celcon plastic with precision machined aluminum rings that literally “wrap” around from its exterior to its interior. It’s the most advanced hybrid YoYoJam® has ever produced. Grant visualized every fine detail of the unique shape of Revival to allow for maximum spin time and true control.
From the first time you throw Revival you will discover a truly solid and satisfying experience – especially when you bind it. Its powerful focus on rim weight and emphasis on precision balance results in a truly one-of-a-kind throw. Every bind and return is surprisingly strong and forceful. Set up out of the box with YoYoJam’s® Solid Spin Axle, silicone response, and their premium stainless steel 10-ball Speed Bearing, the Revival plays like a full metal but for a fraction of the cost. And like all YoYoJam® products, it is proudly made in the U.S.A!
Revival’s celcon interior combined with its unique finish on the aluminum rings make grinds easier to learn. Its wide, yet slimmed shape makes a great yo-yo for 3A and 5A as well. Horizontal play in any style is stable and impressive.
The Revival is ready for the most complex of tricks, so be prepared to experiment and have fun with this exceptionally refreshing yo-yo. YoYoJam® has taken the hybrid line and once again reinvented it for modern play!
YoYoJam Revival Specs:
Diameter: 56.36mm
Width: 42.29mm
Weight: 69 grams
Response: Silicone
Bearing: 10-ball Stainless Speed Bearing
Axle System: Solid Spin
YoYoJam Revival – Teaser
YoYoJam has posted the first teaser video for their upcoming release, the Revival. We’ve already gotten a good look at it, and this new signature model for Grant Johnson looks like it’s going to be a huge hit!
More info coming soon…
NYC Cronut – Midnight Snack #2
Remember last year’s “Midnight Snack” video? Well, the Ben Conde and Grant Johnson are back, and they have something new to eat. And throw.
This video is light on the tricks, but the ones in here are so damn good! Looking forward to seeing more 1A from Grant this year…we hear he’s sitting on some incredible tricks.
YoYoJam x Yomega Videos
To celebrate the announcement and upcoming release of their new collaborative yoyos, YoYoJam and Yomega have released videos for the Odyssey and Firestorm, featuring both YoYoJam and Yomega players using the new models. Both videos were shot and edited by Ben Conde and Grant Johnson.
Firestorm video featuring Tylor McCallumore and Daniel Dietz,
Odyssey video featuring Eric Koloski, Grant Johnson, Tylor McCallumore, and Daniel Dietz.
Journey video featuring Ben Conde, and players from the Cat & Mouse Games YoYo Club in Chicago, IL.
12/14/13 #trickcircle Roundup
The #trickcircle tag on Instagram has become the spot for players to share their latest moves, and we here at @Yoyonews are picking out the best ones to share every week. It’s been a little while since our last installment, so we’ve got a huge crop of amazing material to sort through and it might take more than one installment before we’re caught up, but enough talk: let’s get to the tricks!
@blablablanchard (AKA Riccardo Fraolini) gives us a lot to look at with this insta-monster; this could be taught as a master class in slack composition. From the very opening mount (a pop to trapeze-brother with a hanging slack set up) he proves that this combo is going to be a doozy, and the hits just keep on coming, plowing through two more whips before a visually pleasing slack pinch that resets the mount and a grind that pops him into the final triangle… and an appropriate celebration, of course. Riccardo’s known for his smart and innovative tricks that manage to make you laugh and hit rewind to start learning immediately; for a longer look, you’ll definitely want to check out the R-Special vids on his Youtube channel.
@nehemiahpeterson keeps it short and sweet with this clever whip sequence: it opens with a jade whip, followed by a direction change which sends the slack loop wrapping around your hand an extra time before catching the yo-yo as you mount in a trapeze. It’s a simple variation on some classic whip tricks, and is easy enough to understand once you’ve learned the basic mach-5 whip, but that’s a big part of why it’s so effective. I just wish we could see how he ends it! For those who want some more substance, Nehemiah also submitted this impressive arm trick.
@grantgtj (AKA Grant Johnson, brought to us here by @clywlevi) made waves this year with his hugely innovative Worlds 2A freestyle, and this clip proves once again that he is a 1A force to be reckoned with. Grant’s genius comes from the way that he takes well-known mounts and pushes them in directions we’ve never seen before with style to spare. Never before has a split-bottom to GT looked so good: Grant moves the yo-yo into a gunslinger and then immediately pushes it offplane, which rejects the string and sets his hands up to catch the triangle perfectly. Want more Grant one-handed madness? Check out his PNWR Freestyle.
@mayi____ is still a fairly unknown name, but this combo is more than enough reason to start watching out for him. Seriously, how do you think of this? This sequence thoroughly explores the throwhand thumb mount as a landing pad for all kinds of around-the-arm maneuvers, and both the difficulty and the presentation are ratcheted up considerably due to the fact that he pinches the string and lets the slack hang out. Good variation and expressive body movement also bring this trick to the foreground, and the result is a fully-realized concept leaving us excited for more. As a bonus, check out this bizarre (but totally brilliant) pocketwatch concept from the same set.
@snapsta (AKA Ivan Maslin) leaves us seriously wondering if there’s something in the Russian water that produces such incredible tech players. He blew our minds a year ago with his Innovation Movement part and has steadily been developing into quite the force on the tech scene. While this trick sticks to more or less a single mount for the theme, it packs in an impressive amount of movement and maintains a great sense of tempo throughout. Check out his Werrd Wrecking Crew vid for more goodness.
@zbyszekpanda (AKA Zbyszek Kubiński) shows a great way to mix up inverted and normal trapeze hits while keeping a good head of steam—he definitely does not waste any time racking up the points. One of my favorite parts of this trick would be that his hands retain similar placement throughout, but the combo doesn’t seem to get stale. Part of this is undoubtedly the way that he mixes up hits inside and outside of his wrists towards the end of his combo, and the amount of variations he finds is truly impressive.
Bonus tricks:
Tyler Severance’s zippy new 1A which begs you to count the points
Luckey Li’s smart, silly, and stylish update to the foot bind
Gary Longoria’s double-or-nothing Broadway
Alex Gallimore tunnel to GT, with some stylish slack pops for flavor
Ethan Stromquist’s slow & stylish arm hold trick
Adam Schultz’s crazy counterslack
Daiju Okamura’s fun trapeze repeater
Tsukasa Takatsu’s “Glam Bucket” — don’t forget to watch his brilliant “Tricks 2013” compilation!
YoYoJam Presents The Surge
For years we have asked the question. Can the affordable all plastic yo-yo play like an all metal yo-yo? Can you get that solid feel and momentum from a yo-yo at less then half the price? Taking what was learned from the leading beginner’s choice, the ‘Classic’, YoYoJam accomplishes the impossible. Feel the power in the SURGE.
Surge has everything you would come to expect in a high end advanced yo-yo. It features YoYoJam’s signature Solid Spin Axle system, silicone response, and a smooth spinning Speed Bearing (10 Balls). Off your first throw you can FEEL the power of it’s spin surging on and off the string.
With Surge designing a solid feel was not only the goal but the true challenge. A two piece plastic composite body accomplishes this in ways no other yo-yo can, giving you supreme rim weighting and that solid feel you just will not find in any other plastic yo-yo. It is the plastic yo-yo for the modern yo-yo player built competition ready out of the box.
Plastic yo-yos are not just toys anymore. Put the power of the competition-ready SURGE to work for you.
YoYoJam Surge Specs:
Diameter: 58.56 mm / 2.30″
Width: 41.45 mm / 1.632″
Weight: 70.85 grams
Bearing: YoYoJam Speed Bearing
Response: YoYoJam Silicone Response
Available June 13, 2013 at all YoYoJam retailers for a suggested retail of $18, with a special pre-release this weekend at MA States!
This Is Called String Tricking
This one totally slipped by us…our favorite comment troll, Ben Gates, filmed a short documentary on modern yoyoing…on 16mm, no less! Looks like it was shot at last year’s MA State YoYo Contest. From the video description:
An exploration of modern yo-yoing as a form of visual communication. Produced for Documenting Visual Culture IN 374. Filmed on a 16mm Bolex camera at MA States 2012 and Z-Games 2013.
Featuring the tricks of Alex Lozyniak, Michael Ferdico, James Lowell, Tyler McCallumore, Grant Johnson, Eric Koloski, Mark Mangarin, Elliot Jackson, Nick DeValpine, Matt Burkhead, Andrew Maider, Andrew Bergen, and CJ Atkinson.
Special Thanks to Kathryn Ramey, Rob Todd, Cass Marks, and Steve Baldwin at National Boston. No thanks to CineLab, because they suck.
Eric Koloski – DiamondBack
Eric Koloski has been a driving force in competitive yoyo play for over a decade, and is one of the most consistent and talented players I’ve ever met. In the parlance of old men everywhere, Eric Koloski is a “good kid”, and it’s more than a little exciting to see how far he’s come in the course of his yoyo career. This latest video, created with teammate Grant Johnson to promote Eric’s signature DiamondBack yoyo from YoYoJam, should come as no surprise to anyone who’s watched Eric compete…he is innovative, his trick construction is always solid, and he plays clean and with plenty of style.
Midnight Snack – Ben Conde & Grant Johnson
Ben Conde and Grant Johnson remind us again why they’re two of the biggest stars on the YoYoJam team. Great pacing, smooth execution, and a distinct vision for the way they present themselves and their tricks…another solid video from Ben and Grant!
YoYoJam Theory – New Yo-Yo
YoYoJam just released a new video for their upcoming release of a new yo-yo called the Theory. Features Ben Conde, Yoshi Mikamoto, and Grant Johnson and WOW do they have some killer Single A tricks. Amazing stuff.
Theory is a new budget metal yo-yo from YoYoJam that features some plastic caps similar to the Lateral Caps.
And as you can see from Ben Conde there is some neat stuff you can learn to do with it.
Toy – Amazing Documentary from Grant Johnson
“Toy” is a documentary starring Anthony Rojas. We teamed up together in another great short, this time to tell the perspective of what yo-yoing is, and how is is seen through the eyes of a champion. The film goes to show the artistic side of a common toy, which is often overlooked or not understood by the normal spectator.
– Grant Johnson