First Look – Throw Revolution Kaiser

March 9, 2017 By Steve Brown

We’ve got a look at the newest release from World YoYo Champion Marcus Koh’s brand, Throw Revolution!

The Kaiser is a monometal yoyo made of 7075 aluminum, and designed to perform to Marcus’ exacting standards. His goal with the Kaiser was bi-metal performance in a monometal yoyo…not the easiest thing to accomplish, but we look forward to trying one and seeing how close he got. Check out Throw Revolution’s info below, along with more pics and full specs. The Kaiser is available March 14th at 8 pm SGT at the Throw Revolution store, and hits retailers soon after.

When the Kaiser was made, It was designed to bring out a Bi-metal performance in a mono-metal yo-yo. This Yo-Yo was made for the aspiring competitor, not just any competitor. But for the one who dares to be a champion.

We wanted a Yo-Yo that is able to comfortably return to your hands. This is an important aspect which is often overlooked, as it ensures that your next throw will always a good one. Specially for freestyles when you have to bind from a strong spin due to a music cue.

The Kaiser was designed with step curved Rims to rest perfectly on your hands.

The Kaiser needed to be a yo-yo that stands out. We experimented by introducing a new twist to the way its being anodized by giving it a raw finished cut around the hub of the Kaiser.

The end result was Stunning. It was a design that stood out immediately, which made the Kaiser uniquely identifiable.

With the Kaiser’s release approaching, we’re staying true to our company’s mission.

“To unleash the greatness in you, and provide the highest standards of excellence at ThrowRevolution.“

And you’ll be the first one to receive the “Revolutionary Experience”, a special 1-on-1 coaching session with Marcus Koh when you purchase a Kaiser today.

Throw Revolution Kaiser Specs:

Finish: Smooth Beadblast
Weight: 65.9g
Diameter: 56.11 mm
Width: 44.59 mm
Bearing: 10 Ball Concave
Price: $89 USD

YoYo Spotlight – CLYW Dune

February 23, 2017 By Steve Brown

CLYW Dune Specs:

Diameter: 55.8 mm
Width: 41.4 mm
Weight: 68 grams
Response: Snow Tires
Bearing: Pixel Bearing Size C (.250 x .500 x .187)

The CLYW Dune is the new monometal signature yoyo for team member Anthony Rojas.

PLAY

The CLYW Dune is CLYW’s first signature yoyo for team member Anthony Rojas, and it’s a noticeable departure from CLYW’s usual releases. Weighing in at 68 grams, it’s a full 2 grams heavier than most CLYW monometals and the difference in play is noticeable. The added weight makes the Dune considerably more stable, something that’s required for Anthony’s long combos, huge body moves, and big counterweight tricks. The Dune throws heavy but plays light and incredibly fast. For many people, they’ll find the Dune to be possibly the fastest playing monometal in CLYW’s line-up, and the extra weight lets it muscle through tricks that would slow down plenty of other yoyos. The Dune is definitely one of CLYW’s most powerful yoyo releases to date, and a great competition yoyo.

LOOKS

The CLYW Dune takes a visual clue from the Pool Party Banana Hammock, and for good reason…the B-Ham was originally designed by CLYW owner Chris Mikulin as a test to see if he could design a yoyo totally blind that would work for Anthony’s play style. The final version of the Dune and B-Ham are vastly different, but the visual similarities in the profile are noticeable. The inner cup of the Dune features loads of curves and bulges, giving it a unique look. The combination of a slightly domed center with the shortened hub and the curved out details lets the Dune take heavy visual cues from actual sand dunes, which is a nice touch. Available in 6 colors to start, including Sand (shown), the first Dune release should have something for everyone.

VALUE

The CLYW Dune retails for $85 – $95 (depending on colorway), the same as all of CLYW’s current line-up of monometal yoyos. Not quite cheap enough to be an impulse buy, but it’s a nice splurge for a casual player and still plenty affordable for any serious competitor looking for a new contest yoyo and a few backups. For the performance the Dune seems to be worth the price, and the quality of the machining and anodizing are great.

BUY NOW

CLYW Dune is available now at YoYoExpert.com.

THIS POST SPONSORED BY YOYOEXPERT

YoYofficer Announces XPoint; First Plastic YoYo

February 15, 2017 By Steve Brown

Our friends at YoYofficer have finally made the jump to plastic! Their first plastic yoyo, the XPoint, should be hitting stores soon and it looks like a solid player. Check out specs below, as well as a new video from Ilya Shaposnikov featuring the XPoint.

Yoyofficer XPoint Specs:

Diameter: 58mm
Width: 44mm
Weight: 64g
Gap:4.3mm
Bearing: Size C – Both Narrow & Centering
Retail Price: $13.9 USD

First Look – CLYW Kayak

January 19, 2017 By Steve Brown

CLYW dropped photos and specs of the Kayak, giving us our first full look at the new signature model for 2x World YoYo Champion and generally amazing yoyo player, Yuuki Spencer.

The Kayak borrows from the original Chief design, which is generally considered the “flagship” yoyo of the CLYW brand, with its unique double-rim design. The body shape is classic CLYW, but the addition of a fingerspin hub definitely brings a more recent feature, something we’ve previously only seen from them in the Compass.

The release date for the Kayak is February 2nd, 2017. Check out specs and more photos below!

Kayak Specs:

Diameter – 55.6 mm
Width – 43.6 mm
Weight – 66.5 grams
Bearing – Pixel Bearing
Response – Snow Tires
MSRP – $85 – $90

Freshly Dirty – Cardboard Dreamboat

January 11, 2017 By Johnny Le

I got a chance to talk with the man behind Freshly Dirty, Alex Morton, about the beginnings, inspiration, and the new new of what to expect from this fresh new company.

How did y’all get your start?

So we started out last year in March taking a shot in the dark at making fixed axles, they were terrible in the beginning but we knew that we had to get something off the ground and begin building a fan base. That’s when Coffin Nachtmahr started supporting us! He actually has quite a few of those first fixed axles. After the first fixed axle design I started on the one that really got us going, which was The Traveller. Super simple in design, but with some good thought behind it and some good wood that we sourced here in Indiana. It just kept growing and we put a lot of time into the design and feel of what we wanted. At first I started alone then added my good friend Gerald Bass, everybody kept calling him ‘Lil Bass’ at worlds this year. Going to the World YoYo Contest was what really propelled us into building a team and really committing to this idea of a small yoyo company.

So Coffin, helped out with major moral support? cool cool. I’ve seen the Traveller in just pics and clips from Alex Curfman. You just woke up and wanted to try it? The supportive feel at contests (especially Worlds) will do that for sure.

It was my first Worlds event and I met and networked with so many people. OhYesYo is amazing, I shot and edited that grungy VHS video for them and then out of nowhere I received tons of OhYesYo guys and other throwers that want to support Freshly Dirty.

At Worlds we grew into a full effort, Gerald Bass, Arthur Foley, Charlie Byers, and after worlds we didn’t even have a bearing design and I offered Alex Curfman to join the team, I was stoked when he wanted to join! Dude loves his fixies haha.

Truly a great beginning story of the freshly dirty underdogs. So how about the name? What inspired you to name it all “Freshly Dirty”?

Underdogs for sure, but we like where it’s going. Sticking to small run stuff right now and learning how to do this from the ground up is what we do! I would describe things as such, “Dude that jacket is so Fresh yet Dirty” “Freshly Dirty” was how I described my style/tricks Cool, but kinda dirty or sloppy. Definitely a work in progress always.

Right on, I feel you. good stuff. You wanted to do fixed axels, so what got y’all to make the jump to Cardboard Dreamboat?

During Worlds last year in Cleveland we started talking about doing something beyond our fixed axles. Arthur Foley goes to school at Georgia Tech and has all the CAD magic, over Skype and a lot of input from the Freshly Dirty family we started a prototype that had aspects of our favorite things in a yo-yo. It had a lot of silly names in the beginning. Left Turn, El Crusty Doro, Dust Bunny, but we all kinda just went with it and everyone liked the name of Cardboard Dreamboat.

One last thing, before I let you go, got any words for the community?

There will be more crazy names/colorways and content in general, also looking to expand the freshly dirty family this year. Keep it fresh, stay dirty. Gear, apparel, and future collab in the works 😉 forgot to mention that. Thanks Johnny!

Before we ended our conversation, Alex gifted mewith specs of their newest yoyo, the Cardboard Dreamboat:

Weight: 65.9 grams
Width: 43.6 mm
Diameter: 58.4 mm
Bearing: Size C (.250 x .500 x .187 in)
Response: 19mm Silicone Pads

This beauties drop on their website January 27th at 8pm EST.

Japan Technology – Titanium Frost

December 28, 2016 By Steve Brown

Looks like Japan Technology has another titanium yoyo coming soon!

Check out this teaser video…doesn’t really give us much detail, but it’s got some great tricks. Sweet!

YoYo Spotlight – YoYoBrothers Heritage

December 27, 2016 By Steve Brown

YoYoBrothers Heritage Specs:

Diameter: 55 mm
Width: 43.5 mm
Weight: 67 grams
Response: 19mm pad
Bearing: Size C (.250 x .500 x .187)

The YoYoBrothers Heritage is the first ever release from yoyo collector and contest organizer Matthew Wright.

PLAY

The Heritage is a zippy yoyo, great for speed combos and horizontal play, with a ton of concentrated rim weight. The Heritage shape combines organic curves with an open catch zone and perfect width. The distribution of weight makes for a very versatile and stable yo-yo with a speedy, long lasting spin that handles fast directional changes with ease. Whether you’re playing relaxed, patiently forming new tricks, or blazing through contest freestyles, this yo-yo is built to perform on every occasion!

LOOKS

The YoYoBrothers Heritage is available in limited quantities in four colorways; three signature editions for the YoYoBrothers sponsored players, and a special edition for YoYoExpert. The colorways are a nice spread of finish styles, which makes it easy for anyone to find a colorway that jumps out at them. The anodizing is really well done, and the colors are crisp.

: Skyway – Evan Gronberg

: Alien Invasion – Madison Wright

: YoYoExpert – Special Edition

: Semper Fi – Branden Pilardi

VALUE

The YoYoBrothers Heritage is a collector’s piece available in very limited quantities, so the $110 retail is pretty reasonable for what is sure to be a rare throw. The performance is definitely competition quality, so the price is worth it for a yoyo that rides the line between function and collectibility.

BUY NOW

The YoYoBrothers Heritage is available at 8:00 PM EST – Wednesday – December 28th, 2016, at YoYoExpert.com.

THIS POST SPONSORED BY YOYOBROTHERS

CLYW Announces Peak 2

December 19, 2016 By Steve Brown

It’s finally here! CLYW is releasing a new version of the yoyo that started everything for them: The Peak!

The Peak 2 looks a lot like the original, but with a ton of changes. According to CLYW owner and designer Chris Mikulin “the Peak 2 is slightly wider than the original, has a rounded step in the gap, no IRG, flat rims like the Heaven Sent Creep, and oversized donuts in the hub compared to the original”.

Check out the release and specs below…which color are you getting?

We can’t believe it’s been TEN YEARS!! You’ve given us so much love and support over the past decade, and we had to give you something wonderful to celebrate. So here it is: the Peak 2.

Fast, floaty, comfy, and so much fun! Everything you remember and love about the original but with better response and weight distribution. Available Monday, December 19th at 10 pm EST, only at CLYW.ca. This first run comes in a special 10th Anniversary stamped box.

CLYW PEAK 2 SPECS:

DIAMETER: 54.6 MM
WIDTH: 41.7 MM
WEIGHT: 64.5 GRAMS
RESPONSE: SNOW TIRES
BEARING: PIXEL BEARING

First Look – CLYW Gorge

December 15, 2016 By Steve Brown

CLYW has unveiled The Gorge, a new oversized bi-metal yoyo dropping tonight (surprise!) only at YoYoExpert.com. Designed by CLYW owner Chris Mikulin, the Gorge is a fat, fun, throwback yoyo meant to be a casual throw that can still hit anything you want. A blend of performance and laid-back style makes the Gorge just stupidly fun and super addictive. Once you get one of these, the chances are good it’s going to become a daily carry. Check out the CLYW description & specs below, and snag one at YoYoExpert.com tonight at 10 pm EST.

Who wants to kick it old school?

The Gorge is a powerful, long-spinning throwback to the days of return top design when walls were high, profiles were round, and bi-metal designs were scarce. This is exactly the sort of return top that CLYW owner Chris Mikulin absolutely loved when he was first starting out, and now he’s created one with his own style and design sensibilities.

The Gorge is an oversized return top with a round, narrow profile. It feels amazing in your hand, spins as long as you want it to, and will quickly become your new go-to throw.

CLYW Gorge Specs:

Diameter: 59.5 mm
Width: 38.3 mm
Weight: 66.3 grams
Response: Snow Tires
Bearing: Pixel Bearing
Retail: $130

Tessa Piccillo x CLYW Kodiak

December 14, 2016 By Steve Brown

CLYW is releasing the Kodiak, a new signature return top for Tessa Piccillo, on Thursday, December 15th. Check out this new video from CLYW, where Tessa shows just what the CLYW Kodiak is capable of, and then slide over to this post for pics and full specs.

Tessa is amazing. Settle in to watch this video about a dozen times.

Monkeyfinger – Prime8

December 8, 2016 By Steve Brown

Monkeyfinger’s newest design, the Prime8, will be available Friday, December 9th! Check out their press release and specs below!

We are excited to introduce you to our first yoyo release of 2016 that we have dubbed the Prime8. This yo-yo is the signature throw created in cooperation with MonkeyfingeR team captain Tyler Jorgensen.

Utilizing a comfortable H/O-type hybrid design, it is both stable and fast. This design allows the Prime8 to perform a wide range of tricks while maintaining its momentum. Additionally, the cup design features not one but two inner thumb grind rings!

The Prime8 will be initially available in five different colours:

As always, we at MonkeyfingeR Design pride ourselves on our cutting edge and innovative colour schemes, and we are confident that the Prime8 will not disappoint!

Each box contains:

– Prime8
– 1 x MFD sticker
– 2 x info cards
– 1 x Tasmanian Hybrid Bearing
– Monkey SNOT response system
– 1 x Custom colour Ape Hangers
– Custom triangle display box

Monkeyfinger Prime8 Specs:

Diameter: 55 mm
Width: 43.5 mm
Weight: 65 grams
Response: Monkey Snot Flowable Silicone
Bearing: Tasmanian Hybrid (Size C)

First Look – CLYW Kodiak

December 7, 2016 By Steve Brown

CLYW has finally announced the Kodiak, their first signature edition yoyo for 2014 Women’s Division World Champion Tessa Piccillo!

The Kodiak is a bi-metal yoyo that takes some design cues from the Manatee and the Arctic Circle line. With a much narrower profile than any of those previous models and really good weight distribution, the Kodiak was designed by Chris Mikulin and Tessa Piccillo to her exact requirements.

Available Dec. 15th at 10 pm EST at YoYoExpert.com. Check out specs and more pics below!

CLYW Kodiak Specs:

Diameter – 56.4 mm
Width – 42.5 mm
Weight – 65.6 grams
Response – Snow Tires
Bearing – Pixel Bearing
Box Art – Mike Lundy
Suggested Retail – $145

Ann Connolly – Basecamp Sherpa Review

December 6, 2016 By Steve Brown

YoYoFactory player Ann Connolly brings us another yoyo review from her YouTube channel, this one for the Basecamp Sherpa!

This new slimline yoyo from the Basecamp (CLYW x YoYoFactory) line ships responsive but comes with a longer axle and Center Trac™ bearing for unresponsive play. It’s also got aluminum caps and a fully hollow body design, and it feels like nothing else in your hands.

YoYoExpert just restocked the Basecamp Sherpa in all colors, along with a new color: Aqua! Scoop one up today!

First Look – Basecamp Sherpa

November 16, 2016 By Steve Brown

Basecamp, the ongoing collaboration between CLYW and YoYoFactory, has revealed its next release!

The Sherpa replaces the Moonshine in their product line while also serving as a noticeable evolution of the design. The Sherpa is still a slimline, reponsive metal yoyo, but now with metal caps that give it a completely different look and feel from anything else on the market. The Sherpa ships responsive, but with an included longer axle and CT bearing for unresponsive play.

Plus, it’s a responsive yoyo with a fingerspin dimple. Get brave, y’all.

Sherpa Specs:

Width: 35.95mm
Diameter: 58.04mm
Weight: 64g
Response: YYF Slim Pads
Stock: Spec Flat & 8mm Axle with a spare Center Trac & 10mm Axle for Unresponsive Play
Retail Price: Approx $60
Release Date: November 23rd, 2016