C3Yoyo Design Trident Review by NJStringer
C3Yoyo Design, a Hong Kong based yoyo company is set amidst a highly competitive culture both socially as well as the yoyo sub-culture. A strong desire for both aesthetic quality as well as perfection in design and playability have created in this particular company a level of quality that is hard to surpass when coupled with their fresh, new ideas. The Trident is one of 11 yoyos currently available from C3Yoyo Design and as with all of their yoyos it is a truly brilliant finished piece.
The Trident is offered in several colorways which recently have been given an upgrade to incorporate splash designs and acid wash for a stunning finished product. The original colorways included blue, red and gold with with a contralateral engraved design that is carried around one rim and on the inside of the bowl on the other half of the yoyo. Limited original colorways include a blue with gold fleck, a silver with green splash and some store editions which included orange with a black bowel and the engraving on both the rim and inside the bowel. Newer colorways include blue with a red splash, a green with black splash and a purple with gold splash. The newer, splashed colorways are all acid washed as I mentioned earlier which gives them a nearly iridescent quality. Overall the choice of color combinations coupled with the engraving make the Trident an amazing yoyo visually and as with many splashed designs each one is unique unto itself making every Trident sold an individual piece of art to add to your collection.
Specs:
Butterfly
66.10 grams
53.75 mm diameter
41.89 mm width
4.3 mm gap
C Size Center Trac bearing (also offered with standard, flat, 8 ball bearing)
Response System: C3Yo Silicone pads (will accept flowable silicone)
In the Box:
C3Yoyo Design Trident
1 Poly String
The Trident I received came in the blue/green acid wash with red splash. When I opened my package from Hong Kong I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I saw that a Trident was neatly tucked inside in this particular colorway - since its release I have felt that this was a winning design in terms of visual appeal. The acid wash isn’t overdone so it retains a mild transition between the main blue and the resulting green. The red splash pops against the blue/green background and has a sheen to it that stands out on a spin. My Trident even had some minor yellow/gold flecks in the finish that were minimal but a nice touch to a wonderful colorway. A beautiful yoyo with an eye-catching choice of colors!
Build:
In my discussions with other players I’ve realized that most, if not all of us, judge a yoyo by pretty much 2 main attributes, namely how it looks and how it plays. Some yoyos look amazing while the play may suffer a bit and vice versa. The Trident is one of those great throws that looks incredible with a build and play that are smooth and reliable.The Trident is a butterfly shaped design that some would describe more specifically as an “X” or “V-catch zone” shape in this ever-changing world of yoyo geometry. I’m definitely not against the idea of sub-categories of shape description since I really think it helps to differentiate from the standard, rounded butterfly design with the newer geometries such as the H-shape or CLYW’s new “I-Beam” or train-track cross section. Basically we’re just finding new ways to describe the overall shape and feel of the yoyo. In the case of the Trident this shape contains a strong V-shaped catch zone with minimal change in the direction of the path that leads to the wall and response. The catch zone is separated by a small furrow that splits the catch zone into 2 steps before a final step up to the wall. The weight and feel in-hand of the Trident are what one would expect in a professional grade yoyo design. The Trident falls into that comfortable weight range that allows it to retain a feeling of substance but like many enjoyable throws feels capable on the string. Like yoyos of similar geometry the Trident’s rim design and catch zone hug your throw finger nicely when in hand. The rim is a small, somewhat finite, angular edge that leads to a flat outer rim with a single step that leads to the IGR and into the bowel which contains a small, unobtrusive hub peg. One of the aspects of the Trident that I found surprising was how small the IGR was; I actually wondered how well it would function considering how shallow and small it felt when I ran my finger along the inner rim…but I’ll get to that in a bit. The Trident has no spike so Matador style play is out of the question here.The finish on the Trident, as with all of the metal C3 yoyos I’ve had the pleasure to throw, has a very durable feel to it and I believe that in the hands of an intermediate to advanced player the finish is going to hold up to everyday use. No finish of course is going to stand up to dings and scuffs but some yoyos such as the Trident just seem to have a more resilient finish which is nice considering that we all are going to have those near-miss moments where our yoyo skims the floor. I did manage to have a slight incident on a throw where my dog tripped me up and the Trident faired well after a slight encounter with my tiled floor. I paused, held my breath and inspected my yoyo and was pleasantly surprised to find not a single scuff…this time. Some have shared with me the experience of the bearing seat in this particular model as being excessively tight and I feel that may be a varied issue. The bearing seat in my Trident was snug but nothing that impeded a bearing swap and no bearing tool was required.
On a Throw:
The Trident was designed for fast 3A style of play but also handles its own incredibly well in 1A. Being a 1A player my play review will reflect 1A string tricks. The Trident and any other similar shaped yoyos were ones that I took to slower than more traditional butterfly shapes as they have been my preference for quite some time. Sometimes its best to sway from what we usually favor as we can really benefit from switching things up a bit…a very beneficial idea that is often hard to implement I have played other yoyos with V-shaped catch zones and have never really been wowed by them but like many of us I like to give each yoyo I throw a chance and more often than not my opinion is changed with the advent of a new yoyo or one that hasn’t graced my throw hand yet. The Trident definitely falls into this category. As I mentioned before the overall visual beauty always caught my eye but I wasn’t sure of how it would compare to other yoyos I’ve thrown with similar shapes. When I took my Trident out of the box I fell in love with the feel in hand and immediately had to put it through the paces. The speed that the Trident can handle is incredible and you can instantly feel how the overall weight and distribution have been placed in the most essential areas to maximize spin time while retaining stability through fast play. The V-shape 3 step catch zone design effectively channels the string onto the bearing with minimal drag during play which means better spin time and a catch zone that is nearly impossible to miss in the hands of most players. The Trident is smooth. On the string you feel in control of this yoyo and whether you have a more artitistic style of play or whip through your maneuvers the Trident is well suited to pretty much any player thanks to the incredible, stable play and that wide catch zone. The surface is grindable even though at first glance you may think the finish is just too smooth to be able to effectively pull off grinds. The IGR…this thing works and works well. As I said before in the “Build” section I really had my doubts about the IGR design but it just goes to show that looks can be so incredibly deceiving. I was always under the impression that an IGR needed certain specifications to really work but of course physics comes into play with an IGR so its more about effective application of yoyo dynamics rather than aesthetics of design. The Trident’s IGR maintains enough contact on a thumb grind so that the yoyo does what it should…it glides smoothly thanks to its finish and puts a smile on your face after you carry out a wicked grind that impresses onlookers. The bowl of the Trident is just deep enough to accommodate a thumb on grinds and offers no drag. The Trident is one of those yoyos that I really feel can suit any style of play and carry a player from intermediate to advanced categories of tricks with its amazing stability. On a throw the Trident shines but I must add that this design style is also going to help those with less than perfect throws gain new ground on improving the basics of their skill set. Like many similar designs the Trident does not have as much of that self-correcting ability seen in some more rounded, butterfly shaped designs. Personally I don’t see this as a negative aspect. As I mentioned before I feel that this is going to help your throw in the end since a consistent, stable throw that places the yoyo in a neutral position is a foundational and essential skill that all players build upon as they increase the range of their capabilities.
Stock Bearing and Response:
The Trident comes with either a stock, 8 ball flat bearing or a Center Trac bearing which was included in my review yoyo. The Center Trac bearing is an excellent choice in the Trident as it adds minor string centering which in my opinion makes play and working on new tricks a tad less frustrating. However the Trident definitely does well with a flat bearing and I played mine with a ten ball bearing for a couple days just to get a feel of how a flat bearing was handled by the design. Whether you use the CT or a flat bearing the play remains smooth and capable. The stock response in the Trident are C3Yo silicone pads which offer excellent, consistent binds with what seemed to be a very short break in period in the yoyo I received. Binds from the beginning with my Trident were neat, tight and never felt too grippy where my play was affected in a negative way. I did decide to play my Trident for an additional four days before writing up my review on it so that I could remove the included silicone pads and apply some flowable silicone to see how well it held in the response groove. Flowable went in the Trident easily and after a short break in period held up well during the time I played it. The stock response is great and I get the impression that it is going to last a long time but should you desire, flowable is definitely a suitable option in this C3 yoyo!
In the End:
The Trident by C3 Yoyo Design is the signature yoyo of team member Ng Want Kit aka Lowhand and for good reason. The Trident holds up to whatever style of play you throw at it. This capable yoyo is a true gem to throw, the shape and design offer amazing stability and spin time that when coupled with the large V-shaped catch zone are not going to let you down on a throw. A yoyo that plays and looks this good are worth giving a try.
