I would please like some advices on CLYW, I never been too much into them cause the prices and some of the shapes which seemed something to do not fit my style of play.
Lately I start to be interested after they release the “Wish” which seems very interesting, I would like to try/have one also to have at least one yoyo from this big name in my collection, which ones are their most technical yoyos? And which ones are easy to find second hand at a good price?
From the list on YYE, the ones that inspire me are: Wish, Borealis but maybe I am losing other great models
Hey man my advice is go with what speaks to you. I have a wish and it’s a great throw. Not typical shape for CLYW as they seem to focus mostly with organic/rounded shapes, but don’t discard the organics just bc you hear ppl say they don’t perform. That’s dead wrong imo.
Maybe if you’re strictly a competitive thrower, then that makes sense. But I have several organic-ish throws that are incredible. Also helps with your technique and accuracy to not always look for wide body v-shapes. Learn to handle tough tricks on a casual throw, and when you go back to something more competitive you’ll be able to do them with your eyes closed.
Just my two cents. Try a little of everything, and you’ll be surprised that you might like something unexpected.
I think I can be considered a tech and competitive player and have quite a long experience in playing, all the yoyos I have are around the H and V shapes, tried many organics and had some in my life but I never enjoyed them much, I usually like powerful yoyos for horizontals and tech combos and that’s why I never have been into CLYW as they seems quite strict on their design, still Zack Gormley is a great player and his signature seems much more on my alley, that’s why I was thinking to take one of them but maybe CLYW in their line up had some more stuff which I do not know as I didn’t dig into the brand much
Wish rules, I’m a massive Zach fan so I’m kinda biased.
Borealis 2 is good and cheap but the Wish is just better. Wish just feels nicer on the string and spins for longer. They’re a really comfortable width, it’s about as wide as I’d personally want a yoyo, any wider and I’m going to be complaining.
Borealis 1 feels lacking in almost every department imo. It’s a little more organic feeling in the hand and feels a little lighter, but it just performs noticeably worse.
I think the Otter is very good for modern technical play, they really widened out the gap and focused on just making it perform really well instead of feeling good. That’s kinda the issue though is it’s a little generic, in that there are more yoyo directly comparable to the Otter. It is a good yoyo though
Boy also gets a mention. If you want to try a double rim design, this is the one to get. It’s got a slightly wider gap by default. It feels really light and is shockingly stable, but it does just feel a bit lacking in spin times. The Arctic Circle yoyos were the original Zach signatures, but they absolutely show their age. The Boy is what the Arctic Circle wanted to be. It’s so much more refined. The Boy is the least performance oriented of the Borealis 2/Wish/Otter though.
If you buy a CLYW you absolutely want to buy summer tires or silicone recess it yourself. CLYWs typically have pretty narrow gap widths, so a lot of younger more competition minded players will kinda dumpster on CLYW yoyos because of this. “Constant snags” and “horrible spin time (from string rubbing against the pads)” Summer tires are thinner so they sit recessed.
I think the narrow gap widths and obsession with older yoyos that play worse kind of gives CLYW a weird reputation. CLYW has plenty of modern offerings that play super well and players actively compete with them.
Wildfire is also good, really all of their bimetals are great. But I think the Wish is the one to get. If you got a monometal I wouldn’t consider anything other than the Borealis 2, Boy, Otter. Maybe the monometal Kodiak, but I haven’t played one. Really I’d just want a Wish.
Out of the CLYW’s I own, and knowing your style/what you like, I definitely think you would like the Wish the most. By far my favorite from them and one of my favorite bimetals of all time. Way more powerful than it looks and is perfect for tech, was surprised how good it was when I got it. Wildfire is a close second IMO.
But heads up, Idk if if you wanna wait or anything, but they’re gonna be coming out with the Klondike soon, which is basically a modified Wildfire done in collaboration with the Rewind guys. Supposedly their most competition geared offering to date. Might be worth waiting for, since it’ll be right up your alley.
Oh dang yeah, I forgot to mention the Klondike but I agree with this.
CLYW is collaborating with a Japanese yoyo store and reworked the Wildfire into a very modern competition meta yoyo. Mark Mangarin and Ayumu Harada have both been using it.
That’s supposed to release in May. I’d wait to see if you like the look of that more than the Wish. I agree that I think the Wish or probably this are going to be the most enjoyable to your style of play. I would still probably go with the Wish myself since I prefer more narrow yoyos (and it’s a Zach sig) but the Klondike looks great.
Thanks so much for the answers guys, I think at this time is better to wait for the new Klondike hoping that the price will be ok or in case wait to see them appear on the secondhand market.
@mable from the picture it seems an interesting one from the shape, I am very curious about it, in case the Klondike will be out of my league totally I will go for a Wish that still look super good to me!
The top view on that very much reminds me of the Sturm Panzer PAFKA I have which is an absolute monster. Even tho it’s undersized. And to clarify when I said organic ish I probably should’ve been more generic and said they seem to like more casual-rounded shapes. Which is def true. Then again most non Japanese companies are the same way. Still I love every CLYW throw i own, and I’ve got more than a few. They all play great once you get used to the smaller gap which was mentioned earlier
Unsure about PNWR but it was available to try at US nats last year. It’s been in development for a few years now. It was formerly called the Japanese Wildfire, before it picked up the final name Klondike recently.
This is a weird post because early CLYW after the Bassalope, so starting with the Gnarwhal, had heavy Turning Point inspiration. And Chris cut aspects that weren’t conducive to comp play (no IRGs for thumb grinds since zero people thumb grind in comp). A lot of CLYW designs were intended for comp play, which explains part of how they built up an amazing competition team.
I don’t think anybody would say Turning Point is a casual brand just because they make yoyos with big rounded rims.
This is all very true. Idk. Maybe just my impressions of their throws. Either way. I love playing all my CLYW throws. However you classify them. My original point was to throw what speaks to you. At the end of the day everyone’s experience is going to be different
I think their popular organic shapes like the Peak and Canvas, and their softer/bubblier shapes like the Chief are more synonymous with the brand image. I definitely see what you’re getting at. I just thought it was an interesting fact that they really didn’t make many organic yoyos, all things considered. The 13 organics included collabs also:
Wooly MarkMont
Basecamp Edgeless
Titanium Peak
Peak 1
Peak 2
BvM 1
Beater
Wooly Marmot 1
Wooly Marmot 2
Ditch
Gorge
Bassalope (could probably consider this as 2 since there’s the large and small bearing versions)
Creep
Does anyone know when the Chief was last released and/or when we might see it again? I’ve not tried a CLYW throw and I’m especially interested in that one!
