YoYoNews

YoYo Related News From Around The World

  • Home
    • All Posts
  • Learn To YoYo
  • Video
  • Interviews
  • Clubs & Events
  • YoYo Spotlight
  • YoYo Guides
  • Contact
    • About Us
    • Advertising

2016 SPYY x TMBR x YoYoExpert eh Release

December 19, 2016 By Steve Brown

It’s that time of year again!

We get a new edition of everyone’s favorite fixed axle yoyo, we get a new video of fixie impossibilities from Ed Haponik, and we get the smug satisfaction that comes with feeling vaguely superior to all the people who don’t play fixed axle.

Ok, that last bit only lasts for about 6 minutes and it’s not our most endearing trait, but hey, it’s the holidays, and we want a little validation for our hard work, ok? Our knuckles are a mess.

YoYoExpert.com will be releasing the 2016 edition of the SPYY x TMBR x YoYoExpert eh at 8 pm EST on Monday, Dec. 19. This edition comes in FOUR different exotic woods, making it the most diverse and beautiful edition yet! The eh will be available in Wenge, Bubinga, Zebrano, and just TWO pieces made in Ebony wood. These will retail for $85 each, and the Ebony version will retail for $200 each and only be available to purchase via raffle. More details up at YoYoExpert.com!

SPYY x TMBER x YoYoExpert Ed Haponik eh

Filed Under: Featured, Manufacturer, Players, Video Tagged With: ed haponik, eh, fixed axle yoyo, oak, spyy, tmbr, wooden yoyo, yoyo tricks, yoyo video, yoyoexpert

Help SPYY Owner Steve Buffel Fight Cancer

October 17, 2016 By André Boulay

SPYY Steve Buffel Cancer

Please consider making a donation to support Steve.  Any amount (no matter how small) is greatly appreciated!   In addition we have a limited number of TYY-01 Titanium Yo-Yos available as a donation reward!  Thank you for sharing your love & support with Steve and his family.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Steve Buffel (age 43) was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in November 2015. Since then he’s undergone a long battle that’s consisted of daily radiation treatments & chemotherapy (while working) and an extensive surgery in May. Steve’s surgery went very well and he now continues his fight, but is struggling through the follow up chemotherapy. The doctors described post-surgical chemotherapy like this: “The surgeon pulled the weeds and now we’re going to spray the lawn to make sure none grow back”.  With this protocol Steve’s prognosis is good and has an 80% chance of being cancer free for the rest of his life. That being said, living with the side effects of the chemo can feel are far worse than the cancer itself.

15296489_1476402394-2759_funddescription

With the help of friends and family, Steve and Suzanne have done their best to help maintain a normal routine for their household and kids, but unfortunately it’s a becoming struggle. Steve has been off work since his surgery in May and his insurance coverage has been exhausted. Steve looks forward to going back to work as a design engineer soon as he can, but in the meanwhile he has to rely on his wife’s extra efforts to support their family.

Steve recently lost his father to brain cancer.

15296489_1476402418-8691_funddescription

Up until his surgery, Steve enjoyed family life, his pursuit of the perfect pair of jeans and immersed himself in the craft of jean making… and titanium yoyo production! Steve also competed at the local BMX track with his kids. Steve is looking forward to getting back to these hobbies once his body heals and hands are free of nerve pain that’s caused by the chemotherapy. To follow Steve and his interests, here’s his Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/spyycanada/

A kind message from friend Ed Haponik:

“It is difficult to find a bad yo-yo these days. Pretty much every model seems to play pretty smooth, spin a long time, and respond consistently… 10 years ago this was NOT the case. Not only were performance metal yo-yo’s expensive; there were giant disparities in quality from one model to another and amazing variation in their features, right down to the basic structure of the response systems and bearing seats. It was during this time, when precision-crafted yo-yo’s were few and far between, that SPYY came into its own.

Steve Buffel is a true craftsman. And when he gets it in mind to pursue a project (whether a yo-yo, pair of jeans, or a skateboard for his kid), he goes at it with an obsessive drive to complete it as well as it can be done, with no allowance shortcuts or mediocrity. His yo-yo’s were touted as the smoothest out there from the very first protos released on eBay. And as the SPYY line grew in the mid 00’s (from the Radian to the Addict, Spyder, and Pistolero), the company became synonymous with this level of quality. Even when Steve made the somewhat agonizing decision to start selling discount rejects, the purchasers of his “STAR-grades” remarked that these seconds spun far truer than most companies’ A-grades.

When he decided to build a team, Steve did so as patiently and deliberately as he developed his yo-yo line. Jon Rob, Guy Wright, Nate Sutter, Alexis JV, Sebastian Brock, Joey Fleshman, myself… The players he picked were out of the box and all over the map. It seemed like the only thing we had in common was having nothing in common, and yet it was more a “team” than any I’d seen. Being generous to a fault, Steve would send me tons of yo-yo’s, even though he knew I wasn’t interested in competition. And when I tentatively approached him about wanting to dedicate a year to playing fixed axle, he didn’t just give me his blessing – he gave me the tool for the job in the form of the sweetest wood yo-yo ever.

In time, SPYY folded, partly under the weight of the high expectations Steve maintained for himself. When he emerged last year to drop a titanium bomb on the community, everybody seemed thrilled, both at the prospect of the yo-yo and for SPYY to be back on the scene at all. The TYY-01 proved to be everything I’d hoped for: a modern competition-friendly profile, a 4mm gap giving tight winds and great regens, and smoothness worthy of the SPYY brand. Unfortunately, it dropped just as the market was at its most Ti-saturated, and for reasons I don’t understand, they remain available.

As most reading this will already know, Steve has been battling colorectal cancer for the past year. He has fought like hell through surgeries and several grueling rounds of chemotherapy. Being one of the most stoic people I know, he has never once complained about it to me. But I know it wears on him not having the energy to chase his kids all over creation on their BMX bikes or throw himself into his various crafts.

Steve has been a great friend for a long time. He is a true family-man, one of the most giving people I know, and he has had a legitimate and positive impact upon modern yo-yo’s and upon our little community. He has had a rough run lately, to say the least, and it would be amazing if our community could show him that we’ve got his back as he continues to recover. This is an opportunity to support a guy who, like so many of us, has thrown much of himself into this strange little passion (and to earn some pretty slick rewards while you’re at it). This is not the kind of thing he would ask for, so it falls to his friends to do so on his behalf. I hope you’ll join me in throwing some support to one of the best among us.”

Please join us for showing love and support to an amazing friend and a person who has been a true ‘force of good’ in our yo-yo community!

All donations are greatly appreciated and welcome.  Donate $185 and receive a SPYY TYY-01 yo-yo!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

 

Filed Under: Featured, General News Tagged With: cancer, fundraiser, gofundme, spyy, steve buffel

Ed Haponik – Hydrangeaz

July 7, 2016 By Steve Brown

Ed Haponik treats us to some more beautifully arranged fixed axle yoyoing in his latest video. No one builds a trick like Ed, do they? Beautiful stuff.

Yoyo used is the SPYY x TMBR Eh.

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: ed haponik, fixed axle, spyy, tmbr, wood yoyo, yoyo tricks, yoyo video

Ed Haponik – EH 2015 Release

December 23, 2015 By YoYoNews

TMBR x SPYY x YoYoExpert EH 2015 Ed Haponik

It’s that time again…another year, another glorious special edition wooden yoyo from SPYY x TMBR x YoYoExpert to celebrate everyone’s favorite fixie sage, Ed Haponik! Check out the latest video from Ed and a full description of the yoyo below. YoYoExpert still has a few in stock, but once they’re gone…they’re gone.

In 2012, SPYY team member Ed Haponik took a one year oath to play only a single fixed axle, wooden yo-yo. It was a custom design from SPYY who sponsored him at the time. He completed this goal as of 12/31/12 and documented his efforts on 365yoyotricks.com and in several of his clip videos. Ever since Ed has truly helped to inspire a resurgence in fixed axle play!

In 2015 things have changed. SPYY is no longer around has just re-entered the game with a new Titanium Yo-Yo and Ed is still throwing the best fixed axle tricks around via his Instagram page!

In hopes of continuing this amazing story we decided to approach Ed, SPYY, & TMBR. And again this year, all agreed the story and message behind this great yo-yo needs to live on. The legendary yo-yo he used, The EH, is now re-envisioned once again and available in a limited run.

This year, the limited EH is crafted from WHITE oak. This wood offers a beautiful tight grain that isn’t too porous with an excellent density and smoother feel to the touch. This newest version also comes with one of the coolest axle systems out there – The TMBR Wood Thread Axles! Hand carved by Colin Leland, you will not find anything else like these on the market! After spending some time with the new 2015 EH, Ed thinks it’s the perfect fixed axle yo-yo for tricks like stalls, kickflips, varials, and lunar landings!

The 2015 ‘EH’ is limited to 96 pieces and will not be reproduced. Each EH comes packaged with a special signed note from Ed and one side of the yo-yo features the EH logo engraved with the other left untouched to give it a simple clean look. Play Simply Our Friends!

Start Your Fixed Axle Journey With Tutorials from Ed Haponik HERE!

This post sponsored by YoYoExpert.

Filed Under: Featured, Manufacturer, Players, Sponsor News, Video Tagged With: 2015, ed haponik, eh, featured, sponsored, sponsored post, spyy, tmbr, tmbr toys, wooden yoyo, yoyo tricks, yoyo video, yoyoexpert

SPYY Titanium TYY YoYo Release

November 7, 2015 By Steve Brown


It’s always great when an old friend comes back to visit. When we last saw Steve Buffel he was closing up shop for SPYY to spend more time with his family and less time staying up until the wee hours of the night running an amazingly high quality yoyo company. Looks like he just couldn’t stay away, though! He caught the bug, and had to make his contribution to the Year of Titanium™!

Why titanium?  Why now?  It came down to me missing the community, yoyo friends, contests and wanting to somehow explore titanium as a way to re-engage myself.  There’s been a big hole left in my life after closing SPYY.  I guess the hangover of running the business has somewhat subsided and I wanted to get back in touch with the things that inspired me to run my own yoyo business in the first place.

The development of this design became the ultimate SPYY hybrid of sorts.  I looked at my favorites and infused elements of each into this super fun and high performing yoyo.  Titanium is a seductive, yet sinister alloy!  The temptation is to exploit every bit of strength and thin down the walls to a mere fraction of that of an aluminum yoyo, pushing all the weight to the rim.  After countless CAD studies and trials I came to the conclusion that one could make a yoyo spin forever, but at what cost?  I tweaked and tweaked the geometry over and over to exploit the benefits of added rim weight, while not getting greedy and going overboard.  A heavy hand with rim weighting can easily result in a sluggish feel with excessive kickback… that uninspiring rock on a string feeling.  My hope is that I struck the ultimate balance between precision, float, spin and fun!

Manufacturing this yoyo became more of a challenge that anticipated for myself, our CNC programmers and machine operators.  This stuff is pure EVIL!  Titanium pushes back hard, wears out carbide inserts and kills tools with an explosive bang and sparks!  SPYY has produced over 20,000 aluminum yoyo halves with the same tooling and inserts. Aluminum is THAT forgiving.  Titanium burns them up every ten pieces or less!  We’ve had to regroup several times during this process in an attempt to tame the evil alloy sometimes referred to as “unobtainium”. That being said, the finished product is stunning to look at, hold and feel, while playing like nothing SPYY’s ever produced before!

This release is officially designated as TYY-01 and is limited to around 150 pieces.  This may be it for SPYY’s adventures in titanium. The cost and time required to produce them was staggering, possibly making it suicide to consider doing it again.  We’ll see how this release is accepted by our community.

Watch eBay account saturnprecision spyy.bigcartel.com Sunday, November 8th at noon EST for the official release.

$300 USD ($400 CAD), shipping included.

SPYY TYY Specs:

Alloy: Titanium
Mass: 65.5 grams
Diameter: 56.5mm
Width: 41 mm
Gap: 4mm
Bearing: Large C Dif-e-Yo KonKave
Responce: CBC 19mm Slim Pads
Axle: 316 stainless steel

Filed Under: Manufacturer, YoYo Drop Tagged With: featured, spyy, titanium, tyy, yoyo drop, yoyo release

SPYY Returns….with titanium

October 4, 2015 By Steve Brown

SPYY Titanium yoyo

As the Summer of Titanium™ comes to a close, we’ve got one more model sneaking in under the wire and I think it’s safe to say that none of us saw this coming.

SPYY has returned with a titanium yoyo.

That’s right, the defunct Canadian manufacturer, long known for their impeccable quality, is back for one last gasp with a brand new design in titanium. Is this a return of the company? No, says owner Steve Buffel, just a hell of a cool one-off project to fill the time. Steve has been teasing this out for a while now, but this is our first look at the full, completed yoyo.

The Summer of Titanium™ has played out well beyond the possible dreams of any yoyo player or collector. For those of you who haven’t been keeping track, we’ve had the YoYoFactory Dream, three versions of the Luftverk Evora, One Drop Citizen, iYoYo TIger, Something Anglam TISS, Something Anglam Zero, Yoyorecreation Seventh Heaven, Ti-Yo, and now…this.

No word yet on specs or release date, but it’s safe to assume we’ll see these in stores before the end of the year.

Filed Under: Manufacturer, YoYo Drop Tagged With: featured, spyy, summer of titanium, titanium, yoyo drop, yoyo release

SPYY x TMBR x Yoyoexpert “eh”

December 22, 2014 By YoYoNews

feature

The “eh” has returned to Yoyoexpert.com as a surprise release! More of a story than a yoyo model, the “eh” started out as a handful of drill-pressed throws that Ed Haponik and SPYY’s Steve Buffel cranked out in Steve’s Calgary garage. Fixed axle aficionado that he is, Ed evidently liked playing it so much that he asked Steve to make him a special one to use for a year straight, which Ed documented in videos and on 365yoyotricks.com. At the end of 2012 (and again in 2013), Yoyoexpert celebrated Ed’s commitment and Steve’s classic design by releasing a production version made by Portland-based woodcraft-powerhouse TMBR. One of the coolest aspects of the “eh” is that it represents the collaboration of four people, each of whom is respected within yoyoing for his own distinct contribution.

With each release, the “eh” has seen subtle changes in material and engraving, but this is clearly the most significant change so far. Over the past year, TMBR’s “wood-thread” axle system has become increasingly popular among fixed axle players. This innovative and craft-intensive process allows for all-wood construction (no metal axle, no glue) AND take-apart design. Actually, it goes a step further as you can actually reconstruct the “eh” in butterfly, classic/imperial, or “pagoda” setups. The axle cap in the middle of the “eh” is a design necessity, but it changes the look substantially. The engraving is smaller and moved off the center, featuring the original “eh” logo on one side and the logos of the 3 companies responsible for it on the reverse. The body is also made from white oak (previous versions were red) which offers the smoothest surface and most uniform weight distribution of any “eh” so far.

In terms of play, it’s a pretty awesome fixed axle yoyo. Its smooth walnut axle sleeps well enough and it comes back easily, maybe a little more aggressively than previous versions. In recent years, fixed axle has become its own distinct species. Where just a few years back, playing fixed axle meant you did regular 1a tricks as kind of a dare, these days fixed tricks have become marked by shorter sleepers and integrated stalls, kickflips, weird balances, and constant regenerations. The new “eh” really caters to these adaptations. The oak body is easy to control in a stall, the gap holds loops open on kickflips very well, and the flat rims make Ed’s backhand catches quite a bit easier.

Bear in mind that it’s completely different from playing a modern unresponsive metal yo-yo. That may seem obvious, but it can’t be overstated. Playing wood is a different kind of challenge; one of the hardest and most rewarding in yo-yoing.

The “eh” also comes with a typed note from Ed and one of his signed Yoyoexpert trading cards. Limited to 120 pieces total. Available now exclusively from Yoyoexpert.

SPYY x TMBR x Yoyoexpert “eh” SPECS:

Diameter: 57.15mm
Width: 34.92mm
Gap Width: Two Pennies (seriously)
Weight: 58 grams
Axle: Take-Apart All Wood Axle

Buy the SPYY x TMBR x YoYoExpert eh

This post sponsored by YoYoExpert

Filed Under: Manufacturer, Sponsor News Tagged With: ed haponik, eh, featured, spyy, tmbr, yoyoexpert

Kyle Nations – I Like To Play

May 5, 2014 By Steve Brown

Kyle Nations drops yet another video of fixie goodness, including some tricks with the prototype fixed axle throw coming soon from Square Wheels YoYo Company. Bearings are for suckers!

Yoyos used are the Missing Link by Square Wheels and the SPYY x TMBR eh.

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: eh, kyle nations, missing link, spyy, square wheels yoyo company, tmbr, video

Interview- Guy Wright

February 11, 2014 By Matt McDade

SPYY-Legacy

As a huge fan of 1A, I have to say that I would be willing to defend my opinion that there is a special genre of 1A that I would refer to as “Guy Wright Tricks”. In other words, Guy Wright is a unique and awesome player that has definitely made an impression on modern 1A. Formerly sponsored by SPYY, Guy Wright is the inventor of tons of extremely creative and unique tricks and just as well known for his awesome clip videos. One of my favorite players of all time, Guy agreed to do an interview and I was immediately excited to learn more about one of my favorites.

Guy, thanks for doing this! From inventing great tricks to putting out several instant-classic clip videos, you’ve definitely left a mark on modern yoyoing. How did you get your start?

Well, the main thing that got me into yoyoing was when I first saw the Viking Tour promotional DVD that my buddy (who was/is not a yoyoer) showed me in 2005. He told me about it and I was like, “yoyos are lame” but then he showed me the video and I was like “I bet I would be really good at that!”. So, I went out that day and got a FH2 from Target, and that was it. I have always been into juggling, so yoyos seemed like a reasonable thing to get into. Also, the fact that Steve Brown made it look cool and it wasn’t just some nerdy ass little kids made me think it would be cool even though I was already 21.

I feel that way too about how yoyoing kind of can appeal to a lot of age groups and not just little kids. Did you just start throwing 1A with the FH2? How did you start learning tricks back then?

I didn’t start with 1A at first. I went right into Freehand and learned a lot of the tricks from the Viking Tour DVD (Beestings, E-fans, etc. I did 5A for about 5 months before I got into 1A). The more videos I watched online, the more I wanted to get into slack tricks and it’s kinda hard to do slack stuff while holding the die so I eventually dropped it and started exclusively doing 1A. My next yoyo after a couple Freehands was the Hspin Pyro (I also had a big fascination with grind tricks at the time, so it seemed right.)

Oh yeah, Steve had those “Walking Grinds” in that video too, and 5A definitely has a feel like juggling more so than 1A I think. What were some of your favorite 1A tricks early on?

My favorite 1A tricks when I started where suicides, whips, slack, and grinds.

I loved the idea of the suicide, because it was so simple and obvious. You know exactly what’s going on, and why it’s difficult. Clean, simple and badass.

I loved slacks because they were big, graceful and pretty (when done right).

I was also really into grinds because they had the same feel as skateboard tricks and I was a big skateboarder when I was younger, so those elements were appealing to me.

Guy Wright at the Bay Area Classic YoYo Contest

When did you start making up your own?

It’s hard to say when I started making my own tricks. I feel most of my tricks were/are just variations of other tricks. Then again, isn’t that every trick? How far away from an existing trick does a variation have to be to be considered “new”? How many existing elements do you have to put into a combo before the combo is considered a new trick in itself?

Short answer: I would always try to make my own versions of tricks ever since I started.

I totally know what you mean. For a while, I was confused between the differences of a “trick” and a “combo”. I saw people throw “combos” that looked like entirely new tricks to me and I still sometimes get confused if I’m looking at a trick, or a combo that’s so good that it looks like something entirely new.

My favorite Guy Wright trick/combo/yoyo thing (a lot of other people’s probably too) is definitely Cupcakes. I love both repeaters and chopsticks tricks, so of course it’s perfect. A lot of your tricks are not only technically appealing but extremely visually appealing as well.

Yeah, I have always thought that the way tricks look is way more important than what’s actually being done. It’s like, yoyos are essentially a visual thing, so if it doesn’t look good, why the hell are you doing it? Granted, I have always thought I was extremely sloppy so I don’t know what that means.

SPYY Punchline - Guy Wright Signature YoYo

Your SPYY signature yoyo was the Punchline which I’ve never thrown but featured a really cool shape that I like. What was the process like in designing your own throw?

As far as the Punchline goes, when we were coming up with it I just told Steve (of Spyy) that I wanted something bubbly, friendly, and…well….floaty. I wanted a yoyo that I would get along with, something that wouldn’t fight me and wasn’t aggressive. Like, I could say “Hey yoyo, how about we go over here now?” and it would say “Ok Guy, that seems fine” then we would hug.

I gave him personality traits and had him work his magic to make something physical out of my vague stoner descriptions. I mean, I did say I wanted it about 66 grams and a little bigger than the Pistolero. but aside from that I just gave descriptions about how I wanted it to “feel” and I have to say Steve nailed it. He sent me some CAD designs of a nice, bubbly, round yoyo with nice rounded-off rims and I was in love.

I like those kind of yoyos too. For me, it’s either that or a heavier yoyo that can also do what I want it to without being extremely heavy on the string and overall being kind of annoying to throw. In watching the “SpyyGuy Comics” clip video, that throw totally fit your yoyoing. Speaking of which, what’s your favorite clip video that you’ve put out?

It’s a tie between The Letter blue, Amplifire, More and Oh, and the first Punchline video.

The Letter Blue because I feel it has the best tricks.

Amplifire because I feel just about everything in there looks the way I wanted it to and it has the best song.

More and Oh because it was the most fun video to make and everything went well. Both me and Elliot hit our tricks within a reasonable amount of time, it was a nice sunny day, the editing was painless, and the song goes really well with it.

Finally, the first Punchline video because I have crazy hair in it.

I agree with you there, some of my favorite Guy Wright tricks appear in The Letter Blue as well as the first Punchline video.

Do you have any advice for any aspiring yoyoer out there?

The best advice I can give is simply, make it look good. That’s the only real important thing. If it doesn’t look good, why would you do it? It doesn’t matter how hard a trick is as long as you can do it with style.

I totally agree, that philosophy definitely shows in all of your tricks. Thanks Guy!


 

Filed Under: Interview Tagged With: featured, guy wright, Interview, punchline, spyy

Monkeyfinger Custom Steampunk SPYY

January 20, 2014 By Steve Brown

Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light

Monkeyfinger released pictures of a custom anodizing job they did on a SPYY Radian Super Light, and it’s pretty crazy. I spoke with Ray from Monkeyfinger, and he gave me some more insight into the process of creating a one-of-a-kind piece like this. In case you didn’t see it already, Monkeyfinger opened up a custom anodization service on their site. With work like this, if you dig their yoyos it might really be worth the bucks to get a crazy one-of-a-kind job like this done.

Once we established what customer wanted, the first step was to completely blast the surface to give the surface a used, vintage texture. On a regular bead blast, the surface tends to keeps a bit of its shine but with this one we decided it hit it a bit harder to make sure it was nice and worn.

As you look at the yoyo, you’ll see multiple colours with multiple masking.  We laid out nine separate masks to capture different colours and effects. If you really look at the pictures you’ll see that each gear, cog, and piece of tin all have effects inside them. By carefully masking the yoyo and using a number of different visual effects on different layers, we were able to give each individual cog and element some real depth.  Then we finished off the whole piece with a micro splash yellow.

After the yoyo was finished, both Todd and myself didn’t think that it looked right and we opted to redo the background to make the part show more of a worn copper patina.  To pull it off we actually created a new technique from scratch that we’ve never previously heard of or tried.

In total, it was approximately 16 manufacturing steps to create this unique finish.

Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light

Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light

Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light

Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light
Monkeyfinger Steampunk SPYY Radian Super Light

Filed Under: Manufacturer Tagged With: anodizing, custom, monkeyfinger, radian super light, spyy, steampunk

YoYoExpert SPYY Amplifier Promotion

October 21, 2013 By YoYoNews

YoYoExpert SPYY Promotion

SPYY was one of Canada’s original premier yo-yo manufacturers with a wide range of designs for players of all styles. After ten years they decided it was time to close shop and move on to other things leaving behind an amazing legacy of yo-yos.

Their last model, the Amplifier was a big hit and not only is this the last chance you will have to score one – but you get a second SPYY yo-yo FREE when you purchase one! That’s right…buy a SPYY Amplifier from YoYoExpert.com and get a SPYY Radian, El Ranchero, Orbitron, or Ronin absolutely FREE!

HOW IT WORKS:

Step 1: Choose SPYY AMPLIFIER

STEP 2: Choose 2nd SPYY Yo-Yo FREE on this page!

Don’t miss out on this deal! Ends November 10th, 2013. One Per Person.

Sponsored by YoYoExpert

Filed Under: Sponsor News Tagged With: amplifier, deal, featured, free, sponsored, spyy, yoyoexpert

Topsy Krets ft. Joey Fleshman & Benji Sharib

September 9, 2013 By Steve Brown

New video from Joey Fleshman and Benji Sharib! Here’s what Benji has to say about it:

This is is probably one of the coolest videos that I have made to date. It isn’t often in the Navy that you find other people that are into yoyoing at all, so I was pretty astounded when I found out there was another person on my base that threw. It was complete happenstance that someone that knew Joey saw be playing with my Flow, and got me his number. Turned out that Joey was transferring in 3 days from when I contacted him so we got together and filmed for a day. Such an awesome opportunity!

You may happen to notice a logo in the top right ‘Neverbored’. Its a concept/idea ive been talking about for a while, and you’re probably going to start seeing that in all my videos. I really am Never bored, so it kind of fits. I guess this is the first installment in my Neverbored series, I don’t foresee it ever stopping, but whatever.

I would like to give a HUGE shoutout to SPYY, they disbanded but Joey threw almost exclusively SPYY yoyos in this video (with the exception of the plastic Severe).

Lastly, I’d like to thank my Sponsor for hooking me up with the Flow. SPIN DYNAMICS ROCKS. Really though, thanks Nick, you’re a good friend and you run an awesome team.

Music is Flight of the Featherless by Cloud Cult.
Shot with a standard kit lens on a Cannon Rebel T3i with a tripod that could use some WD 40.
Filmed and Edited by yours truly (with a little help from Joey).
Thanks for watching!

Filed Under: Players, Video Tagged With: benji sharib, joey fleshman, spin dynamics, spyy, video

SPYY Legacy

July 27, 2013 By Gabriel Lozano

(Youtube link)

Known for their high-precision throws, SPYY was a benchmark company. Over the past decade, they continually raised the bar with their high-level precision and innovative design. Thus, it came as unfortunate news that SPYY has recently closed up shop.

In addition to their amazing yoyos, SPYY provided us with an amazing team of players that pushed creativity to the max. This video is a nod to SPYY, Steve Buffel, and the amazing team he has supported throughout SPYY’s incredible journey. Featuring SPYY’s final roster of players, this video takes a look back at the players, tricks, and yoyos that helped make SPYY a company that will never be forgotten.

Song: Hero by Family of the Year (itunes.apple.com/us/album/loma-vista/id527663303)

For past SPYY videos, check out:

Just Throwin’ 2 – YouTube
Just Throwin’ with Team SPYY – Youtube & Vimeo
Devon Jackson – Youtube
Punchline Repeater – Vimeo
Who the #%$@ is Gary Longoria? – Vimeo
Speed Freak – Vimeo
Totally Rad: SPYY Pro –  Vimeo
Punchline! The Final Issue – Vimeo
Punchline! – Youtube & Vimeo

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: 2013, alexis jv, canada, devon jackson, ed haponik, featured, Gary Longoria, guy wright, joey fleshman, lilia markham, Nate Sutter, sebastian brock, spyy

Goodbye, SPYY

July 20, 2013 By Steve Brown

SPYY

We woke up to some bad, bad news this morning. SPYY, makers of some of the most underrated but consistently awesome performance yoyos, is closing up shop.

SPYY came on the scene in 2003 with the Saturn Experiment, an attempt to produce a high-end yo-yo that can handle multiple string layers (bind-style) around the axle without stopping or returning to the hand. In 2005 the first high-end consumer yo-yo was produced, the Saturn Radian and it went on sale on eBay in early 2006. The first run sold out quickly, with a huge interest from the market. For the time, the yoyo was one of the smoothest competition throws available and players quickly became obsessed with what would be next from this small Canadian company.

From there they produced the Addict, a more rounded profile throw, that expanded their fan base considerably. As their following grew, they began acquiring a team that would eventually include Guy Wright, Ed Haponik, Alexis JV, Nate Sutter, Sebastian Brock, Gary Longoria, Lilia Markham, Joey Fleshman, and Devon Jackson. Recently produced models include the excellent TMBR x SPYY EH, Dynamo, and Amplifier.

SPYY’s remaining stock has been shipped off to YoYoExpert, and if you were ever on the fence about picking one of their models up we recommend you grab one now. Below is an excerpt from the email that SPYY sent out to their team and a few friends…and we’d like to personally thank Steve Buffel and his wife Suzanne for everything they’ve done for the industry and the community. You couldn’t possibly imagine a pair of more wonderful people, and while we’re sad to see SPYY go away it’s reassuring to know that at least we’re just losing some yoyos, and not some friends. Thanks for everything, SPYY!

—–

Thanks for taking a chance on us and our little yoyo company. Suzanne and I tried to push it to a full time carrier a while back, but I melted my soul in the process. 

I think it’s time to call it a day.  10,000 yoyos sold to date. I guess we can all be proud of that. It’s been a fun ride with crazy ups and downs,  just like this hobby of ours 🙂

I wish you all the best and you have our blessings and full support to pursue yoyoing however you feel it suits you best.

Thanks and please stay in touch. We’ll see you around.

Hugs and tears,
Steve & Suzanne
SPYY

Filed Under: Goodbyes Tagged With: alexis jv, amplifier, canada, devon jackson, dynamo, ed haponik, eh, featured, Gary Longoria, guy wright, joey fleshman, lilia markham, Nate Sutter, revenger, saturn precision yoyos, sebastian brock, spyy, steve buffel, tmbr, yoyoexpert

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Follow Us

Recent Posts

  • Scales Open Vol. 3 Results & Video
  • Goodbye Collin
  • Duncan Toys Presents: Javier Augusto X Sebastian Lavin
  • First Look – CLYW BOY
  • SFTUTS: Keiran Cooper “Derek Jeter Was An eBoy”

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Scales Open Vol. 3 Results & Video February 19, 2020
  • Goodbye Collin January 25, 2020
  • Duncan Toys Presents: Javier Augusto X Sebastian Lavin January 8, 2020
  • First Look – CLYW BOY December 16, 2019
  • SFTUTS: Keiran Cooper “Derek Jeter Was An eBoy” December 3, 2019
  • Colin Beckford – Biennium December 3, 2019
  • Polo Garbkamol – Trick Dump November 1, 2019
  • Bryan Jardin – What’s Your Setup? October 21, 2019

Follow Us

Posts By Date

March 2023
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Tags

1A 4a 5A 5a may 2013 2014 c3yoyodesign cabin tutorial charles haycock clyw contest counterweight Czech Republic drew tetz duncan toys eyyc featured freehand gentry stein Harrison Lee japan kendama offstring one drop recess results Russia tyler severance video Werrd world yoyo champion world yoyo contest yoyo yoyo contest yoyo contest results yoyodrop yoyo drop yoyoexpert yoyofactory yoyofficer YoYoJam yoyorecreation yoyo tricks yoyo tutorial yoyo video

Search YoYoNews.com

All content copyright YoYoNews.com, 2016. All rights reserved.