Review of the J&HSpins LunarWind
: (An abject study of my yoyoing inadequacies and the importance of bearings on my play)
Specs:
Diameter: 56mm
Width: 42.5mm
Weight: 66 grams
Bearing: Large KonKave Bearing
Response: Silicone Pads
This review is going to be a little different to how I would normally seek to present something like this, and it’s actually going to be a chronological view of my opinions, because that really gives the best perspective on this yoyo, so please read all of this to get a complete picture, or just skip to the end if I’m boring you.
At first, when I opened the package the yoyo was just as I expected, raw but not really polished, with a flat bearing, standard aluminum axle and a set of BigYoyo sample strings. I stuck on a Panther string and began to throw. And was immediately disappointed. A gentle throw gave me very little spin time, with the yoyo tilting out of pretty much any combo I threw at it. I had been putting together a 1 minute combo for the ‘Old folks…’ thread and this LunarWind barely made it through half of what I’d decided on. It seemed unstable and flimsy. But I persevered: I’d seen aznnboyaZ doing fun things with this yoyo and so I needed to continue on.
At about this point I stopped being stubborn and put in a Buddha dimple bearing, which it was recommended I switch to when I received the throw. And instantly the play changed for me. The yoyo gained spin time and stopped spinning out so quickly, seeming more stable. I got much further through my 1 minute combo and began to really enjoy throwing the LunarWind.
Then I tried to play it as fast as I felt I could, reducing the complexity of my tricks (hah - my tricks complex - good one!) and trying to play like Beezy. Suddenly I understood this yoyo. And what I understood was that this yoyo is really good fun and can play really relatively well, but just not really as well for me as for others. When you pick up the tempo the yoyo really becomes pleasant to play: it feels really light and so I was never expecting to be a Gleipnir, but once pushed hard it hits the string nicely, the wide stepped gap helping fly through tricks, and the centering bearing helping to account for my poor technique. Those of us who play like Haruray will not need this aid, but I need every bit of help I can get. The inner rim will provide a good grinding surface, and despite the raw finish it actually finger grinds OK without a blasted/ano’d finish because of the neat shaping. The weight distribution makes it really pop off the string and bounce around like a kangaroo with a space hopper. Small central spikes on the axle axis will provide a bit of matador action for those who like it.
Therefore all told this yoyo is fun. Really quite fun. It’s not the most stable of throws, and will benefit greatly from the added weight the next revision is carrying: nor does it have the longest spin times, perhaps caused by my poor technique or the lack of weight. It also would benefit greatly from a different response as far as I’m concerned. At high rpm the response is sharp and snappy, but at low rpm I really struggled to get consistent non-snaggy binds. All told though it’s a welcome addition to my collection. And it makes me realize that I need to up my game, not only for personal satisfaction, but also to get the most out of some of the neat designs out there. The LunarWind will help me achieve that I think because it forces me to play faster and to be cleaner with my string hits, much like a high walled yoyo might. Whilst this is not what I would normally buy, I’m more than happy with the purchase, and would recommend people give it a throw, particularly those of you who aspire to make a yoyo fizzle through the air like a bullet from a really big rifle.
