I stumbled upon an 888x as a replacement for my 888 Classic after it picked up a strange vibe, most likely from bearing seat damage. First off, I think it’s brilliant customer service that YYF would even consider, let alone actually replace someone’s yoyo for only a vibe! But the main question that was on my mind was, will this new Chinese-manufactured 888 be able to measure up to my American-made Classic?
The Classic was definitely one of my favorite throws, and the 888x goes right up there along side it.
The anodization is brilliant. One of the most beautiful anodized colors I have ever seen (I got the aqua), and flawless from the factory.
The beadblast on it feels amazing. Great to hold and even greater on a grind.
I like the toned-down gap in comparison to my Classic. It’s still a huge gap, but it’s just slimmed down enough to effectively avoid much of the slippage issues I experienced with my Classic.
With flowable silicone response, this thing is amazing, both upon descent and on a bind.
Smoooooooooooth is the only word to describe the feel of the 888x during play.
It’s agile and graceful on the string, and very floaty. The first time I popped it up for a Brent Stole, I thought for sure I had defied the law of gravity (I’m not kidding about that either :P)
They seem to have widened the area of the hub just slightly – it’s comfortable for me to pop it into a thumb grind and grab the stack with the same hand in one move (see Guy Wright’s “The Letter Blue” for a visual), which was not a very comfortable feat with my Classic.
I think the even 50mm diameter and 40mm width just might be the perfect dimensions for an undersize throw. Super comfortable.
The stacks seem to be much quieter during play than they were on my Classic, which is good because I’m not too big a fan of noisy throws. Of course bearing loudness can be tuned out with lube, but I’m speaking of factory settings and traits which seem to be inherent to design.
Drawbacks - everyone’s favorite part:
The staple 888 “problems” are all present – slippy binds at low rpms and general lack of stability.
And that lack of stability is really apparent during quick, sloppy play. Easily solved, though, by playing more controlled.
The slippy binds for me are only present at low rpms with flowable silicone response. With the stock CBC Pads, overall slippage was apparent after the first few hours. Silicone is my solid recommendation for this one.
Each of these factors can lead to a slight comparative loss of spin time - obviously easily rectified with proper technique.
After much steady play, I have not actually experienced the ano fading that others have complained about, but I’m aware that it’s out there. My batch was, I believe, #3004, so it may have been fixed by the time my batch came around. There is a small ring around the edge of the walls which may possibly be fading very slightly. Or it may be just my imagination since I know of others who experienced fading problems. I’m not completely sure so I don’t want to make any assertions on this matter as of yet.
Overall, YoYoFactory really got it right with the 888x. I’d say it’s right on par with the American-made counterparts and it’s steadily crept its way into my favorite throws list and threatens to overshadow even my Boss, Bassalope, and Punch Line, as extreme as that may sound. And at $99.99, there’s no excuse not to own one of these gems, especially if you’re a fan of smoothness (who isnt?), floatiness and agility.