Background:
This one is a bit different. Jake from G-squared held an AMA on Reddit, person with the best question would get a free G-squared yoyo. I won! First off, I gotta give thanks to Jake and G-squared, and everyone involved in this, you guys are awesome no doubt. So yea, the Albatross, their debut yoyo is up for review.
Specs (Courtesy of yoyoexpert some info might be outdated):
Base Weight: 64.4 grams
Width: 43.55 mm
Diameter: 56 mm
Stock Response: Flowable Silicone (Not too sure about this)
Gap Width: 4.25 mm
Bearing Size: Large (C) stainless steel (Grooved Bearing)
Finish: ?
Pros
- Extremly comfy in your hand. This is my first organic shaped yoyo since the freehand zero waaay back when it debuted. My current yoyos are all H shaped. It’s a nice change to my current stash of yoyos.
- Floats like a dandilon.
- Good weight, has enough oomph withouth feeling like an anvil at the end of the string, looking at you shutter…
- No nipples! I don’t really like yoyos with nipples, mostly cosmetic unless you do grinds, which I don’t.
- Interesting bearing that came with it, its grooved, more on that later.
- Amazing feeling of the finish.
Cons
- Being organic shaped, not the best sleep times compared to say an H-shaped yoyo.
The Meat an’ Potatoes
Opened the box and was greeted with the box, stickers, an extra 10-ball bearing I think? A foam cup insulator, stickers, a button, stickers, some collectors cards, oh did I mention stickers? I use blueprint yellow string so I immediately put it on and threw it. It felt really good in the hand compared to my Benchmark H 2014. This thing plays very playfully. I know it’s a weird thing to say but…it really does. It really like to float around and gets flicked around pretty well without tilting or anything. I was very surprised how long it sleeps being an organic shaped yoyo, although a grooved bearing always helps. After breaking in the bearing and pads it is very consistent when it comes to binds. The pads feel a lot like one drop’s implementation, leagues better than the Shutter’s inconsistent pads.
Bearing is nice and quiet, good response, and amazing play…what’s more to like? For some reason my blueprint string does not like the grooved after a few hours. The grooved bearing begins to fray the string a lot quicker than flat or centertrac bearing. This is not against the Albatross since bearings are easily swappable.
The finish is really really good. It feels a lot like some CLYW’s finishes, I don’t really like to grind but just for fun I gave it a try and I get some good grinds, still able to do a quick trick or two after a hand grind.
The Dessert and Chit-Chat
Well, after a few hours of constant play this thing is really freaking good. It plays very playfully, and I crack a smile when throwing it. Thanks again G-Squared!
