First of all, thank you Doc for commenting on the forum. I understand that it really seems unbelievable, but unfortunately it happened. That detail that made you think the plastic was closed in half is actually glue. I tried to glue it after it cracked, but it still didn’t help, and even if I had, it probably would have looked horrible. If you have any answers from Steve, or if there is at least a possibility of replacing this yoyo, I would greatly appreciate it, because it was something I did not cause. It really was bizarre to see a yoyo made of this material end up in this situation. (WARNING, I DID NOT BREAK THIS YOYO IN HALF, I DON’T HAVE A SAW AT HOME OR ANY TOOL TO DO THAT) Here are some photos:
If your friend still has a receipt, maybe have him email it to you, and then try contacting YYE. Can’t guarantee anything since this is an usual situation & the yoyo changed hands, but the staff here are very reasonable.
Certainly doesn’t look like a saw cut in those images, lol.
It looks more like a stress fracture.
Like I already said…. I was just going by the image and had no reason to believe you had anything to gain by making this up.
All packaged Freehands are obviously not factory assembled by the same exact person.
And it’s very possible you could have had 2 things working together to create this end result.
Your particular yo-yo could,have screwed together ‘Very Tight’. If the yoyo was really cranked down, then you have the pressure from the jammed in cap working from the outside in. And the pressure from the overtightened halves, working from the inside out.
Even though from each edge, it may look like a saw cut…. That deviation in the crack line at the axle hole, is most likely because of how the thickness of the material changes at the core. The crack simply seeks the path of least resistance.
Also, if your friend from Brazil, possibly had the yoyo stored in an area subjected to sunlight or occasional heat, that could help degrade the integrity of the plastic and accelerate brittleness.
Regardless, that is pretty dramatic damage for something that just came out of the package.
This definitely falls under “manufacturing defect” and Duncan should replace it for you. These don’t sell great (must be my charming personality) so they should still have some. If @Coffeeboy or Bryan can’t help you let me know I’m sure I can a few still in package.
Hey Steve, how are you? Thanks for your reply! Seriously. If you don’t remember me, I’m the guy who talked to you on discord asking about the Freehand 2 and the Viking tour, it’s an honor to talk to you again and I apologize for the awkward situation. If you can tell me what I should do, which email to send it to or which person to send a chat to, please let me know. Thanks again for your message, I hope to do everything I can to replace this yoyo because I had put it in my collection along with the Freehand 2 in your honor!
wow yea, much better angles! sounds like they’ll be able to get you a replacement but in the meantime, i dunno what glue you used but if you have access to some sort of clamp, there is almost nothing i have been unable to glue back together with gorilla glue. for the best one and the best hold it has to be clamped for 24 hours. gl yo and hopefully you have something else you can throw til you can get it replaced
Hit up bjardin@flambeau.com and see if he can help. If he can’t, let me know. Sorry for the hassle, this is one of those regrettable things about plastic…it just fails sometimes.
As a materials engineer, I’m a bit annoyed you didn’t take any pics pre-glue - it’s one of the big ‘no-nos’ of fractography! One reason being you’re obscuring any features that could indicate how it failed and where the crack started.
Superglue should work, but I doubt it’d hold up long-term. There are specific glues for PC, as well as bonding agents that chemically fuse the material together, but I suspect that’d introduce a whole lot of vibe.
In any case, if this is new stock, then it should fall under a manufacturer defect.
