The Floodgates Open!
The much anticipated floodgates were open on 3/20/2009 and again on 3/21/2009 for the release of the Jensen Kimmitt Hulk Smash Peak sold by YYN. There were 104 made, although not all were sold by YYN. Some were sold early privately. Never before had 100+ Peaks been made publicly available at the same time, and actually that didn’t happen here as these were released in two batches over two days. These 100+ Peaks, split into two batches and sold over two days… neither batch made it to the end of the day before selling out. This Peak was not bead blasted aggressively enough, leaving a rough area around the response that could result in string breakage. Chris formally addressed this: http://www.yoyonation.com/talk/index.php/topic,47173.0.html
The floodgates opened for the second time on 3/31/2009 when YYN made available the 100 Sebastian Brock Peaks (plus the 5 or 6 all orange with light gray splash Peaks that were actually test ano Peaks).
The floodgates opened for the third time on 4/10/2009. One the same day at the same time YYN made available three Peak editions:
- 100 of the 2nd run 28 Stories Peak (this was Gruntbull’s take on the 28 Stories colourway)
- 48 of the Chesterman Beach Peak (still one of my favorite Peak finishes, a unique midpoint between a splash and an acid wash)
- 20 Claireview Station Peaks (YYN got 17 as one was sold privately to me beforehand, one was sold privately to another collector, and Chris kept one. This is a very special Peak in that it is the only 2nd run Peak to be anodized by Pioneer (see Pioneer test anos and 1st run 28S). Gruntbull and Pioneer both bead blast. Pioneer also offers sand blasting and this option was used on the Claireview Station, resulting in one of the glossiest blasted finishes ever. From pictures alone you’d swear this was machined, polished and anodized, but in picking it up you get that soft feel that lets you know it has had some kind of blasting. Sand blasting is a much finer medium than bead blasting, resulting in a less dented, shinier finish. It is very comparable to the Soda Blasting used by One Drop.
And with this, over 350 Peaks being released in 5 versions by YYN under a month, the Peak drought was officially over. If you wanted a Peak and didn’t get one in late March / early April 2009, you have no excuse other than not having the money.
Post Flood!
The Peak history gets a bit muddy here due to deletion of pre-2010 Caribou Blog entries and me personally stopping the buying of every Peak that came out now that Peaks were coming out on a near weekly basis. Peaks were everywhere… Well, not true. Peaks were at YYN. Pat was very helpful in supporting CLYW in the very early days, allowing Chris to use the YYN forum to promote and sell CLYW yoyos. This relationship worked out for both parties as all CLYW yoyos that YYN got were pretty much guaranteed sell outs. While it may have never been formally announced, after the floodgates were opened and the Peaks were having huge production numbers, people paying attention noticed only YYN was selling Peaks (or any other CLYW yoyo for that matter). This was because very early on Chris had gotten into an informal, verbal agreement with Pat to give YYN the exclusive on CLYW products. This commitment was honored for as long as possible (too long in the minds of most people in the know) and throughout 2009 CLYW outgrew YYN. It was time for the little birdie to spread its wings and leave the nest. On 9/14/2009 Chris announced CLYW was going global.
As splash finishes were starting to be used by competitors, Chris reinvented the CLYW finish by introducing the Maple Drip. Arguably never as popular as the splash, it was proof that Chris sought to stay ahead of the game, to drive the market rather than ride on it. Splashes still dominate CLYW finishes, but Maple Drips, washes, speckles, and whatever else Chris can dream up are becoming more and more the norm.
Here is a list of 2nd run production Peaks that haven’t been mentioned yet:
- Royal Bison, 15 made, all had vibe, sold cheaply, would have been stamped “Fool’s Gold” if Chris had thought of it by that time. They have a “cartoon” look like the Shark vs Zombie Beaver Bear Vs Man, a camo gray base with a maroon splash.
- Pink and purple wash, fairly large run, most got “Fool’s Gold” engraved, 12 or fewer are perfect / A-grade.
- Chocolate with red splash, had vibe, most got “Fool’s Gold” engraved. 4 A-grades exist.
- Wolf Lake, blue with clear splash
- Hot Pink, solid
- Winter Green, light green with clear splash
- Grizzly Bear Cown Town I, 20 made.
- Grizzly Bear Clown Town II
- Frozen Mammoth Peak
- Raspberry Maple Drip, 7 made, came with a Serial # card, I own #1.
- Blue with purple Maple Drip
- Orange with blue Maple Drip
- Gold with black Maple Drip
- “Adam Brewster’s Wedding” Edition Peaks, 6 made for the May 2009 wedding, 1 for Adam, 3 for groomsmen, 2 for ushers. They were a dark sage with a robin’s egg blue splash.
There are 3 more 2nd run Peaks I feel I need to go into detail about because they are special:
Alex Bearing Gull Peak, 85 made, red with clear splash. 2nd run Peaks from this 2nd shop were like wine. With each batch you never knew what you were going to get. Their quality was all over the place and their consistency did not exist. As a result, every batch of 2nd run Peaks are a bit different. If you’ve thrown one 2nd run Peak and loved it, yet picked up another 2nd run Peak and hated it, you are not crazy. There are differences. The batch of Peaks that went on to become the Alex Bearing Gull’s happen to be the best “vintage” of 2nd run Peaks the 2nd shop ever produced. There is just something special about this Peak. All owners of it have said it time and time again. The Peak is retired. CLYW has replaced it with other full sized yoyos. The Peak is quickly headed towards a collector’s only market. But if you are in the market for a Peak to throw (and can’t find a 3rd run) do yourself a favor and find an Alex Bearing Gull 2nd run Peak.
YYN forum member Vendetta was interested in learning to anodize yoyos. He found an anodizer named Rick who lived near him who did some incredible anodizing work, primarily on paintball guns. Rick mentored Vendetta. There was a time where Rick considered anodizing yoyos full time. He anodized a run of M1’s for One Drop, the Affogato de Lo Tempio edition. He also anodized 6 Peaks for Chris… Chris was testing him out.
What resulted from this test were the 3 Earth Swirl and 3 Fire Swirl Peaks. Although all 6 yoyos reached Chris, as Chris mailed them all off individually to their new owners, a Fire Swirl Peak disappeared at customs. Chris had been having this problem shipping “ground” for a while. My Transformers Levi painted Peak is actually a second edition as the original Transformers Peak was “lost” at customs. Chris made the move to shipping “air” by default, because “air” avoids customs, as it seemed too much a coincidence that his yoyos were commonly going missing at customs via ground shipping.
Before Chris could send Rick more Peaks, Rick took a private order of yoyos through Vendetta. Rick got so frustrated with getting some 20 different types of yoyos each with a unique finish specifically requested by detailed oriented yoyo collectors, Rick completed that order and said, “To heck with that…” Rick never anodized another yoyo and Vendetta had learned everything he needed to start “Not Fail” anodizing.
Anyway, for the record there are 3 Earth Swirl Peaks and 2 Fire Swirl Peaks. These are the only Peaks sanctioned by Chris from an anodizer other than Pioneer or Gruntbull and they happen to be among the most beautiful Peaks ever created and most rare.
3rd Run!!! (2nd Shop)
After years of battling with the 2nd shop to create a Peak as it was intended, Chris modified the CAD design to work with that shop’s equipment. Instead of the shop making a yoyo as the CAD designed specified, Chris made a CAD design that wasn’t an ideal Peak, but after the shop got done with their interpretation of it, what was produced was the Peak closest to the prototypes. After nearly 4 years a shop was finally able to produce the yoyo Chris and Paul had envisioned so long ago. This weighed in at 67.3 grams, coming really close to the intended Peak weight of 67.5 grams. This also had the return of the rounded lip. Putting a 3rd run Peak up against a 1st run Peak, there is no visible difference. This 3rd run Peak is overlooked and very much the unsung hero, because after just 2 batches and 6 finishes, Chris retired the Peak.
If you are a player looking for a Peak, find a 3rd run. If you cannot find a 3rd run, find an Alex Bearing Gull 2nd run. This is the gospel according to Ben.
The first batch of 3rd run Peaks went to a UK reseller and went on sale on 11/27/2009. They sold out almost instantly. They were also sold at another US reseller, but I don’t have the sales date and sell out time from that store, but I imagine they went on sale at roughly the same date and sold out just as fast. They came in three unique hybrid splash / acid wash finishes, each a dark base color and a splash / wash in a slightly lighter shade of the same color. Almost a combination of the gold with light gold splash Gruntbull test ano Peak colourway and the Chesterman Beach colourway (which was a splash / wash hybrid). These colourways do not photograph well because of the subtle color difference, but in hand they are a true masterpiece. They are:
- Orange on orange Acid Splash
- Green on green Acid Splash
- Purple on purple Acid Splash
The second batch of 3rd run Peaks went to a US reseller and went on sale on 8/23/2010, nearly 9 months after the first batch of 3rd run Peaks came and went. This batch also got put into three colourways, each a signature edition:
- Elliot Jackson, pink with blue drip
- Adam Brewster, green with gray and red splash
- Krisztian Kaluzsa, blue with orange and clear splash
As a testament that splash is not dead, old, or played out, the two splash editions sold out that day. The drip edition was slower to sell and did not sell out until two days later, 8/25/2010.
Thus 8/25/2010 was the last day a Peak could be bought from a store. That is the Peak’s “deathdate”. From that day forward the Peak is an aftermarket product, only to be trade hands at yoyo meets and the backrooms of Buy/Sell/Trade Internet sub-forums. CLYW has moved on to a 3rd shop that now produces all CLYW yoyos and has never produced a Peak. In order for Chris to bring the Peak back out of retirement, he’d either have to tap the 2nd shop for another batch, or go through months of tedious tweaks getting the 3rd shop’s equipment set up to produce a Peak to the exact intended design. For that reason alone, regardless of demand, I think the Peak is permanently retired.
CLYW Peak
8/14/2006 – 8/25/2010
(4 years, 11 days)
RIP
CLYW Peak Historian and Curator,
Benjamin Justin Baker
Bonus Pics!
This is a picture of Elephark’s collection at one time. Top row is a DissKings powdercoated Wideload. Second row is early Bear Vs Man’s. Third row is OG Peak #31, Levi painted Snow White proto 0003, and OG Peak #37. Bottom row is a 1st run raw Peak, Oxy 4, TFL Groovy, and a 2nd run raw Peak.
Picture of early Bear Vs. Man’s plus 2nd batch / 1st run 28 Stories Peak:
Chris’ collection at one point in time (of note is the Gouda, the red ano / painted proto 0001, the Team Edition small bearing Bear Vs. Man, the all electric green splash Pioneer test ano Peak, the heavily splash electric blue Team Edition Peak, the the 1st run Levi custom “eh!” Peak):
This is a picture of Tyler Severance throwing a Bear Vs. Man just seconds before the string broke and the yoyo went flying and hit someone in the head:
And this history really isn’t complete without showing RAN’s awesome collection of Levi custom Peaks. The numbered OG Peak in the photo is the special one that got the inner hubs painted blue, although you can’t see it in the photo:
