Alright, so I got my Inhaler in. Here’s some first impressions… it plays literally nothing like I thought it would. When you look at it, it’s got such an old school look that you THINK you know how it’s gonna play. But then you actually play it and it’s like… wiffle ball light lmao. And I LOVE light yoyos, don’t get me wrong, but I think this thing would’ve benefited from a TICK more rim weight tbh - cause I’m surprised how unstable it is. It looks like it would have the solid feel of the WM1 crossed with something like a Grail, which was what I was expecting, but even the Grail is more stable than this. This is definitely a float king, and I’m not sure whether I have the lighter or heavier version, but if this is the “heavier” version… wow lol. I think the Mowl Q and A-rt B7 are masterclasses in how to achieve decent stability at lighter weights with somehow no obvious rim weight, but whatever is happening in those yoyos didn’t carry over to this one. I personally don’t have any issues maneuvering high wall yoyos, and sometimes prefer them (whether it’s for nostaglic purposes or just bettering my technique), but let this be a warning to people who are already skeptical of high wall yoyos - you won’t like this haha.
This guy is also less “gold” and more “piss yellow” which is funny, and if I were them I would’ve taken advantage of that in the marketing. Was expecting more of an actual gold, like my gold grail or even my sunshine grail, but piss yellow is good with me and definitely more interesting. What’s interesting is the pink anno under the bearing seat… not sure what that’s about, but thought I’d point it out in case anyone knows.
Mine did come with a ding “pre-installed” which is annoying when you’re already paying over $100 for a NEW monometal, but whatever… it’s almost weirdly to be expected at this point and is somehow “on brand” in a way I can’t really explain lol. I personally don’t care too much (and it’s nice so I can really put it to some good use), but thought I’d let people know it’s happening in case they have stronger opinions about that sort of thing.
It’s dead smooth, it’s silent, and the hand feel is literally perfect - definitely one of the most comfortable feeling throws I’ve felt in a long time. In the hand, it feels very in between a Peak, WM1 and Grail. Almost feels like a modern successor to those two CLYWs, and could be an all time classic with just a few tweaks.
That’s the thing though… I feel like this could be literally a PERFECT yoyo with just a few adjustments. I was having this discussion with a friend on the forums recently where we were saying how it’s unfortunate these smaller boutique companies don’t have either the funds, ability or desire to properly FULLY prototype a certain design and put it through its paces to make it as good as it possibly can be. Often times the first thing they get back of the machines is what becomes the entire run, and then they charge a premium for what was essentially an experiment. It’s a bummer because I feel like a little feedback could’ve turned this yoyo from good to GREAT. I don’t think One Drop does prototyping tho, and the guys at A-RT don’t strike me as “let’s really refine this” type dudes lol. I just think discussions about boutique brands doing full runs of whatever comes out first are discussions worth having. No yoyos these days are BAD by any means (10 years ago, this wasn’t the case however) but it’s hard to push things forward when it’s like… “Eh, this is pretty good, let’s do a full run of it.” Of COURSE it’s good… it’s hard to make a bad yoyo these days. But I think this is a yoyo that sparks an important conversation about how when you are planning to charge $100+ for a monometal, it is almost a disservice to your customers to not explore the ways in which a throw could be improved. Who knows, maybe they did, and I’m sorry for suggesting they didn’t if that’s not the case, but it IS something that’s happening on a wider scale for sure that should be talked about.
Anyways… back to this guy in particular:
Here are the pros - smooth as hell, quiet stock, SUBLIME hand feel, absolutely GOAT packaging, floaty to the max.
Here are the cons - unstable, lacks rim weight, might be too light for its own good - to where spin/power is lacking, premium cost for a 6061 monometal throw, QC could result in receiving one in questionable condition.
Gonna keep throwing it and I’ll add anything if I have more thoughts or if my opinion changes. Definitely interested in hearing more thoughts about this one from everybody!