So I got my Duncan Raptor the other day and I was impressed. It came pretty fast. Usually it takes 2 1/2 weeks but this time it took 1 1/2 weeks. This is my first review so don’t hate it. Here we go:
First Looks:
When I first looked at it, I could easily tell it was very smooth on the outside. The laser engravings on both sides were extremley cool. One side featured a claw mark and the other had the word “RAPTOR” in a cool font.
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0726.JPG[img]
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0727.JPG[img]
But another thing was that if you looked at it in a shine, you would see each “atom”. Kinda like speckles:
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0729.JPG[img]
And here’s the profile. It has a round shape but ends up in pretty sharp. So it hurts if it snags and hits you on right on the sharp edge.
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0728.JPG[img]
Feel:
When you hold this, it is very comfortable. It has the perfect size, not big not small. Your middle finger and thumb can touch each other comfortably. Not so small that your hands are curled up.
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0730.JPG[img]
Caps:
With caps on, you can hand start it easier but I feel that it is floatier with caps off. Caps on, it feels heavier, but not by much. You can still hand start with caps off but you’ll fail more. I prefer caps off. The laser engraving really does it’s job!
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0731.JPG[img]
The only bad thing about the caps is that they are VERY HARD to take off. Maybe this is just my Raptor, but the side with the claw picture, caps come off easily. But the side with the word Raptor, the caps are stuck on TIGHTLY. What I had to do to the tight cap was take a knife, poke it slanted into the gap, and pry the cap out. It is easy if you do it this way but it RISKS the yoyo from getting a TINY dot. Can’t be seen.
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0734.JPG[img]
Play:
O.K. the part you’ve all been wating for. On first throw it is super smooth. 2 reasons:
Super lubed bearing
The yoyo is origanally smooth
Just clean the bearing and BOOM, dead unresponsive. It is responsive outa the box, not semi responsive.
It is still very smooth when I changed it with YYJ Speed bearing.
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0733.JPG[img]
This yoyo impresses. It can handle any trick you throw at it. Don’t take it from the price, this is BEAST. Any tricks, slacks, suicides, whips and what not. It reaches the end of the string with a light touch and spins smoothly (as mentioned).
Grinds:
BEAST at grinding!!! You can grind this forever. Like finger grind for around 3-5 seconds and 2-3 seconds of palm grind. So smooth. I was doing a UFO and we I decided to catch it, it missed my hand, landed on my palm and grind sideways on my palm for 1 second. wow! You can really feel smooth!
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0740.JPG[img]
Guts:
This has a short axle but I had no problems with it. It comes with a random C size bearing. It has a silicone pad response that I LOVE! It acts and looks like a K-Pad and it is so prefect on this yoyo. It even comes with 2 spares so 3 in total!
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0741.JPG[img]
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0742.JPG[img]
[img]F:\DCIM\103___03\IMG_0743.JPG[img]
The Verdict:
One word: STUPENDOUS. So smooth on grinds and string and no vibe at ALL.