2013 has been a banner year for the molded plastic market. One Drop and CLYW, after many years of research, design, and customer requests have both dropped a molded plastic on the market. In doing so they have both made me want to own a plastic yo-yo again, something I have not done since about 3 months after I started throwing modern yo-yos. A couple months back I reviewed the Rally, One Drop’s first molded plastic, now it is time to look at CLYW’s Yeti. While both companies have released a modern molded plastic, each company has taken a radically different approach to the process. One thing I would like to get out of the way right now, this review will not be crowning a winner in the plastic wars… there is no plastic war. Seeing all these “Plastic A is better than Plastic B” discussions on YYE is silly. Just like the metal market, there is room for both, especially at the low price points each company set for their respective plastic products. Now, with that out of the way, lets dig in and see what CLYW has brought to the table.
Great review as usual! I am not sure how I missed the rally review, but I’ll go back and find it. I love how you basically dissect the yoyos you review and give a great, fairly unbiased, straight shooting, & very thorough review.
I think you’d be an awesome fellow to drink a beer with and talk about yoyos with. If you mad it to Colorado we’d be happy to host you for dinner and a good chat about all things yoyo or anything really.
Sounds great, I are always wanted to visit Colorado.
From what I have heard, there should be a bigger run next go around. Last time Chris and I talked he was shooting for an October/November timeframe. Being the yoyo world, that time could fluctuate at the drop of a hat, especially since he is the only one in the CLYW office at the moment and a dedicated family man with a baby at home.
One Drop did not make an injection molded plastic, as you say in the introduction. The Rally is machined on the same lathe as the rest of their yoyos, as far as I know.
The Rally is an injection molded polycarbonate yo-yo. After One Drop receives the molded shells from their manufacturer on the east coast Shawn gives them a quick zip through the lathe to smooth out any imperfections, add the grinding surface, and cut the hole for the axle insert. The video you posted is the process I just described above. Here is a picture of the shells before and after machining. Before is on the left, after is on the right. Notice the shiny surface, lack of hole, and the injection mark in the center of the one on the left.
I do a lot of research when I review a yo-yo including talking to the manufacturers.
Right… they get blanks, then put them on the lathe. I wouldn’t call that a molded yoyo, but a molded blank. The mold is unplayable, the machined finished version is the product.
The half on the left obviously does not have imperfections, but is straight up not a yoyo yet.
Dude, it is what it is… an injection molded yo-yo. That is what David and Shawn have told me when I talked to them about it during the interview. Nothing changes the fact that the yo-yo starts out in a liquid form and is squirted into a mold at a factory. There is a very specific reason why One Drop decided to cut the whole themselves instead of having their mold company do it, and it is the reason why this is one of the absolute smoothest plastics out there. The best way to look at the Rally is that it is an injection molded yo-yo that has already been modded for ideal play. Kinda like sending a yo-yo to The ModFather to get better performance.
Only one side is out on he lathe after it is injection molded.
Please check your info before questioning someone that has his info spot on 99.9% of the time (0.01% being the slight margin of error as there will be some error somewhere albeit extremely rare).
SaintRobyn has been at his reviews and info gathering for a long time and has the know how to fact check. Please read his other reviews and see for yourself so it’s not just my word against yours.
One drop gets a blank. Then finish machines it to smooth it out. No need to PM them and bother David. That’s how it’s done.
But ya thanks for the Yeti review Christopher!
We should have the new snap fit spacers here soon as well as the production run of the coloured Yetis (white, purple, blue and Pumpkin). Then we’ll focus on cranking out more Yetis. For now I just don’t want too many out there with the tight spacers. Makes it too hard for bearing maintenance.
No problem man, I had a blast doing the review. The Yti is just such a fun yo-yo to play with.
No joke, no kidding around, save me a purple one please. The Yeti would look so bad@$$ in purple. Are the colored ones going to be sold at YYE and other places or direct through the CLYW store? Also, will there be a price increase on the colored Yetis?
Good stuff man. To be fair, I just said it was more of a chill out and relax type yoyo that goes against the super speedy trend, something you team is known for… bucking trends that is. Some tend to be the trend setters. Not shocking that one would use a Yeti on stage. Doesn’t hurt that I have always been a fan of Petr’s style. ;D
Great review! I am happy to see that a string centering bearing is working a bit better for you! I have noticed that you are also reviewing more budget/ plastic throws in the last few months. Is this just because two high end companies came out with plastic yoyos at the same time, or is this going to be a new thing for you?
