Atmos Projects presents — the Fruitloop ES

Mmm flamingo :flamingo::flamingo::flamingo:

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You guys are uncharacteristically silent about the new release, the Contact!

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CONTACT — a special design project designed in collaboration with SGMNT44, and is our most aggressive, competition-oriented design to date — is now available.

We don’t usually design competitive, performance-oriented throws, but when we do, we do it with people who really know their stuff.

The CONTACT draws from the elite technical and competitive backgrounds of some of our industry’s coolest players, and is synthesised with a brutalist, performant form factor.

More information at our site.

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Sharp eyes! The CONTACT is a special design project — the SGMNT44 guys planned this release, so we aligned things with them.

But here it is!

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Polished aluminum too! Very un-Atmos like!

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So, just out of curiosity, the third yoyo from the Fuji/ Kyoto series of three, are there any hints that you’d be willing to release? Is it going to be another variation of the Fuji? Is there an estimate, as to when it might be released? Inquiring minds want to know! At least my mind wants to know! :wink:

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@Ed-C Hey there! The third of the series is still in the works — we’re refining some design features at the moment. It follows the same form factor as the Fuji and Kyoto mostly but we’re chopping it up in terms of specs, dimensions, material, etc — and it emphasises a different aspect of Japanese design philosophy than its two brothers :slight_smile:

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Cool, can’t wait!

The Fruitloop ES is an evolution of the concept first pioneered in the original Fruitloop, released in 2022.

We tore the original design down and built it back from scratch, with adjustments and fixes based on four years of player feedback. It’s more powerful, stable, and has a lot more presence and substance in play. The Fruitloop ES might look visually identical to the original, but it packs an entirely new engine underneath.

At it’s heart, the Fruitloop ES is a round, boppy ball of fun — but now tuned for a higher threshold of play demands.

SPECS
Diameter 53.7mm
Width 45.1mm
Weight 67.0g
Material 6061 AL

The Fruitloop was released in 2022 and was one of our most inspired concepts of the year. Capped designs had long existed before it, but we were excited to pioneer a playful, open-bodied, “donut-hole” organic that looked and played like its namesake. The Doorknob by A-RT and SF was particularly inspiring in this project — we can’t count the number of hours of our lives we’ve spent in awe watching Enter the Nugg Zone by Tyler Vieanneau and the way he makes a small, round, impractically imperial-shaped yoyo move with flow, elegance and technical precision.

If you haven’t watched this yet, we strongly recommend doing that before going about your lives.

After the Fruitloop’s full release, the reception we received after was decidedly split — in a way that feels similar to how certain vintage film lenses are discussed. For instance, the Helios 44 is an iconic, well-known Soviet-era lens that cinematographers adapt today for their characteristic look — swirly bokeh, soft focus, unpredictable flares, and dreamy halations. The Helios was used on the Dune: Part Two and The Batman films for those exact reasons — a characterful visual signature, despite more “objective” visual imperfections. It’s not a lens you’d use if you needed a perfectly sharp, defined, and corrected image — you’d use it for visual character, or the feel that is just absent in more sterile, optically perfect alternatives. You’d use it for shots like these.

The discourse surrounding the Fruitloop at the time felt similarly divided into two camps. We had a whole host of player feedback telling us the Fruitloop was full of unique character and “soul”, that additional extra something that could be felt and experienced in play — a distinct feeling as it moved through mounts and string redirects. Some others felt it lacked power, stability, and presence.

The first type of feedback told us we were doing something right in the creative, experimental, and experiential department; the latter type reminded us the concept still had room for improvement and refinement. Holding both in tension kept us honest about the original Fruitloop and where it stood.

It took us four years to eventually return to the Fruitloop concept. We knew that if we ever were to release an update, it had to retain all of the soul and character of the original, and at the same time fix any issues that were present. In other words, develop a Fruitloop that was boppy, rolling and quick — a signature playfeel that we nailed the first time around — and yet have it still be stable, and have more presence and power.

For a design like the Fruitloop, it was not immediately obvious that striking that balance was possible.

Achieving this required that we tear down the original to its studs, and to look for answers in very different places. The usual key area of adjustment when you want to tweak power and stability is rim weight — but the complexity of the cap design made it such that we had other variables to consider and experiment with.

This kicked off a long and intense process that involved weeks of going back and forth with our machining team, who communicated with us live from the factory floor. Frankly, this might have been the hardest design we’ve ever worked to perfect. We prototyped the new concept five times, iterating across cap thickness and weight, varying circumferences of the “donut hole”, even exploring and eliminating aerodynamic causes for vibration.

We ran one prototype that felt perfect in terms of weight distribution and feel but vibrated badly because of the way air was entering and leaving the “donut hole”. We’ve never had to consider airflow as part of the math, but hey — that’s now a feather in our cap.

Having these five prototypes to run comparison tests with makes it clear how playfeel is entirely defined by fractions of millimeters and grams.

A massive shoutout is due to the machinists in our industry. They’re rarely the focus of our field, but we’re very grateful for the technical excellence, material science knowledge and work ethic that we’ve come across in our experiences. With every project that passes, we get to learn so much from them.

The outcome of such an arduous prototyping process was a Fruitloop prototype that fit the bill — a version that felt every single bit of the boppy, rolling, rhythmic playfeel that we loved, but now more sure, solid, and stable. In play, it just feels full.

It’s not going too far to say that prototyping might be one of our favourite parts of the entire Atmos process. Going from inspiration and design theory to having an entirely original object in your hand that hadn’t existed in the world before — that’s an experience that never gets old.

At the close of the original’s design journal, we wrote,

“The Fruitloop is not made for tech (although Evgeniy still finds a way to do elegantly complex things with it). It’s certainly not the yoyo to pick up if you’re into speed play or the latest competition meta. It’s actually even structurally biased against finger spins and DNA binds, and it won’t break any long sleeper world records. If you’re looking for a powerful performance beast, we genuinely recommend you to set your sights on other industry offerings.

However, if you’re like us – in need of something a bit different – perhaps in the search of a fun, boppy and rhythmic throw that will bring on hours of jamming fun, something unique to freshen your rotation, or something playful that might inspire the next shoot-the-moon-behind-the-neck-regen banger that will set the collective interwebs on fire, the Fruitloop might just be for you.”

The Fruitloop ES brings with it crucial bug fixes, quality of life upgrades, and a brand new engine underneath, but it remains unchanged at heart — it’s made for a dang good time.

The Fruitloop ES is equipped with

Stratos Pads by Atmos
Type II Concave Bearings by Atmos
CloudWeave micro by Atmos

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For anyone debating, I got one of the pre-orders of the Fruitloop ES, and it’s fantastic! I liked the original, but it wasn’t an often grabbed one, and played more novelty in my opinion. The ES though feels like a whole new engine under the hood. Incredibly playable, very stable, and whole new kind of feel and performance with the same fun look. Would absolutely recommend this! Killer work Atmos on this revive!

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hows the weight on it feel? i’ve been eyeing it since the pre orders opened

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Yeah same! Seems a bit heavy but that could be deceiving!

Love the updated response area!! I never really got on board with the one of the previous version!

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Not bad actually, it’s only a few grams more than the OG but specs are bumped on the ES so it evens for the most part. I actually thought the OG was lighter than I usually preferred as well, but the ES seems much more balanced. A lot of that weight I think is focusing more towards the rims/outer area for additional power and stability, that the original kind of lacked a bit on. Sound is a bit deeper pitched as well on play.

Even with me liking heavier throws, all in all, I don’t think it’s overly heavy at all in my opinion, even for others with lighter preferences!

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@Son-of-Morris Thank you for the kind words and feedback! Always a joy to hear from those who experience our throws in the real world :slight_smile:

@Tshou Collin covered it perfectly! I’d say the 67.0g tag overstates how it feels. It’s solid, but it’s not overweight for the way it plays. @Upmanyu I hear ya. With the new weight distro we didn’t have the need for the response area anymore, so we removed it in favour of a simpler, more traditional schmoove.

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The Fruitloop ES will be made available in

Clear,

Oatmilk,

Indigo Dusk,

Bubblegum,

Burnt Orange,

Matcha,

Honey,

and Blue Sky.

The full spread of colorways will be available at YoyoExpert! If you’re thinking of picking one up, please consider supporting the wonderful people and crew behind YYE!

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Beautiful colors! Hard to pick just one​:sob::sob:

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What’s the prices

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$80!

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Did I miss the drop and these are sold out already?…. Or are we preparing for the drop and the store just shows sold out.

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Fruitloop ES is available from YYE starting at 9pm Eastern.

. . . or thereabouts.

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