As a Southerner myself over here
3 Likes
I was forced out, and moved to Kentucky…give 'em hell!
3 Likes
@rkalajian Could not agree more! I was looking forward this one!
@Bobparty Awesome work on these player profiles, they are a treat to read!
6 Likes
Thank you!!!
3 Likes
I appreciate the interest and kind words, y’all. Thanks @Bobparty for doing this series.
13 Likes
Thank YOU @DocPop!!!
8 Likes
Excited today to present @TheSliverKing !!!
Some really great stuff in here from a very interesting player! Hope you enjoy!!
What got you into throwing, how did you find the hobby?
My dad! I grew up a 90s kid and this was a bond we shared since I was a child. I stopped and picked it back up around 2005 when I saw a video of Hiroyuki Suzuki and continued to play until about 2010 when I took a break due to school and sports.
I then got into a motorcycle accident in August of 2022 and yoyo became my mental therapy while I learned to walk again. It then evolved into meeting my best friends at the Mile High YoYo Club and traveling the country for contest season with my sponsor Enso YoYos.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
Enso Bapehidora with Anti yo heart side effects 
This is the first yoyo I’ve ever been involved with helping in the design process and it means the world to me.
What trick are you working on currently and what is your all time favorite trick?
Random Tech Combos I stumble across have been what I’m working on the most. I want to get more flow in my tricks rather than just pure whips and hooks
My favorite tricks to do are 3.5 hooks and variations of the tower construction trick by Jack Path ( huge inspiration of mine)
What’s the most meaningful yoyo you have in your collection?
My Enso YoYo Metatron Cube which was a gift for joining Team Enso. This one sits in a special glass case in my living room.
What’s kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I enjoy competition shooting, hiking, magic the gathering and just being outdoors in the Colorado mountains in general.
What’s your favorite restaurants and order?
Raising Canes, Box combo with double toast, butter on both sides, no slaw and a big side of fries.
Favorite movie or TV show?
Breaking Bad or Demon Slayer, depends on the mood.
If there was one song that you say fits your mood and personality perfectly, what it be?
Let’s go by Stuck in the sound
What’s your best yo-yo memory?
Getting the invite to join Team Enso on Christmas day. I was with my family and it turned into a big celebration that day, joining a yoyo team was always a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid.
What’s your yoyo bad habit?
I do double beefhook WAY too often lol
If you could wake up tomorrow and have any skill set from another player what would it be?
I’d really enjoy having some of the zontal combos the Meta players such as Justin Dauer are able to pull off. It blows my mind
What’s the most expensive or rare yoyo you have?
I have around 20 Anti yo Bapezillas of all kinds, Each one holds a very special place in my heart along with an OG Levi painted peak by CLYW.
If you never found yo-yo what would you be doing instead?
Yoyo is my mental therapy after a bad motorcycle accident so I’d be very lost without it. Can’t even think of doing anything else other than throwing with friends every other weekend for club or going to all the contest during contest season. Either way, It’s been keeping me sane ever since!
How has the community changed from what it used to be, and where do you think it will end up?
The community continues to grow and is a incredibly warm and welcoming place. It’s fun watching the sport progress from string hits for clicks to where we are now. We went from rail combos to 360⁰ laceration towers and more. When I started yoyo a 4.5 hook was out of the question, now, they hit 5.5 hooks mid routine. The tricks are becoming much more physically demanding and The sport is evolving quickly. This next generation of players is really pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible for yoyo tricks. I’m excited to see where we are in a few more years if we continue to progress at this rate.
Advice/ words of wisdom to new players?
Have fun, yoyo for you and do what makes you happy. We all have our own style and reason for throwing and I think that’s part of what makes yoyo so unique. I also find alot of my tricks by messing up other tricks and stumbling into something neat accidentally which is something new players should not be shy to try.
What you want to tell the world?
Just how grateful I am to Team Enso, Mile High YoYo Club and the rest of the community for such a warm welcome over the past year and a half. Joining the yoyo community has been a life changing experience and I will forever cherish the connections I’ve made because of it.
32 Likes
I was not prepared for how freaking NICE this guy was at worlds! I truly felt like family at the Enso table 
6 Likes
I look forward to every single one of these so much!
4 Likes
Dude is the nicest seriously, I asked him to do a profile and we started talking about beefhooks. Guy sends me all kinds of hooks to try, and offers to video call me to help me through learning the double beefhook.
I am always shocked by how much this community wants to help and connect with others.
Shout out to you @TheSliverKing for being a great guy
12 Likes
Love to hear that!!! Thanks for reading!!
3 Likes
Thank you guys for such kind words and letting me be a part of such a cool project.
I absolutely love our community and can’t wait to get to know more and more of you guys, joining the yoyo world was one of the best life choices i have ever made and im super lucky to call you guys my friends 
18 Likes
Been catching up on these. Love to see it!
5 Likes
Same lol
5 Likes
@Splizacular I feel very aged that I remember these commercials lol
2 Likes
ikr lol i was def a youngin but i do still remember them. plus it totally became one of my old man’s standing dad jokes
1 Like
Morning all!
I apologize on the delay here - we’ve been prepping for the hurricane so some other things have taken a bit of a delay!
Regardless, today I’m excited to present an insane talented player Anthony Rojas!
What got you into throwing, how did you find the hobby?
I had a yoyo or two in the 90s, but it was really just a toy for me back then. Around 2003 I found the skill toy Astrojax through their commercial and got into that. Through Astrojax I discovered that there were more advanced yoyos, competitions, etc. I consider 2005 my true start to modern yoyoing and my grandma discovered the kite shop in Redondo Beach, CA that sold yoyos (the store isn’t around anymore). I met other yoyoers there and bought a YoyoJam Dark Magic and Aquarius that year.
What is your goal in the next year for yourself personal or professional?
I feel like I’m in the process of trying to clearly define some goals…
Professionally, working in more freelance graphic design work into my schedule is something that’s been on my mind for a while.
Personally, I’d like to learn more on guitar and piano. After the last World Yoyo Contest in Osaka, I started using Duolingo casually to learn some Japanese, so I’ll probably continue that too.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
Well currently, it’s my signature CLYW model, the Dune. It’s a difficult question though because experiencing other kinds of yoyos is part of the fun, and can inspire different kinds of play. Only using one would be kind of boring to be honest!
What trick are you working on currently?
I relearned Rancid Milk recently since people are into it at the moment. I’ve also been doing more 5A in general too.
What’s the trick that gives you the hardest time?
Unlocking cow wraps in 2A (and many other 2A tricks) just hasn’t clicked for me yet. Making up nicely flowing tricks in 3A is pretty tough too. That said, I think more people should get into those styles.
What’s your favorite yo-yo of all time?
So that I don’t say the Dune again, I’m going to change the question to what I think the most influential or important yoyos of all time are.
At least up to what I’d say the new school, metal-yoyo-centric era is. Maybe a top five would be something like: Butterfly, Raider/Fireball, Freehand 1/Zero, Dark Magic, and 888. I could see arguments made for other yoyos though. Would be curious to know other’s top five, or what the new school top five would be…
What’s the most meaningful throw you have?
Any yoyos that I received or bought from friends, or yoyos I’ve contributed design/artwork to. Always nice supporting friend’s work or collaborating with others to help with their vision.
I also have a Shinobu Konmoto modded yoyo that I won from 44Clash 2011. A reminder of that win, but also just a nerdy, deep-cut grail.
What’s your worst habit with yo-yos?
Right now I need to clean up some yoyos from the floor of my room. It’s overflow from my organized storage, and they’ve just been kind of living there…on the ground. Need to address this soon lol
What kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
Too many things, but a lot of my interests are based around creative outlets. Design, art, photography, music/concerts, other skill toys, etc.
What fictional character best fits who you are?
There’s probably a few reasons for this, but I honestly can’t think of anyone. At least based on how I’m interpreting this question.
I think I’m usually more inspired by stories, concepts, and feelings around a fictional piece, rather than relating personally and specifically to the characters within. If anyone thinks I remind them of a certain character though, let me know lol
Favorite restaurant and order?
Too difficult to name one, but I appreciate having been introduced to good ramen restaurants by friends in the yoyo community.
Maybe this just sounds good in this moment, but a bowl of phở tái or bún thịt nướng chả giò are other favorites of mine.
Favorite movie and or book?
For movies, this question plagued me for a long time, but I feel more comfortable giving an answer thanks to recently logging films I’ve seen in the app Letterboxd. While this may change, my current “Letterboxd top four” films are: The Matrix, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, La Haine, and Persona.
If you could wake up tomorrow and magically have the skills from one
player who and what would it be? Having Shinji’s 2A skills would be insane.
What’s your favorite memory from your time in the hobby?
Traveling with friends is one of my favorite parts to yoyoing, and where some of my favorite memories come from. It’s kind of surreal sometimes when you wake up in places like Reykjavik or Tokyo and think, oh yeah, I’m here because of yoyos! Even when the destination is less exotic and yoyoers are just together for days taking over a hotel, it’s a special vibe.
How has the community changed since you started? Where do you want it to go?
Change has happened in many ways since people, technology, social media, and other factors have evolved or came into play over time. Competitions, yoyo design, how we share tricks and communicate, have all changed, but it’s something I expect.
I’d like to see long form clip videos a little more often, and I hope that events and competitions with alternative judging systems can continue to be organized.
If you never picked up a yo-yo - what would life look like now?
If I deleted all of my friends and experiences via yoyoing, my life would probably look pretty different socially, and I may not have traveled to a lot of places too. It’s kind of hard to imagine because there’s so many little threads in my life that lead into yoyoing somehow. I’d probably just be into another skill toy and all of my other hobbies even more.
Advice/ words of wisdom to new players?
Just yoyo how you want to and enjoy it first and foremost. The different approaches to yoyoing are part of what makes it cool. It can be a toy, a more involved hobby, a sport, or a performance art. You can be a collector, designer, make videos, or maybe you just like to hang out in the community (online, in person, or both). It may evolve over time for you, but don’t feel like there’s only one way to participate.
What do you want to tell the world?
“Ask the river: ‘Do you feel useful, given that all you do is to keep flowing in the same direction?
’ And the the river will answer: ‘I’m not trying to be useful, I’m trying to be a river.’”
33 Likes
thanks to yall we only have to deal with sloppy seconds. good luck today Bob, stay safe 
6 Likes
Trying my best @Splizacular thank you!!!
3 Likes