Today I am reviewing the newest addition to the Screaming Eagle line of yoyos by Duncan, the Exit 8. The Exit 8 is also the signature yoyo of Takeshi Kamisato who designed it as well. Takeshi is one of the most respected members of the yoyo community. Takeshi made his mark with DXL crew and Mod Squad. It was through Takeshi and Mod Squad that we now have the recessed pads in our yoyos. Takeshi is also a very well rounded yoyo player, being able to dabble in all 5 styles of yoyoing. So needless to say when I heard that Takeshi was designing a yoyo for retail I was very excited.
Diameter: 52.20 mm / 2.05 inches
Width: 42.34 mm / 1.67 inches
Gap Width: 3.99 mm / .16 inches
Weight: 64.0 grams
Bearing Size: Size A Bearing (5x10x4 mm)
Response: 12mm Duncan Silicone Stickers
First impressions;
The Exit 8 comes in what has be the coolest packaging ever. The Screaming Eagle yoyos come in a hexagon tube with the Screaming Eagle on the front along with the name of the yoyo. The yoyo it self is suspended by a plastic stand in the tube. The yoyo can be seen very well even in the package. The only problem with this is that there are so many plastic strips and links that it can make it kinda hard to get the yoyo out of the package. It might also be that I just can’t out smart the plastic. Once you get the yoyo out of the package (hopefully better than I did) you will notice or not notice the finish. The Bule and Black Exit 8’s have a hard coat finish where as the other colors do not. If you get a blue of black one like I did then the first thing you will notice is the hard coat finish. The hard coat give the yoyo a very sleek feel to it. It’s not soft like bead blast or cool like a soda blast. It’s sleet like a really smooth rock you find near the pond that you know will make a lot of skips. I personally like bead or soda blast better, but I do think that the hard coat is not given as much love as maybe it should. The leaser engravings on the side are very well done. You have the Exit 8 logo surrounded by Takeshi’s signature, the Duncan logo, and some very cool calligraphy.
Design;
The Exit 8 has a very unique hour glass shape to it. There is a very relaxed cone coming from the pad recessed to a curve leading to larger more rounded cone. This give you a large amount of gap with out you feeling like you are holding this >< . The bearing, pad set up is a small A size bearing and a deep pad recess using the Duncan silicone pads. I am a huge fan of pad response so this is right up my ally. One thing that I found interesting when I was looking at the bearing seat and pad recess is that right from where the pad recess ends the yoyo begins to cone out. This gave a very defined edge surrounding to recess.
Feel and Play;
This yoyo is meant to live in your hand. The curves fit into the pads of your palm so well that just holding it you know that there was a lot of time put into this yoyo. On the first throw I notice the bearing already came clean which is nice. When you throw this yoyo can feel a defined plump at the end of the string. This I believe this is because of the use of pads instead of silicone or a silicone groove sticker. The yoyo itself is not brick by any means, you can just feel that plump. The yoyo has a very weird feeling to it in play. It is not slow but it’s not fast. It feels light but it doesn’t. I have been trying to figure out how to describe the play and the only way a can describe it is smooth. If you want to give a trick a little more zzzip you can do that. If you want to slow it down and get techy with it you can do that. I would however say that the feel of the yoyo is closer to the techy side than the zzzipy side. This yoyo is good on the grind as well and has a nice lip for thumb grinds. I would not say it is the best grinding yoyo ever, but it can get its grind on. I think a Soda blast would have really made this yoyo a champ in the grinding area. Now leading up to the release of the Exit 8 I heard a lot of grumblings about it using a small bearing. Having played this yoyo now I don’t thing I would like it as well if it used a large bearing. I have had some pretty bad snags on bad binds and droped loops and I can see why maybe a large bearing Exit 8 could be desired. My personal opinion is that is would have been great with a size “D” bearing like the old SPYY’s and the Hugo Z use.
Conclusion;
I would like to personally thank Takeshi for all that he has done yoyoing and the yoyoing community. I have had the good fortune meet and hang out with Takeshi on several different occasions and he is one of the coolest guys around. When Takeshi was here in KC this past week, I had my Phoenix Diabolo with me. He ask if he could give it a spin. So he is playing with it and the bearing locks up. He asked me if this has ever happen before and if I had tried to clean and lube it. I replied yes to both questions and ask me my address and told my he was going to send my a few bearings in the mail for me to try . So I gave him my address. Today in the mail two bearings came from Takeshi. I can see that he puts that kind of care in every thing he does. The Exit 8 is a very nice yoyo. I do recommend trying it first just because it plays in such a weird fashion. I think that really the only thing I would change in this yoyo is the bearing size from a small “A” bearing to and slightly bigger “D” bearing. I know I mention the finish but I really thing the hard coat fits it well even if the grinds suffer a little. The Exit 8 retails for around $85. Thanks Takeshi for another great contribution to the yoyo community.