The Smashing YoYo Company had a soft launch for their first yoyo, the Poppet, at the 2016 UK National YoYo Contest. Check out some great tricks using the Poppet from Josh Vickers, Marcel Olubek, Armani Gentles-Williams, Simon Blount, Francesco Salvi, and Andy Jones.
Smashing YoYo Company Announces The Poppet
And just like that, we have a new contender in the yoyo industry from the UK!
The Smashing YoYo Company is the brainchild of UK collector and player Jordan Blofeld, and unless I’m forgetting someone (which is totally possible, I’m getting old) this might be the first UK-based yoyo company. (There were some Doctor Who yoyos back in the late 80s/early 90s, but not sure that counts.)
Their first release is called the Poppet. The word poppet is an older spelling of puppet, from the Middle English popet, meaning a small child or doll. In British English it continues to hold this meaning. Poppet is also a chiefly British term of endearment. All caught up? Great. The Poppet hits stores Sunday, July 17th.
I could not resist. I will not apologize.
It’s been a long fight. I first started planning in February and very little looks like the plans I had in my head back then. Where the design and finished product have ended up have exceeded anything I could have dreamed. Introducing the Poppet – Smashings first yoyo.
There were compromises to be made to keep the price something people can afford. Britain just couldn’t match the impeccable attention to detail that I was demanding for the price I was aiming for so I turned to China. Even then keeping the tolerances this high and the price down was a challenge but it’s real quality you’ll notice as you play hard, it’ll keep up with you. I’ve partnered with an ethically run small engineering shop with people I can trust to deliver the best yoyos at a price I can be proud of.
As you can see, it was worth it. I could not be happier with how it looks. The stats came in exactly as I’d planned them and everything has gone right which has kept the price somewhere people can afford. The contrasting curves and angles provide a comfortable catch zone while looking beautiful and shows off the skills of the people who created it with me.
It’s everything I wanted it to be from the material, dimensions and price. Every bit of energy has been worth it. All the pennies have been well spent. All the tears are in the past.
